Doodling for the very afraid

Writing makes me happy.

Reading makes me happy.

Patterns and colours make me happy.

So far I have indulged the first two but not the third. (I have the same fear of art as I used to have about writing. i.e. the thought of it makes me feel slightly queasy).

This year I conquered my fear of writing children’s books and FINALLY sent a finished manuscript to an agent. Woohoooo!

Next year I think I should conquer my fear of art (I love looking at it…it’s doing it that gives me the collywobbles.)

I have a feeling writing and art are intertwined – if I do one, it will enhance the other. Heck, I might even do both at the same time and write and illustrate a children’s book! But let’s not get carried away here. My drawing skills are ropey to say the least.

So, in the interests of expanding my creativity, I’m thinking of doing a Surface Pattern Design course next year. If you don’t know what this is (I was blissfully unaware of its existence as a career option myself until last year) then check out this Print & Pattern blog which will explain all.

In preparation for my impending artiness I managed to do some quick doodles last night (if I tell myself I am just doing “a quick doodle” I can bypass some of my fear it seems. You can’t go wrong with a doodle. There are no rules. Plus it’s OK for it to look ‘childish’, which is quite handy in my case):