The community that Jane built

It began simply enough - a quick sketch as part of my 29 faces challenge

She was feeling a little overwhelmed, so a friend popped in to see her and the new baby

It was good to talk things over with an experienced mother

And then another friend popped in with a casserole for dinner and did a load of laundry while her own baby slept in the meh tai. She was from the ABA breastfeeding support group and remembered how challenging those first days were.

When another friend read on Facebook that visitors were welcome this afternoon, she popped around too. They had met at the ABA breastfeeding class a few months ago and were both excited to be having their babies so close together. She watched, fascinated, as the baby did exactly what they had seen on the video in class.

Mum came in after putting away the groceries she had bought and was happy to see her daughter surrounded by friends.

When the new father finished stacking the dishwasher, he came back to watch the baby start to feed again. He couldn't get over his amazement that the baby knew exactly where the nipple was and how to move her body to get to it.

Even the cat was there to offer his support, though nobody seemed to notice ;)

The End!

This past few days, my Facebook Friends have played along with this drawing and - interestingly - all their suggested characters had already crossed my mind to include! Working as I do, with new mothers learning to breastfeed, I wish this idyllic scene was real for them all, but sadly I know it is rare for many. It takes more than a pencil to create a supportive, nurturing environment around new mothers, but we should still aim to make it happen.

http://www.facebook.com/yvette.odowd

Final Faces

Having completely lost count as I ended up not doing one a day, so here they all are and let's hope I made the 29!

Turns out there was just one face missing from the 29 ... and then she arrived just in time ;)

Today's faces

It has been a sad week. As a teenager, I spend hours every week dancing to the big disco hits, either in my bedroom, the local underage disco or my best friends' lounge rooms. I know all the moves, all the lyrics and defended disco when it became daggy. I even remember a song called "Death, death, death to disco"

Well, this week it felt like that came true. Losing a second Bee Gee and Donna Summer within days made me sad. That great concert on the other side is starting to fill up with my own teen idols and it is a side of getting older that you don't understand until you get there. It is not only your own mortality rearing in the future but also the reality that those years behind you were a time-capsule of popular culture that stamps you with the era in which you grew up. While many of my peers think of themselves as 80s girls, I have always tended more to the 70s as my place in time.

The coincidence of me today joining Spotify and tuning in to playlists of 70s disco made the subject of my faces easy to choose.

I planned to do 29 faces in May - I didn't plan on also being unwell. So I have some missing days, but the month isn't over so I might still get to fill the gaps. So here is a mish-mash of sketches and pages in my book of Days.

There are one or two that haven't made it into the camera yet, hopefully I will get to them tomorrow, count what I have done and work to catch up to where I should be ... today is day 24 or 29, so still time to do it!

Faces # 5,6 & 7

I was awy on the weekend and am still in catch up mode, but did take my art kit with me and drew a face Saturday night. I just didn't get any time on Sunday, so I am one behind, but am taking that as one of the two *spare* days in the month ;)

Although I began this project drawing stylised faces in my Book of Days, I became entranced when I tried sketching with my graphite mechanical pencil into my visual journal and am enjoying playing and seeing what happens. This is a technique i haven't done since high school, but I love the way the graphite and paper work together :)

Face # 5

Face # 6

Face # 7 

I am not thinking too hard about technical correctness, that will come later ;)

Face # 4

Face # 4 ... proportions aren't right but I liked shading and highlighting with the graphite and eraser, so practice makes perfect!!!

And face # 3's BOD page finished

Face # 3

Face # 3 - page is work in progress, but face is done!

(I just can't bring myself to cover up those wonderful breast shaped cakes on the other page!)

This one passed muster - well, the Facebook photo tagging software asked me if I wanted to tag the face as someone!

Face # 2

Face #1

May 1st.
Took about two hours, including waiting for drying ... intervals filled with knitting ... all while watching Life Book vids :)

29 Faces

You know I like a challenge - Photo A Day, Project Life, LOAD ... so...

29 Faces. I am slowly starting to ignore my Inner Critic (IC), who always declares "You can't draw! You can't Paint!" and embracing portraits in my Life Book classes and Book of Days art journalling, so I thought 29 days of Faces in May would really put IC in her place (or prove her correct once and for all!). That and the fact that Effy Wild is doing it in Book of Days, so I figure she will inspire me to stay on track ;)




Fitting that this quote came up on Facebook today :)

And you can all play along at home, as I blog my daily art :)