Sketchbook Update

and where life has been lately

It’s the beginning of summer, and I’ve been thinking a lot about the way people talk about it, how it gets mythologized. Long lake days, summer camps, cabins, sunscreen and popsicles, tangled hair from swimming too long. I never had that version. I don’t even think I really wanted it, though I imagined it. I imagined bunk beds and friendship bracelets and letters home written in gel pen. I imagined a lake and a dock and someone calling out that it was time for canoe lessons.

But in real life, summer meant heat. Heat so thick it folded time into stillness. I stayed inside. The air conditioner steady and alive in the silence. I played The Sims for hours, full days disappearing into little houses I built from the ground up. They were great summers. Not fulfilling in the montage in a coming-of-age film sense, but deeply satisfying in another way. I’m learning to honor that now.

New revelation: my art needs structure to live. A grid, a shape. Geometry has become a map for me. Not for restriction, but for translation. There has to be order to birth chaos. Without it, I get lost. Does that make sense?

One picture book (dummy) is, more or less, finished. At least for my eyes. That quiet “done” that doesn’t mean perfect, but means I can let it go? Now I’m starting something new. Something looser. A change of format helps me breathe again.

On July 1st, I’m teaching an online mixed media class. We’ll be experimenting with different techniques, blending drawing with storytelling, and reconnecting with the joy of creative practice. I’d love to see you there!

Today’s Artist to Know is Gerbilles. An amazing illustrator and plant enthusiast whose work you can find here. Enjoy the interview.

From Gerbilles’ Instagram