Hello and Welcome Back to Beginnings! 
Today I'm sharing another Walk & Chat with Dawn video where I talk about the importance of Satisfaction in life and why I think it's important to do things that satisfy your soul. I give several examples of what satisfies me (which I show in the video!) 

I trust you will be inspired and determine how you can bring more Satisfaction into your life on a daily basis. 

Journaling Prompt: 
List off the activities or experiences you find or have found deeply satisfying. Choose one or two that don't require a lot of time and incorporate them into your life daily. You deserve to feel satisfied, so take that step today and don't delay! 

Hello and welcome back to Beginnings and to another Walk & Chat with Dawn video. In this one I share some nature based bird inspiration that I just had to include so you can see it too; plus I discuss some changes I am making with my sketchbook practice, with a bit of visual history of what I've been doing for several years and what I'm doing now. And I am having so much fun! 

So, do join me for another Walk & Chat and you're welcome to share what changes you decided to make creatively or just with life in general. Sometimes we get so used to doing things a certain way, we don't realize we put ourselves into an unnecessary box that we can break out of at any time. We just need to be aware of it! Yes! 

Journaling Prompt: 
What box (creative or otherwise) have you been putting yourself in? Are you bored? Frustrated? Stuck? What step can you make to create change that can make a difference for you? Brainstorm in your journal what you would like to do instead. Take courage and break out of that box! 

I wish you well in your Beginning! 

Hello and welcome back to Beginnings! This post makes me smile since I am featuring my Illustration Pic of the Week called Leap Day! Yay! I had so much fun with this one, showing me Leaping for JOY with the extra day we had this year on February 29th! I was wearing a crew neck sweater with a fun colorful scarf. I also enjoyed creating the polka dot pattern in the word DAY, bringing some whimsy and FUN to Leap Day! 

Did you celebrate Leap Day this year? I enjoyed creating this illustration as a way to honor an experience that only comes around every 4 years. Why not, right? This leads me to ask myself and you as well: What are we leaping into right now? What is exciting us about our days, our work, our self discovery? Or perhaps we can look at where we've lost our zest for something we've been doing and how we can get it back! Sometimes we end up creating boxes for ourselves which makes it very hard to LEAP into much of anything. So break open that box that may be holding you back and see what you decide to Leap into next! 

Journaling Prompt: 
Is there an area of your life where you feel "Boxed In?" What change do you think would make all the difference so you can feel excited about it again? 
What do you desire to Leap Into? Do you feel confident about it or a little reserved? Detail how you feel and why in your journal. Happy Leaping! 

Note: I only had 6 illustrations to choose from this week since, much to my surprise and amazement, I did not create a journal entry on Wednesday, March 6, 2024. Did it feel odd? Sure. But I got right back to it the next morning! It's ok to take a break when you need it for whatever reason. 

Thank you for your interest in my illustrations and reflections; I trust the journaling prompt will give you interesting and insightful food for thought. 

You have yourself a delightful day and I wish you the Very Best of Beginnings! 

Welcome back to Beginnings! This week, I am choosing to share the more Vulnerable Side of my Illustration Practice for my Illustration Pic of the Week. 
The title of this one is Confusion, and it illustrates how we can sometimes put ourselves in a box of societal expectation with a topic that is very personal. And when we allow that to determine the decisions we make, it can create an incongruence that doesn't align with what our heart is telling us. 

This happened to me recently and it created an unexpected heaviness that was hard to shake; but once I recognized the box I had put myself in, I was able to relieve myself of the Confusion it caused. Confusion has an energy that can be unnerving, undermining your confidence, especially when making decisions, whether small or large. 

When we recognize that the elements that create an incongruency are not coming from within but from without, we can get really honest with ourselves about why we are allowing these elements to have such a direct impact on how we feel. Letting go of those societal expectations and instead, embracing what our own hearts are telling us is an act of courage, but it also affirms who we are on the inside. And that is necessary for moving forward with confidence. 

