Studio Series: drawing leaves

Leaf row © Karen Thiessen, 2013

Now that the children's community quilt is finished, my studio tidied, cleared, and my studio floor scrubbed clean, fresh energy is flowing for new projects. I printed out images from my previous two Visual Research posts and pinned them to my working flannel wall. I'm in the active gathering, looking, and reflection phase of my studio cycle. New work is being incubated and I'm always curious to see the progression of the idea or work from point A to point B. 

As I was contemplating my newly populated flannel wall, I started drawing a few leaves of significance. The middle leaf is a mulberry leaf and the others are Chortitza oak leaves. I drew them with my fine Pigma Micron pens and found the process to be deeply meditative.

On a nerdy note, I've been thinking of Lent 2014 since October and have a few Lenten practice ideas kicking around. For those who love it as much as I do, Lent 2014 begins on Wednesday March 5 and ends on Saturday April 19. In the past I gave things up, like chocolate, wine or all sugar. Then I added a "doing" component to the "not doing." In 2011 I gave up chocolate and decided to practice a minimum of 15 minutes of yoga each day. I continued the daily yoga beyond Lent and as of today, I've practiced yoga 1059 days in a row. Last year I drew each day of Lent and gave up chocolate. I'm thinking about a drawing/mark making Lenten practice for 2014. Naturally, I'll give up chocolate again.