Welcome back to Beginnings, where we focus on Fresh Starts, New Cycles, Exploration, Experimentation and Creativity! In this final post of the year, I will be sharing with you my 7 Topics I chose to focus on that were the most important to me concerning my activity and content here at Refresh with Dawn Herring as well as my growth as artist and aspiring musician. 

Many of the points I share about in Vlog 3 (above) in more detail, especially with my specific art supplies so you’re welcome to check that out as well, and join me for an impromptu Christmas Holiday Party! 

Below I have listed off these 7 Topics along with links to varying content that is available right here on my website, in case you haven’t seen it or read it yet and would like to. 

First on the list is my One Year Anniversary of Playing Piano: I go into the details of my song writing and experience with learning to play my spiritual songs in this post, Music Life Lens: Celebrating One Year of Piano from my The Way I See It blog. Learning to play an instrument to accompany myself while I sing my spiritual songs has been a deeply satisfying and thrilling experience. Music has always been in my blood and this just solidifies it in a way I’ve never experienced before. And I continue to enjoy learning and growing as an aspiring musician throughout ‘22. I look forward to new horizons of where it will take me into 2023. Special Thanks to everyone who has supported me and watched my music videos on YouTube. You can access them here on my Music Page! 

The second item on the list is my The Way I See It Podcast which premiered on April 13, with the first episode, Three Keys to Aligned Living, followed by Sensory Power, A Creative Lifeline, Resistance or Flow?, Music Mind, Saying Goodbye and Give Yourself a Voice. Each topic ties in to Awareness, Attitude and Intuition and how they lead to Aligned Living, giving examples from my own life. Each episode comes with a transcript and journaling prompts for further reflection and empowered action. You can access each episode on my podcast resource page. 
It was also fun to create illustrations to accompany each episode, making it a visual reminder of the what are my truths expressed. You can view these illustrations on my Commercial Art Page. 

New music is next on the list! Yes, I already spoke about playing piano. But with each new song I write, there is always the possibility of it ending up being composed for the piano. Not all the songs I write are composed; some I just record for future reference. But the ones that do end up in my piano book, I then determine which ones I will share with you, my friends! And this year I chose to share several on my YouTube Channel: You Are My Friend, The Evidence, The Eternal Now and my newest song, which is the theme song for Beginnings blog, I just released last week on 12/8/22. These have been such excited and rewarding times for me, sharing spiritual songs that come directly from my Sacred Studies and Prayer/Meditation, which are my foundational actives to my Spiritual Practice. When I sense that a song may be a source of encouragement in Spirit, I choose to share it publicly. Again, I so appreciate those who take the time to watch/listen to my spiritual songs. (You can watch them here.) And my greatest hope, in addition to spiritual support from my music, is that the Beginnings theme song will be a continual source of inspiration, encouragement and empowerment for your in your creativity! 

The next category of items to look back on is my ART. Art is such a fun and vibrant part of my creative practice; I would never want to live without it. For this year my main focus has been on illustration, both in my personal journal to highlight moments in my day that I want to remember as well as illustrations I create for my content here at Refresh with Dawn Herring. 

My first point of reflection is with switching out the design of my personal journal illustrations. I show examples of how I did this in Vlog 3 specifically. Initially when I learned to draw myself as a cartoon figure, I introduced it inside one of the letters of my word doodle. But after doing this for a while, I decided I wanted to give more space to my illustration and less space to the word itself. What a difference this has made for me as an illustrator overall. I can put much more detail and surrounds into these “spot” illustrations which give me more room to express all the things that matter to me. It is so much more fun as well. 