May we stay aligned with what our hearts speak, knowing it's the Best path for Beginnings. 

Journaling Prompt: 
Describe a time when you struggled with making a decision based on other's opinions. How did that make you feel? What one step of courage did you take to align with what your heart was telling you? Affirm yourself with an empowering heart message of support and love going forward. 

Thank you so much for being a part of my creative and spiritual journey with me; you motivate me to continue to share snippets of my life with you which is an essential part of our community here at Refresh with Dawn Herring: Where Beginnings Are Celebrated! And I celebrate with you as you follow your heart! 

(And what a perfect way to end February on this Leap Day of 2024!) 

I wish you the Very Best of Beginnings!

Hello and Welcome Back to Beginnings! Today's post is focused on my Illustration Pick of the Week! Yes, it's that time again already. Where do the weeks go? I don't know. February is almost over...

So, anyway. My choice for Illustration Pic of the Week makes me laugh. I find it to be seriously conceptual, which is not my typical way of portraying a moment in my day. But I actually LOVE it. It really got my attention when the idea came to me of illustrating what could appear to be my wranging with film after a day of being on camera. Yes, much of my content now-a-days is such, between my Art of Journaling videos, Fashion Styling videos, sharing in my stories, and showing my art process, the camera is often front and center. 

My realization with this illustration is the need for Balance. Making sure that what I choose to do (filming in order to show you the essence of my creative practices) always brings me JOY in the sharing. I do LOVE to show you what I'm up to, thinking about, wearing, deciding, creating. And I'm excited about the possibilities of how my sharing inspires you, my friend and reader! It motivates me when my viewers and readers share how my content is giving them ideas for how they dress, create or keep a journal. Yes! 

Yet, Balance is a necessary reminder that there are days when there needs to be a rest between the camera lens and what I'm doing behind the scenes. 

I'm calling this Illustration Pic of the Week Focused Filming with the subcontext: When you realize how much you got done in a day! Whew. *wink*
 
Journaling Prompt: 
Do you ever recognize all you do in a day? Or do you wait until overwhelm hits? How can you slow down to see clearly all you have accomplished and celebrate as well as determine where you need balance? Detail how you have felt recently. Be honest and recognize when you need to take a rest. Take care of you! 

Thank you so much for being a part of my creative journey and for your support of my YouTube Channel. Your views, thumbs up, choice to subscribe and comment hearten me, knowing that what I share is bringing you joy too! 

Thank you for being present in my community here at Refresh with Dawn Herring: Where Beginnings are Celebrated! 

Hello and Welcome Back to Beginnings! For this post, I will be sharing my Illustration Pic of the Week that is titled, CONCLUDE. I chose this illustration out of the 7 I created from the week since this one features something that I was sad to see go after watching, sort of like a good novel that comes to an end…(Thus the hands over the heart.)

I enjoy watching shows on Prime Video and one that I chose was outside of my usual fare but I found it an intriguing storyline. The series was called Being Human, the American version starring Sam Witwer in one of the leading roles, playing Aiden the Vampire, with the other two roles of Josh as the Werewolf and Sally as the Ghost. 

I’m not one for blood and guts by any stretch, but the overall series really captured the essence of their desire to be better and focus more on their “human” side rather than the “monsters” they knew they were. This series went on for 4 seasons, and many conclusions were surprising but very well done. (I won’t share any spoilers in case you haven’t seen it and want to!)

I especially appreciated the skill set of acting with Sam Witwer’s character; much of his anguish over ones he loses over time are seriously on point, so much so, I could feel it myself. I think it is interesting as the timing of my viewing, especially in the last few weeks, coinciding with the passing of my mom on January 15. Seeing how others, even if in an acting context, dealt with grief, was comforting to me in a sense. Life does keep going; as Mom used to say, Time Stands Still for No One. 

You just keep going, yet learning from each loss and what it shows you about yourself. And allowing others to be there for you when you need it most. And that can sometimes be hard to do, especially when you’re dealing with personal loss that goes deep and wide. 

