Monday, February 11, 2008

Sydney blue

I haven't uploaded any Moleskine pages for a long time, and I actually haven't used my Moleskine much lately either. Well, I've rectified both. There are a few old pages newly on my Flickr page if you are interested and this one I did on the weekend while staying at the 'Harbour View' in North Sydney (a subtle but effective name, really). I love the view over Lavender Bay. It is the same view that Brett Whiteley painted again and again. In fact you can see Brett's favourite palms from the 'Harbour View', but the don't really show up in this sketch.

Anyway, I had a lovely time in Sydney but came home with a bad head cold. Yuck. What I came home to that wasn't 'yuck' was this email:

Hi Jan,
Last night I dropped by your blog & found the interview with Eric Maisel. As I read the interview a light bulb went off in my brain. I have an artist friend who has bouts of depression, who is passionate about her art, who wants to put it out there in the world but becomes depressed when faced with even the prospect of a rejection. The last couple of days have been particularly bad & I even suggested to her that it may be time to seek professional help. She battled through it & a couple of days later things seemed brighter as a new outlet for her art presented itself.

It was late last night when I sent her to your blog. She read the interview & this was her response:

"I was hanging off every word... looks like my prayers for help have been answered "

Needless to say, she immediately found an online supplier & ordered The Van Gogh Blues. I really hope that she has found some answers & guidance.

I believe in fate, serendipity, whatever people call it. I was thinking I was meant to make contact with you because of the art course but it wasn't about me at all.

Thanks Jan & thanks Eric

Christine (who is {im}patiently waiting for her course material to arrive!)



I was so touched by this. Eric Maisel's books truly do have the capacity to prompt positive change in the lives of creative people. I return to them over and over for renewed inspiration and a reminder of the habits I'm hoping to instill permanently. It is a journey. I'm getting somewhere. I like where I'm at now, and looking forward to seeing where I end up next.


4 comments:

Laura Frankstone said...

This is wonderful! It reminds me of some of Raoul Dufy's south of France watercolors. I'm not good at heights---I'm not sure I could have drawn this. Another thing I'm not good at is condensing a vast scene into a small sketchbook, but you did this gloriously.

Rebecca Hickman said...

Another beautiful piece.
Hope you are feeling better.

E-J said...

I ordered the Maisel book online after reading the interview on your blog, and it's on its way to me.

Your sketch of the harbour is wonderful, and makes me long to visit Sydney again!

quirkyartist said...

This one is fantastic.