After reading about it on the Ellis Hollow blog, I decided on a whim to take an online class on botanical drawing through Cornell University.
Given that I have never before expressed (out loud anyway) the desire to draw or paint, it rather took some folks by surprise when I finally admitted to family and friends why I was stocking up on drawing pencils, pads and books on drawing.
My husband’s reaction was: “WHAT?”
My son’s reaction was: “You’re just like your mother!”
My friend Angela’s reaction was: “Why botanical drawing?”
So, to them I’ll answer:
To my husband: [Carefully enunciating here] “An…online…botanical…drawing…class.”
To my son: “Not exactly what I was aiming for, but I can see why you would say that.”
To my friend Angela: “What else would I draw?”
Here’s what I have learned in one week.
First, I have learned to never again say “I’m not an artist.”
No, it’s not that I think I’ve transformed overnight into Marie Cassatt with the help of one week of an online course. Rather, it’s that saying the words “I’m not an artist” is an excuse not to try to improve what skills I can.
On the other hand, given that I’ve reached the age of <<bleep>> without drawing much more than some stick figures here and there and poking fun at myself with a series of drawings on my garden blog, I don’t expect to discover my inner Vermeer. But perhaps I can learn to pay better attention to the details of the natural world around me, render them with enough skill to be able to put it to practical use, and—hey—why not just enjoy slowing down and communing with nature in a way that doesn’t require gloves. a shovel and a shower afterward?
The second thing I’ve learned this week is that the hardest part of learning to draw—so far—has been getting started. I have dedicated the small secretary desk by my bed as my drawing “studio” and filled all the little cubbies with pencils, erasers and inks. I have a nice basket on the floor by the desk where I keep my pads and books on botanical drawing. That was the easy part.
The very hardest part was facing the sprig of Winter King Hawthorn and the empty sheet of paper with a pencil in my hand. OMG. I am taking an online course so I can turn in stick figures and humiliate myself!
“Stop it!!!” (Mental head slap.)
I finally took a deep breath and started with the stems. Big stems. Slim stems. Slimmer stems. Even slimmer stems on the slimmer stems. Did you know there are little tiny white places on brown stems? And some little darker brown spots? And did you know that when the stem meets the tiny little orange-red berry on the Winter King Hawthorn that there is an ever-so-slight indentation?
I don’t believe I’ve ever really looked that closely—or for that long—before. I’ve been too busy pulling the weeds under the tree, I suppose.
But as I looked at the berries, I see that they aren’t just ORANGE. They are hues of orange that can be drawn to suggest the shading, circular shape and even shininess of the berry.
Capturing all this newfound insight with a pencil is not so very easy, however. This does not come naturally to me.
But as I was browsing through the Barnes & Noble for the last of the recommended texts I needed, a rather obvious revelation came to me. The reason people write and publish books on drawing and other arts is because all these fabulous techniques don’t come naturally to most people. And that’s why they have whole classes devoted to learning different art techniques. So you can learn to do it!
Just like I had to take years and years of piano lessons and spend hours and hours of time practicing before I could call myself a pianist, people spend many years at training and practice to become artists! No one (okay, hardly anyone) just sits down at the piano for the first time knowing how to play. Most people don’t just pick up a pencil and create a fabulous drawing their first try.
Isn’t it funny how the most obvious things can be the last things that you understand?
Robin
At our house we don’t make New Year’s resolutions.
Rather, we set annual goals and have a tradition of sharing all or some of them at our New Year’s dinner. Many years we post them, or at least those we don’t mind sharing, on the refrigerator as a daily reminder of what we wish to accomplish in the coming months. There are some goals I don’t share with anyone, either because they are too personal or because I’m simply not ready to divulge some part of myself in this way.
I think it’s important to distinguish between goals and resolutions. Resolutions are black and white. You do it or don’t. You win or lose.
Frankly, most people aren’t designed for resolutions. It’s simply too difficult for most of us to suddenly make a U-turn and start swimming in the opposite direction against a well-established tide. That is, I think, why so many people who make resolutions stumble around, oh, January 6, and never show up at the gym again. Or they inhale a truckload of Fritos and figure they’re doomed.
Goals, on the other hand, take a longer view. Goals are things that you wish to achieve that need to be taken, perhaps, in steps—a bit at a time. If there is something you wish to do that you can “just do,” such as finally cleaning out the garden shed or digging that new herb border, that is not a goal. It’s something that is on your “to do” list, but it is not a goal.
I am fortunate enough to work with a group of consultants who specialize in this type of planning, so I’ve more or less internalized the process of strategic planning for organizations and even adapted it for my own personal planning.
