Written by For Day 12 of #WorldWatercolorMonth and our prompt of “Blossoming,” I opted for a flower in a vase as I just really like sketching glass. This was a super quick little study as it’s Friday and I’m ready to start my weekend so I found it a bit tough to focus for any length of time at all. Yeah, I’m totally blaming it on Friday, but for those of you who read my posts, you know that with me, this lack of focus is bound to happen most any day of the week. The fun part about taking a little watercolor break is that I get to zone out for just a little bit of play time. Even when my mind is distracted by other things, I can manage just enough focus to make a little sketch for the day. For me, this is cathartic, truly noteworthy, and proves that even those with the shortest attention span in the world can still easily show up make something each and every day. Some days, I’m not really sure if my sketches are getting better or not, but that’s never really been my goal. I just like the act of sketching and my goal is only to show up and make a new one every day. This, I”m quite sure, isn’t much of a goal at all, but it’s certainly what makes me the happiest!
This weekend comes with no specific plans whatsoever qualifying it as my favorite kind of weekend. Though I love having things to look forward to, it’s equally nice to look forward to just a possible of surprise or nothing particularly amazing at all. And though I do have a long list of things I hope to DO this weekend, I’m equally sure that I’ll fail to accomplish most of them. And that’s, okay! In my childish mind I feel like I still get points for intent. And, it’s equally possible I will accomplish much more than I ever dreamed, simply because I put no pressure on myself to do so in the first place. I’ve been asked quite a bit lately how I’ve managed to show up each and every day for over four years now. I guess it seems remarkable in some way. Perhaps it is. But, to me, it’s nothing truly noteworthy. I’m not winning a Pulitzer for my stories or indeed being asked to share my artwork in galleries. Which is just as well, since these simply aren’t the prizes that I hope to win. Instead, I show up simply to share my thoughts each day and hope that in some small way they might be interesting or inspiring for someone reading this.
While I know this approach is seemingly aimless, I’ve managed to publish some books, create a podcast, and a community space for others to share their daily creations as well. But, human nature often steps in, at times, and makes me stop and ask myself, what’s my goal in all of this? What is it that I hope to accomplish? These are those big questions we interrogate ourselves with at times while trying to understand the present in a fervent hope of predicting the future. Then, my inner child kicks in and thinks about how boring life would be if we could indeed predict the future. How dull life would become if we actually knew what was coming next. That’s just not a very good story. Good stories are filled with twists and turns and exciting things that we never saw coming. Surprising, yet inevitable in that thrilling thing happens next. Perhaps, more than just writing stories I also prefer to simply live in on. The beautiful story that’s happening to me in this very moment, when nothing much of anything is really happening at all. There’s just a hint of something amazing just around that next corner in my life. A bit of an uncharted path that I feel I must follow. And I don’t worry about how the story will end, because it’s always a story about beginnings. There are so many things that have yet to happen, and I’m, for one, thrilled to be living a life that’s still blossoming.
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I have a vase similar to the one you painted and I love it. Just big enough for a single flower and a few tiny sprigs of flowers of fern. You painted itvso lovely and, as always, the glasss is amazing. I ordered a travel mug and a cup for my sister to be sent to her. She is going to be so surprised. Good surprises are always the best.
Thanks so much, June! 😃💕So cool you have a similar vase! And yay for the surprise for your sisters. I agree! Good surprises are definitely the best!
Great little bloom in a bud vase. I think at every stage in our lifes we question. I love that you remind us to keep in touch with our inner child. Have a great weekend Charlie.
Thanks so much, Karen! 😃💕I think our inner children are our best guides in life! Hope you have a wonderful weekend as well!
I love the way you capture light and shadow with glass! I think having goals is a little bit like coloring inside the lines. Both lines and goals tend to box you in – that provides security, which is good, but sometimes you need to think outside the box, get outside the box, smash that stupid box to smithereens … okay, maybe you don’t have to go that far.
Thanks so much, Sandra! 😃💕 Yeah, painted glass is addictive! So fun! haha! I love that line of thinking though… next time some tells me I should plan and focus more, I’ll just tell them, “I can’t, I’m too busy smashing boxes!” 😉 lol
I think being able to predict the future would be paralyzing, not a super quality I’d like at all. But planning is another thing. I’d get nothing done if I didn’t plan at least major activities. Then the minor ones can be spontaneous and super fun for all their unpredictability. What a great idea that you’re always at the beginning of your journey.
This bouquet is really pretty, Charlie. I love glass as well, especially green glass. The rose nestled among snapdragons (?) is something I’d like on my table.
Thanks, Sharon! 😃💕And I agree! I’m not sure I’d ever really want to know what was coming next! But yeah, big things do require a touch of planning. And I’ve no idea what flowers these are or ended up after my scribbling! hehe
It’s day lily season here. Spring begins with magnolia, my favorite flower, moves on to lilacs, my favorite flower, then peonies, my favorite flowers, etc, etc, and here we are at lilies, my favorite flowers! I wonder if I moved to some tropical island, would I get tired of year around flowers? I assume not, and since there is zero chance of that happening, I’m not going to lose sleep over it, but if I ever win the lottery, I’m building a greenhouse addition so that I can have orchids in January!
Oh wow! A greenhouse has always been my dream as well! 😃💕But yeah… must win lottery first. lol
I love the colors in the flowers! As usual, fantastic painting of glass and shadow.
Thanks so much, Sharon! 😃💕 Glad you liked this!
Quickly executed in your watercolor break and so real in its effect on the viewer. I like the idea of one’s life being a story with twists and turns rather than one whose plot we already know. You wake up in the morning and life says “Boo!”, then off you go to defeat the dragons of the day and finish the quest!
Thanks, Bob! 😃💕 The quick part has become part of my style! Glad you like it! And yay to a good story when it comes to life! Actual dragons would be super cool as well! lol
So so pleased you were on sketchbook revival…..changed my life Charlie….and I mean that sincerely. Post stroke I have a new interest and as I have to rest as good deal I can achieve. Thank you.
Aww that makes me incredibly happy to hear, Amelia! 😃💕 I was so nervous to appear on video the first (well, and still only time so far!), so I’m so happy to know it made a difference. And it’s been a joy to watch your incredible progress in the Sketching Stuff Group! Sketch on my friend, you’re doing GREAT!
Charlie, you’re a funny guy indeed! I was receiving an incredibly knee-jerk reaction to a mindless thought I had in my SUV, en route to my hair stylist. Spiking my hair again (12 years ago was the last) seemed like a really good idea watching people running (for their lives–I was on the road after all) cross walks in Denver, battling near 100 degree temps today. As I was lamenting spending yet more money on art supplies, my stylist kicked me lightly in my side: “Fanna, you’re an ARIES! You don’t NEED it all, you WANT it all! By george, Kalika was right! $200 and my ego a bit straighter, we both exited the salon.
So Charlie, I say all of this because as an Aries, you don’t NEED it all, you WANT it all, and you want it all to happen FOR you, just like your fellow Aries pals! And you’ve done some pretty amazing things in this life. If a gallery opening isn’t your gig, WHO would do the DW posts? There would have NEVER been World Watercolor Month! No prizes, no little Charlies reminding us of the joy, fun, splendor and wonder of painting a cinnamon roll sitting next to Phillipe and Phineas at a roaring fire, or oozing, juicy peach, or today, a lovely round vase that once adorned all of our grandmothers’ bureaus.. in our in-boxes each morning. Are you kidding? You’re a star! And a rock one at that! I have morning coffee with your day 12, day 1, blossoms, no blossoms, candy canes, holiday trees, all of it. You’re living the dream, Charlie, and you call the shots. Now THAT, is grand!
Enjoy nothing, everything, and all of it in-between, because you deserve it, and must have it!
There. Tapped my wand. Thank you for the glory of WWM. I actually feel a bit more like an watercolorist this year as a direct result. That’s a huge gift, Charlie. And I’m only ONE person receiving the gift…
Fanna Turano
Denver, CO
Oh wow! Thanks so much, Fanna! 😃💕 Yep… we Aries are just like that! And it’s fun to want everything… it makes you try things you never thought possible. So, in the midst of it all, yeah, I still manage to make a lot of things happen. And it’s been such a FUN journey!
PS: Kalika, my stylist is also an Aries. Was that implied? 🙂
Yes! hehe 😉
Hi Charlie. I got your Sketching Stuff activity book and in one day worked up to page 31. Having lots of fun and amazed that I can draw a bird.
Oh wow!! That’s awesome, Laura! 😃💕 Thanks so much for getting my book and I’m thrilled to know you’re enjoying it! That’s just what I hoped would happen with this one. It’s not a traditional art book… way more fast and furious FUN! hehe (which I’m assuming everyone would have expected from me! lol)
The only goal I see you need is to show up every day. Why do things have to lead somewhere? We are enjoying the journey. What I am amazed at is how much you write each day. The sketching part is easy, the writitng part takes more thinking. I am a easily distracted person also. (If we ever met up, we would be like two little squirrels running around.) My sketching time keeps me grounded for a bit each day. Somedays I wish I could just sit and sketch all day, but life gets in the way. Off to sketch! Oh, and bravo on your vase!
Thanks, Lori! 😃💕 You’re SO right! The sketch is actually the easy part. It’s never an issue. But writing is much more difficult. But, like sketching, it gets easier when you do it each and every day!
Great vase and story. Hope you’re having a fabulous, unplanned weekend
Thanks so much, Mary! 😃💕 Hope you have a wonderful weekend as well!
I somehow overlooked this one in Reader, and just now found it in my email (I’m a week-end behind on
emails too!) I’m so glad I found it. That is an awesome vase. It reminds me of the opalescent carnival
glass that my mother used to collect. What a beautiful painting!
Charlie says, ” I show up simply to share my thoughts each day and hope that in some small way they might be interesting or inspiring for someone reading this.”
interesting AND inspiring! Thank you!!
and this is just too good not to note:
Charlie says, “…don’t worry about how the story will end, because it’s always a story about beginnings. There are so many things that have yet to happen, and I’m, for one, thrilled to be living a life that’s still blossoming.”
Thanks so much, Sarah! 😃💕Wouldn’t it be the worst feeling in the world to know as a creative person you’ve actually blossomed? hehe… that somehow you’re done and that was all there was? Nay, I say, we’re all still blossoming!