One thing I've struggled with since being a mom (and really, this was a struggle before as well) is making time to create a priority.  Typically I'd always put my home responsibilities -- the dishes, the laundry, the dog hair -- on top, and if I happened to have extra time, I'd draw. This rarely ever happened, of course

I was talking with another new-mom-friend about this.  She had the opposite problem -- she'd prioritize her personal projects and housework would never get done.  We then had the idea that if we set a timer for ten minutes and focused on whatever task it was we were putting off (whether drawing or doing the dishes), we could get so much done.  You don't have to worry about completing the task, just focus on it exclusively for ten minutes.

I've been doing that with my drawing the last few weeks. Ransom is taking just one nap now, and so I have a precious 1.5-2.5 hours of quiet time to get things done.  I used to just dive into cleaning the kitchen after putting him down, but now most days I try to ignore the dishes and the clutter, sit down at my kitchen table (I do have to at least wipe that down), set the timer on my phone and draw for ten minutes.

I've been amazed at how much more I have drawn by doing this! Such as ..

Today with my 10 minutes I've started sketching out my next bug: a beetle. More on that later.

And guys, last week I said I wanted to post on this blog once a week, and here I am the very next week, doing what I said.  Bam!

I’ve decided to resurrect my blog. 

Many of you may know that I began a Patreon page at the beginning of the year.  With Patreon, people sign up to be supporters and pay small amounts on a monthly basis in return for rewards.  For instance, for $3 a patron would get a printable coloring sheet every month, and for $12 I would mail you three greeting cards each month (as well as a coloring sheet).

My Patreon page has had slow growth since it started in January.  And by slow growth I mean no growth from the original 4 wonderful, lovely people who signed up (one of whom was my husband whom I told to sign up so I can see what it looked like from a patron's point of view).  

So, I’ve decided to call it quits.  It was an experiment.  Calling it an experiment makes me feel better for ending it.

I did like having the spot (my Patreon page) to write more extensive updates and share even more process videos/pictures than on my Instagram and Facebook.  That got me thinking that I might like to resurrect this blog.  

Death brings new life.

Blogging in some form or fashion has been apart of my life back since i had a Xanga in 2005.  Oh, actually before that I had an anonymous “online diary” even in middle school/high school... That’s before I even knew the word "blog"! Crazy. It was on diaryland.com (which is still around, I just found out!).

So yeah, I think this space on my website could be nice.  Now that I’m not the in throws of first-year-motherhood (second year is still hard, but my head is above water at least) perhaps I’ll even update it consistently. My goal will be once a week, but we shall see...

I considered not even sharing that I failed at Patreon.  It’s not very professional to go around pointing out how I tried something that didn’t work.  But then I decided that for that reason, I should share it.  

This blog is not a marketing tool (i started thinking of it in that way in the past which is why I think I lost interest.)  This is a space for me to share the thoughts/processes regarding my art-making and anything else that feels pertinent at the time.  I will have zero expectations regarding comments/likes/traffic.  

Join me if you like -- you can subscribe to get updates over there on the side bar (or perhaps on the bottom of the page if you're using a phone?).  Or don't join me.  Whatevs.

(I've posted this below quote a handful of times in the past, but it's helpful for me to see it again)