My next item focuses on the Art Mediums I used in my illustration work this year and how I changed things up to experiment and explore and see where it would take me. I was working with fine point and brush pens from Faber Castell and Tombow for the first couple of years. This year, I decided to play with pencil and pastel! I use both regular and water soluble pencil as well as water soluble pastel (Prismacolor and Caran’Dache brands). I show these in Vlog 3 as well if you want a close up view of what I’m using and my favorite colors. It has been fun seeing what I can do with pencil and pastel since I hadn’t worked with it in quite some time. Pen and marker had become my go to for so long. Pencil is pretty straightforward but when adding water to the mix, it takes on a whole new vibe! I plan to try more of this in 2023 now that I have mixed media paper to create future illustrations with. The Commercial Art I created for my Refresh with Dawn Herring content was also done in colored pencil, but I start my commerical art with sketching pencil rather than pen for these. My personal illustrations are always started with a fine line pen and then filled with color. I look forward to doing more experimenting with these mediums and see what new work I will produce and have fun with! 
I also wanted to add here that I got back to sketching with just fine black pen this year, getting Back to the Basics, as I like to put it. If you would like to see my pen sketches, I show them inVlog 1 and Vlog 2.  

My next point in review is the launch of my new Blog, Beginnings where we focus on Fresh Starts, New Cycles, Exploration, Experimentation and Creativity! Woot! This has been a such an exciting venture so far, sharing art demos, new music, and talking about what’s on my mind as a Creator with you. My aim and goal with this new blog theme is to encourage, inspire and empower you in your creativity. Those of you who have read my posts, watched my videos and left comments and thumbs up are so deeply appreciated. Thank you! You make it fun and worthwhile, letting me know what is inspiring you.  I look forward to sharing more of my Beginnings in 2023! 

And my final point of review of ‘22 is with my brand new venture of Vlogging, giving you a Behind the Scenes View of what I’m up to. It has given me a place to chit chat with you about all kinds of subjects, plus show you some art and play bits of music to inspire you in your creative path. I so appreciate those who have already watched the first two vlogs I released, and now the 3rd vlog with this new post. Your comments and thumbs up are so greatly appreciated. It’s exciting to have a new format in which to share my creative life with you, my friends! I’m having FUN! And I trust you are too! 

Well, that wraps up my 2022 Year in Review! It’s been a fun ride, an interesting journey and I look forward to what is in store in 2023. I do hope you will join me as we continue our creative journeys together; that makes it so much more fun, doesn’t it? 

I am always here to cheer you on, to encourage and inspire you and even empower you to take those first steps, choosing courage as you determine where you will express yourself as only you can do! 

Thank you for being a part of this journey with me! 
Here’s to 2023! 

​And I wish you the very Best of Beginnings! 

All images, artwork and music shared are Copyrighted to Dawn Herring, 2023. 

Welcome back to my new blog, Beginnings, where we chat about Fresh Starts, New Cycles, Exploration, Experimentation and Creativity! 

This is a very special post to me because I am sharing a brand new song that I received basically as a surprise in connection with this new blog, Beginnings. I’ve been working diligently behind the scenes, working with lyric, melody, tempo, and composition on the piano in readiness to share this song with you, dear friend. 

The reason why I’m so excited to share this is the Message behind it. My aim and goal with this song is to encourage you, inspire you and empower you as a Creator in your own life, giving you the impetus to take those first steps, with courage and bravery, in whatever way you are choosing to do. 

I have shared the lyrics to this new song, our theme song, Beginnings, with the purpose to giving you something to run with, sing along with, to buoy you up, especially when you could use a little uplifting in your journey. 

If you would like to learn more about my experience with receiving this song and writing the lyrics and what that has meant to me, you’re welcome to watch my first vlog here. I explain it in detail. 

Let me just say here that it is a gift to me as a Creator and I want to pass that gift on to you! 
I hope it deeply resonates with you. Please let me know if it becomes a source of encouragement to you in your 
creative pursuits! I’d love to hear from you. 

Beginnings 
Words and music by Dawn Herring 

This is your Beginning
Just knowing Who You Are

This is your Beginning
Look how You’ve come so far

Beginnings are the Magic
That spur You on

Beginnings Reveal
Where You’ve come from 

Beginnings are the Place
Where It Starts

Beginnings are the Promise
That Sets You Apart 

Believe in Your Vision
In What You See

Believe in Your Power
To Make It Be

Believe in Your Knowing
That Shows You How

And Watch It Grow to Be
From Just a Seed
To a Flowering 

You are welcome to watch the video so you can hear the melody; and then you’re welcome to sing along! 
I hope it’s a song that resonates deeply and gives you courage to keep going toward your creative dreams! 

