I mentioned the other day that art was what kept me going doing a period when I almost gave up my writing. I’m grateful to my art teacher Richard Halstead for helping me keep that creative spark alive and also for one other thing. The portrait of Betsy on the cover of my novel is my own work. I created it by working from a couple of the existing portraits painted during her lifetime.
There is also a third reason that my art is important to me. Because I’m a freelance educational writer as well as a novelist, I used my verbal skills all the time. Sometimes that part of my brain just needs a rest. A couple of weeks ago, I deliberately took a couple of hours to work on a drawing just to find a little balance. It’s not much more than a sketch, but here it is:
Ruth Hull Chatlien 
That’s really good. My drawings aren’t much more than gray pencil sketches. I drew the picture on my blog header, but that’s about the best drawing I’ve ever done.
Thanks, Krystal. I like the drawing on your blog header.
I learned a lot from my art teacher. He’s a portrait painter with a national reputation. I have tons more to learn, but I haven’t been able to take classes for a couple of years.
Wow. Terrific. How cool that you could do the artwork for your own novel. My brother is an artist also. It’s his profession and too expensive so I only have a couple of his pieces. Because I write historical fiction like you, I need a break from all that research, much as I love it. My other passion is gardening and I take a rest from writing and research during a couple of the summer months and concentrate on growing plants.
Linnea, I’m a gardener too, although I had a hard time getting out there this past summer. Nothing is as calming as weeding!
Very inspiring. I think creativity has cycles and rhythms.
Thank you, Lucie.
P.S. I think you’re right about the cycles and rhythms.