"Getting Things Done for America"- the past year (2008)

Hello everyone. It's been a little while, but as promised, here's a catchup on visual work from the past year or so. An old coworker of mine had a great suggestion when I started the Watershed Stewards Project through AmeriCorps in 2008: why not document my year of service through a sketchbook journal? The idea had me very excited, tying together my visual art background with my new involvement with environmental work. . .and immediately I started to sketch the new things I learned from my placement site about salmon, steelhead, and their habitat. But of course, as this will show, I didn't have my nose buried in my sketchbook as much as I initially thought I would. . .there were many new things to explore and experience in the Redwood Curtain of Northern California. As time has passed (and you art nuts may cross your fingers in shame of what I may say), I have let go more and more of the idea of filling up a sketchbook that has been so ingrained in me from college. It's more important to experience life. . .and then the drawings will follow. . . you don't have to fill up a book a month. Heck, if you only fill up a half a tiny sketchbook in a year, you're still just as much as an artist as others. Life is not about quotas. You're not going to lose your skill and ability. . .the time will be right when the time is right. It's good to step away. Being an artist is being an artist of life. Why limit yourself to one aspect, the visual? Life has been so much more rewarding. . .2008 was a rough year, but I have grown much and am grateful for the good that I did experience. Here are the drawings and sketches: