Weeds of Inspiration - a small thought about tolerance and open-mindedness

But firstly...

Welcome to my debut blog post!

I’m no writer, but I sincerely hope some of what I write and illustrate will entertain, educate or resonate with you! I imagine this blog to be an online diary in the form of an Art journal; one that helps me create a drawing habit and is somewhere to be open and organise my thoughts and stories. By reading this blog you'd be coming on my Art journey with me so I hope we can learn from, motivate and inspire each other, and let's face it who doesn't like reading someone else's diary?!

I'm afraid I got so excited this being my first post that I had a major brain fart over the date...

Some thoughts from this morning...and a few weeds in ink and watercolour - Now spot the howling error!

“Weeds are flowers too once you get to know them” A.A.Milne.

I picked these weeds as I walked home this morning, this was after having a stressful conversation that illustrated how intolerant friends can be of each other. In a bid to take a more mindful approach to my walk, and to calm my mind, I was making a conscious decision to find beauty in the small details around me, to notice the world and choose something I could bring home and draw to present, here, in my first ever blog post.

I found something that fascinated me in these weeds. Close up the nature of their construction is quite wonderful from the promise of a flower bud, to a bursting seedpod, all together on one plant. I am inspired by a weed's resilience and determination to survive despite being so universally disliked, and as I draw them I am struck by the metaphors they can represent. We could all do with finding some beauty and admirable qualities within the ‘weeds’, and to look at them from a different viewpoint, because understanding different view points fosters tolerance and understanding.

What is always needed for an appreciation of life, or weeds for that matter, is open-mindedness.