Here’s a simplified version of how it works:
First think about what you want to be. This takes some serious thinking and is probably not something that can be done in the heat of the moment on New Year’s Day. I regularly revisit this question on vacations and during other down-times when I have the leisure of self-examination.
Ask yourself: What is it that I want to be known for, to be and have achieved in, say, the next 10 to 20 years? That may seem a bit of a far-fetched way to begin thinking about annual goals, but it’s not really. Without this long-term vision of what you want to be, you won’t be able to develop a plan to get there. It’s rather like going on a road trip without a destination in mind. You end up doing a lot of things, but they may or may not be the right things. You might get to where you want to go—or you might not. A shocking number of people don’t have a plan. But those who do achieve impressive things.
Here’s an example of how you might frame that type of statement about what you want to be:
“I want to live a life that is peaceful, socially responsible and beautiful and to leave behind a legacy for those values when I am gone.”
Sounds great, right? But boy, that’s a tall order. However will I do that?
Here’s the next step: Think about the things you must accomplish within the next few months to get you closer to living this statement. What you come up with, then, are the goals. Many times it’s helpful to put the goals into a framework of an outcome that describes an end-state.
For our example, some goals to get there might be:
-I minimize my carbon footprint on the planet.
-I surround myself with positive, joyful people who share my interests.
-I have a home that seamlessly blends indoors and outdoors in a garden that welcomes friends and family.
Getting the idea here? These are goals.
The next step is to set objectives for each of these goals. Objectives get you closer to the action steps, but also indicate milestones or measures that indicate what you need to do. Objectives are observable and often are measurable.
Let’s take the goal of minimizing my carbon footprint on the planet.
Some observable and measurable objectives for this might be:
-I reduce the number of kilowatts of electricity used in our household by 25%.
-I rely less on consuming foods from far-away places by growing and preserving a third of our family’s vegetable needs.
-I reduce our household’s water needs by 20%.
After you’ve identified these objectives, you can set the strategies that most of us are familiar with. These look like most people’s “to do” lists or resolutions.
Some strategies for the objectives to reduce electrical consumption above might be:
-Replace incandescent electric bulbs with new energy-efficient bulbs.
-Turn the water heater thermostat down five degrees.
-Hang laundry outside to dry when weather permits.
-Turn the computer and other major appliances off at night.
-Turn the heat thermostat down 3 or 4 degrees at night.
Once you begin thinking about how you want to live long-term the day-to-day activities really do add up. Over time, it’s amazing what you can accomplish if you have a plan for how to get there.
It’s like that old metaphor about how to eat an elephant—one bit at a time.
One other note about planning: Goals don’t conveniently get achieved in 365 days. Some goals can take a lifetime to achieve. And the beauty of the New Year is that it’s the perfect annual reminder to revisit your goals, revise you goals, cross off goals that no longer seem relevant or important and add new ones.
I hope this wasn’t all too academic and that you can start thinking about your own long-term goals with whatever planning system makes sense to you. There is more than one way to tackle the idea. For example, I notice that Carol at May Dream Gardens also outlined a cool approach with the PLANT acronym.
Whatever you do, I hope you don’t do what someone I know and love said: “I don’t make resolutions so I don’t disappoint myself.” Sheesh. I’ll have to work on that fellow.
Will I be publishing my annual goals? Nosiree. But I will tell you that I’ve been very very good about my renewed workout plan. The very stress-filled fall I had had a positive side. It reminded me that I can’t take my health for granted–and that the older I get the harder I’ll have to work at it. It really is a part-time job.
For everyone who has visited (and read this far), I wish you a peaceful and happy New Year!
Robin
My gift of a straight jacket for my crazy brother may not be as gross as his poo gifts, but I think it’s appropriate. He has a high stress computer job and also tends to be a bit, well, eccentric, if not outright crazy sometimes. What better gift than a straight jacket?
My card suggested this new straight jacket would be great for the days when he needs a jacket at work.
By the way, that’s his handsome son, Blake, in the background. He has another (a twin) named Hunter. (Actually, that looks like Hunter to me now. Pick one.)
I hope you had a great holiday. I have been at the Isle of Palms off the coast of Charleston, South Carolina. We were blessed with unseasonably warm weather, so I walked on the beach about two hours each day.
I ‘ve been working on New Year goals. I am not one of those who poopoos the idea of goal setting (like my poopoo brother). In fact I find this such an invigorating time of year. I’ll be sharing my goal setting strategy shortly. Whoohoo!
Robin