Believe in yourself as a Creator; Trust Your Intuition; See yourself doing what brings you the Greatest Joy and then take one step and then another until you’re on a roll! And then keep going! 

You have a Creative Gift that only you can fulfill. Use it to make the world a better place. 
And we will Celebrate together! 

Because here at Refresh with Dawn Herring, Beginnings Are Celebrated! And so are YOU! 

I wish you the very Best of Beginnings! 

Hello and welcome back to Beginnings where we talk about fresh starts, new cycles, exploration, experimentation and creativity! 

In this post, I am sharing my very first video log (vlog) where I talk about and share new art, pen sketches to be specific, my experience with new music and my thoughts on a video project which is already published on my YouTube Channel, which you can access here on my website. 

I decided to record some behind the scenes footage to share more of my thoughts and intentions with my creativity and with my content that I share here on my website. This is a new venture for me and I'd love to know what you think! 

I've been inspired by other artists who have vlogs and decided to try my hand at it; if you like it, please give it a thumbs up on YouTube and leave a comment below on your favorite part! I hope you are inspired in your own creativity; that is my aim and goal always. 

Thank you for watching and supporting my YouTube Channel and my presence online as a creator. 

That means a lot to me! 
And I wish you the Best of Beginnings! 

Welcome back to Beginnings, Where we talk about Fresh Starts, New Cycles, Exploration, Experimentation and Creativity! Yes! 

For this blog post, I wanted to share with you how I determined the design for my Beginnings Illustration (which you can see above). I was excited to consider how best I could represent the Idea of Beginnings as the new theme for my website and blog, as well as show the topics that are closest to my heart that I love to share with my friends which include Art, Illustration, Music and Journaling. 

The initial idea was to use new leaf growth as a motif, the freshness of the start of what could potentially become a full grown beautiful plant benefiting the caretaker of such a delight. Then I considered how I present them, on their own as well as in pots with soil. 

The leaf motif is full of vibrant color, that new yellow green that happens to be one of my favorites! I find this color so inspiring and I’m very attracted to it, whether it’s a plant or tree with the sun shining upon the leaves, really enhancing the beauty of such life. 

It also represents to me possibility: we can really use our imaginations of where this new growth can go. What does that represent to me as an artist, an aspiring musician, and journal keeper? 

It also represents to me new cycles. Each new plant begins as a seed and then this fresh new life reveals itself as it pokes through the soil, as if saying, celebrate with me! It encourages me as I make my way into a new project, new song, new art, new love, new discoveries, new curiosities! 

It all takes action, persistence, devotion, decisiveness and even confidence and courage! Yes! 

The figure holds in her hand this newness and is ready to see what it will grow into. She is optimistic and ready to move step by step into what this moment holds. 

And I think that’s the key to Starting Anew, to Beginnings in themselves. 
Instead of looking too far ahead, we can stay in this Present Moment and relish this New Start, this New Season, this New Cycle and what it may contain. One step is all it takes. 

One note is the start of a new melody. One pencil mark is the start of a new illustration. One word is the start of a new journal entry. One seed is the start to a new garden. One tap of a key on the typewriter or keyboard is the start of a new story. 

It all starts with that first step. And an idea or a concept or a plan…

So what are you starting today? Every thing you do each day is a new start. Think of all the Fresh possibilities that await you! Or maybe just think about one. And focus on that next step, putting your whole heart into it. Fully present, ready to take on what’s next. 

Feel the excitement, the pleasure, the satisfying sensation of moving forward. 
And if you feel a little unsure, that’s ok too. Step into that Courage that is available in your heart and go for it anyway. Your intuition will guide you. 

Hold the possibilities in your hand and smile. 
Because this is just the Beginning! 

(and I’m Cheering You on!) 
Here’s to beginning anew!