Indulgent Rituals and Practices

I draw my dog Lucy like Jack draws one of his French girls.

She is my muse and my inspiration.

I don’t know why, but I find the shapes that she makes with her resting body to be so interesting.

Part of me wishes I could sleep for fifteen hours a day – curling into the softest corners when I need to be cozy, flopping onto cool floors when I’m hot, stretching in the sun when I need to dry, or submitting to the fluff of the duvet comforter for afternoon siestas. 

Perhaps it’s my not allowing myself to indulge this urge to check out of the day’s work and business that I find myself relaxing into the pages of my sketchbook – slopping paint around and scratching dark marks with pencil in order to unwind and settle. It’s a sort of sleep and rest – this sketchbook practice. 

I cherish it just as Lucy devotes herself to remaining horizontal. Right now she is having her morning nap in the sunny corner of the couch. I love that she prefers this sundrenched spot. We all have rituals, I suppose, that keep us going, and maintaining a sketchbook practice is one of my most beloved.