I don’t sit down and draw or just make art very often anymore.  For one thing, I need lots of time and quiet concentration– a way to get in the right frame of mind– to draw.  That is hard with a 2 year old who insists on climbing in my (shrinking) lap if it ever looks like I’m doing anything remotely interesting, and all the daily responsibilities that come with this stage of life I’m in.  I also have a hard time justifying making things that aren’t useful, and so as I’ve settled into motherhood I’ve turned to sewing or knitting to fill my creative need because they require less brain power from me, and I end up with a finished project that can be USED by me, my family, or whoever it happens to be gifted to.

But, today I needed to make something just because I wanted to make it.  My sweet husband has kept a bouquet of fresh flowers on my counter or kitchen table since Valentine’s day, and so every now and then I’d put a quick sketch of one flower or another in my sketch book.  I’ve wanted to turn those sketches into hand carved stamps, but never find the time.  Today I just made one.

(When Brenna saw me working she ran to get the camera.)

I was out the door to do grocery shopping much later than I had planned on, and then when we did go Hunter still had some wild and crazy bedhead going on.  But let me tell you– it felt so good to sit and draw and create just for the sake of it– so right, so me.  Does that make any sense?

My  kids draw and draw and draw all day and I always tell myself I don’t have time to sit and draw with them, but maybe I do.  The groceries did get bought and put away, diapers still got changed, meals got made– but drawing and carving just one flower helped me do it all with a brighter smile inside.