My inspiring friend Carol Cooke, training for the Olympics.

you bloody ripper!

I can’t draw.

I was really struggling in anatomy class when one of my classmates prompted me to get the right brain talking to the left brain.

There was no way I was going to distort anyone’s face, period.

Anyone can draw. Come on. At least do a stick figure.

And so began my new found passion for a blank piece of paper and a 2B pencil.

For far too long, my left brain has been in charge: organising, planning and directing, ruling the majority of my decisions and judgements. It needed to be let loose.

And so I commenced my Twitter and Facebook requests for profile pics. And I had rules: ten minutes, no eraser and just go with it.

Never had I experienced anything that quietened my brain to the point I become one with observation, focussed on the angles of the nose, the curl of the lips, the shadows and lines that hid stories and life.

On a recent trip to Bali, I decided to curl in a hammock and spent the morning sketching a photograph I had taken the evening before.

And now I just can’t stop. People want me to draw their portraits. I don’t promise masterpieces. And I appreciate the opportunity to create and unwind.

I’ve found that drawing is an organic process that takes a blank page and allows one to observe, express, interpret and reinterpret. As the lines appear on the page, so does the magic of creation.

So now you’re stuck with me writing and posting up my sketches every once in a while.

When was the last time you created something from a blank piece of paper? A blank screen? A blank mind?

When was the last time you tried something new?

Go on. Who knows what you may find.

Express yourself.

you bloody ripper!