My new art teacher Dina… I painted a quick portrait from our ZOOM class

Aug 22

I've been thinking about the beauty and power of habits which form over time, and many years.

There's something organic, even wise, drawing from your practice, like you would water from a well, regularly, each season, and year-after-year.

Freckled with periods of inactivity, we always return, and begin-again, especially after loss, disappointment, heartbreak, sorrow, failure and sickness. We let go of results and productivity and allow these habits to carve depth into our souls.

I think my sketchbook habit started in 2004. I'm trying to nail down the exact date as I research journals and notebooks for the memoir I'm writing.

We're talking nearly 20 years since I first picked up a pen and paintbrush with watercolors on the Upper East Side of The City.

I've noticed a belonging, a feeling of home, when I turn to drawing, painting and strengthening my skills this Summer. It's become a fluid resting place to process the emotional reverberation as I collect "scenes" for my memoir.

I'm grateful for its presence in my life.

I just started a six week course, called The Sketchbook Habit, with an amazing teacher named Dina Brodsky. Her guidance has already encouraged me into new tools, paper and techniques.

Here's what I've created during the first week.