1/10/21 Egg and Ritual

I don’t plan on writing much in this blog. However, I got through my first full drawing week while also teaching. Time to reflect. I used to be an administrator, as well, and tend to be a work-a-holic. This often gets in the way of drawing. There are always papers to grade or lessons to plan. These are also great excuses to avoid failing in other areas of life.

While eggs offer classic drawing brightness studies, for me, they also represent ritual. On Sundays, I boil one up for each day of the school week. As my supply dwindles I can see the end of the week’s marathon.

I hold several small rituals to anchor the day, beginning with a 4:30 a.m. alarm followed by coffee, paperwork and communications. Blinders stay on until 4:30 p.m. or later. Many work days just blur into the next. Burnout can be a real deal.

This first week of drawing was an act of faith. I did not have a plan of where drawing would fit into the grind. As it turned out, the practice found its own time. On arriving home home each evening I found an object, sat down in front of the woodstove, and shutoff all the words running through my head. I just looked, looked for the shadows, light and form. A new ritual is born. Keep the faith.