Saturday, February 24, 2007

Choices


I came across Stoddard's essay Have as few Regrets as Possible; an excerpt from Alexandra Stoddard's book You Are Your Choices on the blog Paris Parfait. You can read the full exerpt there.

"What are you making of yourself when those around you are lazy and indifferent? What are you doing with your life? It's never too late to choose to change yourself. Do not give up or run away from the opportunity to grow. That is the ultimate tragedy. There's no place to go and hide in life. Your job, your duty, your responsibility is to make the most you can of you." "... Don't regret that you were unable to shape up others; only regret when you don't live up to your own vast potential for good."

"Don't be afraid to do what only you can do. Rather than having chest pains trying to do work you no longer are capable of or enjoy, it may be better to cut your losses. You will feel great joy and satisfaction doing something you know you love to do. What would you choose to do if you knew you couldn't fail? Do that very thing, because it is there where you'll develop your potential."

Today I spent time developing a small study in pastel for a larger drawing that I will create. Its the start of a study of rock formations near the ocean. This one was inspired by the smooth sandy stone arch found on Laguna Beach. It will end up being about 22 x 30 and likely will continue as a pastel as its a medium that I haven't used a lot but once using it, love the feel. I need to find a suitable pastel paper locally that will fit the bill for this. I know I can likely only find Mi-Tientes in the larger size so it will likely be that.

There are a number of naturally created arches in sea rock in Newfoundland and across Canada. I will take time to explore some of these and see how they compare to their Pacific cousins.

4 comments:

paris parfait said...

Such wonderful art! And thanks for the nod. Stoddard's book is packed full of good advice, much of which we already know, but don't necessarily follow.

Anonymous said...

How fun to see this emerging. To know we actually walked under that arch will be a fond memory. Also I love your quote.

Making A Mark said...

Looking very promising Jeannette - and thanks for the reference

Jeanette Jobson said...

Thank you. I'll have to explore Stoddard's books in more depth.

The archway has inspired me and I see all sorts of possibilities with it in different mediums. To have actually been there gives it special meaning.

Thanks Katherine. I got the base down for the large version of the archway late last night and am pleased with how its going so far.