My Sketchier Side

This weekend I had a chance to sit down and visit with a friend for a little bit. She has been reading my blog and had some ideas that she was very kind to share. Perhaps the one that I took to the most was the idea of keeping a sketch book. Now, for anyone reading who does not know my very well- I'm not an artist. I have never had any desire to be artistic. I took a drawing class once in college because they made me. I didn't hate that, but the ideas of inspiration never took. Just not my thang.

However, as my friend the art teacher described the purpose of the sketch book, I understood it in a new light. It's not just for artists who want to create the masterpieces of their lives; it's a private visual diary. I don't have to show it to anyone. I don't have to explain to anyone why I drew what I drew or wrote what I wrote. I kind of liked that idea. She talked to me about balance in the types of activities in my life, and I've never had any type of creative expression before, unless you count the doodles I make all over my agenda in my weekly Tuesday client meetings. I've never wanted or thought I needed it. But right now it seems like something I should try.

So I went out and bought a sketch book and a few very basic supplies. It reminded me a little bit of the time that Dizzle and I were inspired to start knitting in college, went to WalMart at 9pm on a school night and came running back home so that our neighbor could cast off for us and we could start our first scarves. I hope this new hobby will last longer than the 3 days of knitting.

So I have tried to start thinking about what I want to do with it. What are my thoughts that I can't use words for? What colors do I want to see on paper? What mediums do I want to create with? I'm not sure where to pull inspiration from. So my question to all of you for today is, where do you pull inspiration from? And this doesn't have to be just for my artsy friends, but for anyone. What things inspire you to think a little differently? What makes you pause and reflect?

I hope that I can start to fill some pages, and maybe I'll even post a few pages on here if I feel particularly proud, or if it might inspire a fun post. But at this point, I can't promise that I won't have an entire book full of stick figure sketches of Mickey. But if I do, I think the whole point of this exercise tells me that would be just fine.