Back in the Saddle After a Decades Long Hiatus…

 Anyone who has known me since childhood knows I’ve always been a creative type. I’ve always loved music and singing even though I can’t play an instrument to save my life (I can read music though) or sing for the life of me, the writing has always come naturally for me once I realized I loved it and my Grade 4 teacher at Petite Riviere Elementary School, Mrs. Hache, told me I had a knack for spinning a tale.

Another thing I loved doing was drawing. I was drawing since I was about six or seven years old, and always seemed to draw something to go with any of the short stories I wrote for my teachers, notably from about grade 2 and up through elementary school. I can still see one story about my longtime pal Cindy and me going to a Bryan Adams concert hanging on Mrs. Hache’s bulletin board in her classroom, she loved it so much, and there was a picture I drew of me and Cindy included with it.

Unfortunately, I gave it up after a while. I got so many hateful and downright mean comments about it that when I got in with the rougher crowd (think the ones who smoked, didn’t do their school work and more) in junior high that I gave it up. It seemed that only the geeky kids took stuff like art class in the higher grades, and some told me I didn’t have what it takes to be an artist. That upset me because my great uncle Howard (Shankle) was a well-known woodlands painter in Canada and parts of the United States, and he was one of the few people who encouraged me – along with my mom and some of my teachers – to keep up with the art, they thought I had a lot of potential. So I set aside my pencils and pens, and started focusing more on the writing.

All of you know how the writing turned out… My debut novel, Stricken (which is now the first book of The Feathered Tartan series!), came out in March 2017, and I am seeing my seventh book, Could Have Been (Feathered Tartan 4), published by Extasy Books later this spring… Two of my published books, Away to Me and Honestly (Feathered Tartan 3), have received the Extasy Books’ Editor’s Choice Seal of Excellence, meaning they are among the cream of the crop when it comes to Extasy’s expansive top of the line stories… which is saying something considering we have tons of talented authors with amazing books published via Extasy!

Recently, I realized that in order to expand my itty bitty art business, I’d better get on the ball and start making ultra-unique items, like drawings and more, all created by me. On paper. Not AI generated (I don’t like it, anyone who knows me knows why!) and I do not want to use stock photos or anything else generated by another human. I want to be able to create one of a kind drawings and paintings with my own hands, for book cover art, and even unique pieces for prints, and more – think selling stuff on art sites as a designer.

My ultimate goal is to be able to draw my own characters like Ewan, Dana and Joshua Campbell (for example), so my readers and others can see them as I do… One of my author and art pals is in the middle of creating a webtoon for their debut novel, a science fiction/dystopian story, and it’s so cool seeing their characters as they see them.

I’d love to be able to do that, but it won’t be for a long, long time.

For one, I have to learn a few techniques. There’s more to drawing than just lines. You have to learn things like shading, blending colors, and more. It’s overwhelming at first, but I’m slowly getting used to holding a pencil different ways, and looking at objects and people to see the shapes in them, plus shading and different shades of colors, etc.

I recently purchased a large art pencil set from Amazon. It includes various pencils in varying hardness for drawing, outlining, shading and more; metallic and regular color pencils; charcoal in white, black and green with various hardness and softness; erasers, two pads (one for watercolors, one for plain sketching); and the most coolest of all – watercolor pencils which you draw with, then activate with water. It’s so awesome!

My new art pencil set... SO PRETTY!!!

I’ve played with shading and drawing with the regular pencils, and recently did a drawing using the black and green charcoals. Today is a fun day, I’m playing with the watercolor pencils. They are so much fun to use! I love it.

I’m not confident or good enough to share my work yet. It’s been ages since I last picked up a drawing pencil or paint, and I’m so rusty that I’m creaking loudly… Worse than a squeaky wheel.

It does feel great to be doing it again after so long. I find it relaxing, and it’s so nice to be able to see how much I’m improving even after a few tries at something. I still have light years to go but I’m willing to walk that distance.

Having a few great friends and art mentors cheering me on is a huge help too. I can’t thank them enough for their love and support!

I am so happy right now. I’m expanding my horizons back to what they were when I was a child. I’m writing, doing art on the computer as a graphics designer, and on my own with pencils and paper.

Life is so beautiful! I love this!

Have a fantastic weekend everyone! I leave you with a new single from Godsmack, who are one of my favorite bands. I can’t thank my longtime friend Lorrie L for introducing them to me. I love Godsmack! Here’s the video for Truth.