I was trying to get back into Instagram and after four weeks, it just doesn’t seem worth the mental struggle. So instead, inspired by posts I receive from The ancient eavesdropper (I’m posting this using Jetpack and it’s not working well, will edit this with the link tonight.) I’ve decided to post a wordless photo here every Wednesday. All photos are taken by myself using an iPhone as my Canon T3i is no longer easily supported by my laptop operating system and I no longer own a SLR camera.(!) Images will be of plants in my garden or 2D art/sketches/fibre projects I’m working on.
Happy Wednesday, I look forward to sharing Wordless Wednesday photos with you!
We are making adjustments to our already quiet home. All three of us. We forgot to include her in the decision; although, perhaps she already knew. On Saturday, through hair I collected from the cat house, she took in the scent of her departed companion and I let her know that she is gone. She’s not coming back.
I wish I had drawn her more, but I made a promise to rectify that and when I can, I draw and am getting better at the drawings. We are figuring it out together. And this time, I will have more of a record of our time together in a way that photos never can.
Drawing from life. Sketchbook. Pen and Ink. B. Wanhill, 2022-2026
pacing intransitive verb 1a : to walk with often slow or measured tread transitive verb 1b : to cover at a walk 3a : to set or regulate the pace of also: to establish a moderate or steady pace for (oneself) b(1) : to go before : PRECEDE b(2) : to set an example for : LEAD – Merriam-Webster Dictionary
One of our cats has been pacing for the last week or so. Her health is in unexpectedly rapid decline and up until now, pacing for her has only been exhibited when she wants food or when she wants outside. Wrapped up in our own pacing thoughts and frenetic daily movements consumed by work and other life commitments, we were perhaps not fully aware that her current pacing was illustrating her physical discomfort and pain. Today, the pacing has stopped. She has found comfort in a blanket tent I created for her – a remembering of when she was a kitten and liked to hide under the blue weighted warmth of woven fabric. Within the pace of a (mostly) indoor cat’s lifespan, she has lived a full, adventuresome life. She is teaching me to reconsider what it means to really live, even within the parameters outside my control… to make the most of what I have, slow down and be grateful for moments of comfort. To be more intentional about the pacing of the short time we have here.
Drawing from life can help us intentionally slow down and connect with what is right in front of us in the present moment. Including with those we love.
At the end of March, encouraged by windchill, I set out at a brisk pace and placed the pussytoes wreath I created last June near an ant hill. Even on that very cold day, ants were surfacing to take in the sun. Yesterday, I had time to visit the spot and the ant hill was teeming. It was hard to even find the wreath. In less than two months it has almost completely dissolved back into the earth. Nature sets a fast pace when conditions are right.
Human planted spring ephemerals also grow through a fast pace in this part of the world. Between a rollercoaster rhythm of snow and summer temperatures, the narcissus have come and gone within weeks. I rarely pick them, but the Narcissus ‘Poeticus’ fragrance is divine and their form: elegant and sculptural, especially in dim light.
The pace of this May long weekend has been slow and reflective. Narcissus “Poeticus’ and ‘Thalia’ catch light from the overhead window in the stairwell.
quietly creating 