The character Aiden really taught me that. That’s why I felt inspired to do a sketch of the actor in the garments common to what he wore in the series. 

For this pencil sketch, I used a 6B pencil, which has a heavier lead, in comparison to a #2 pencil. When I created this sketch, I used the Shape and Shadow method rather than contour (line) drawing. I started with lightly laying down structure, light shading to give it form based on shape and shadow of the facial parts starting with the brow line and nose and mouth. I did not choose to erase any forms of shape and shadow but rather just adjusting as I went. I plan to do more in the future; this is just the first one. I feel I captured what I intended with the result. I do not see this as final art; just a sketch. I learn something with every sketch I do; it informs me for the next time. 

Journaling Prompt: 
​Detail a show you have watched that left a lasting impression, feeling a loss when it was concluded, Iike finishing a novel. What did that show teach you? Who was your favorite character and why? Who do you most identify with and what does that show you about yourself? 

Thanks so much for checking out my Illustration Pic of the Week; I enjoy sharing my art journey with you! 
​And I wish you the very Best of Beginnings! 

Hello and Welcome Back to Beginnings! Today's post features my Illustration Pic of the Week, choosing from 7 illustrations, one for each day of the week, from my personal journal, where I highlight a memorable moment from my day. For this week's Pic, I chose VISION, which highlights the time I spent refreshing my Vision Board, which I try to do about once per month. What is a Vision Board, you may ask? 

To me, a vision board is a visual I create from intuitively choosing words and images from my stash of magazines and then I lay each piece out to see what messages I might receive. It's a spiritual, creative and intuitive practice of mine that gives me an interesting vantage point with what's on my mind and what I want to see happen in the future. It's deeply personal and covers many aspects of life: personal, marital, inspirational, and multidimensional. 

So I decided to make a new one for February 2024. In the illustration, I am pinning items to the cork board, which is the substrate on which I create my vision board. On the table are bits of text, pins to attach the pieces and my trusty colorful scissors that I keep in my studio space. 

Do you keep a vision board of sorts? What is your focus and process for making one? I'd love to hear from you; you're welcome to leave a comment! 

Journalng Prompt: 
How do you focus for your future? Do you write things down? Are you more visual and like text and pictures to inspire you? Have you considered making a vision board but haven't yet? Detail how you feel about Visioning for the Days ahead. 

Thank you so much for being a part of my journey creatively and intuitively. It means so much when you take the time to view my work and read my perspective on things. 

I wish you inspiration as you look to the future and I wish you the Very Best of Beginnings! 

Welcome back to Beginnings, where we talk about Fresh Starts, New Cycles, Exploration, Experimentation and Creativity! This particular post is in two parts. The first part is focused on my Illustration Pic of the Week. The Second part is focused on the video content above and what I am sharing with you from my studio space. If you're interested in my illustrations from my personal journal and/or you would enjoy an inside look at my art journal process, then this post is for you! 

Now on to the Illustration Pic of the Week. I create an illustration in my personal journal each evening as part of my daily journaling practice. So that's 7 illustrations to choose from for the Pic of the Week. This week I'm sharing "Prepping," an illustration to highlights the time I spent in my art journal, using a new tool for cutting fabric! I'm excited to experiment with using something other than a regular scissor to create a new design in my art journal. 

For this Part 2 segment, I am sharing a video of my behind-the-scenes activity in my Art Studio space, and I am showing some new cutting tools, my experience with each one, and I demonstrate how I am building a design for a new art journal spread. I'm excited to try new tools that might make my work with fabric easier, since I love using fabric as collage material, which I discuss in detail and show in the video. 

I decided since the Illustration and the video cover the same topic, I thought it would work well together to put them in the same post, so you can see the process of my art journaling and how it translates into something worth remembering from  my day! 

My goal and my delight is for you to be inspired by what you see that will lead to your own creative pursuits! It can be exciting to find a tool that really works to make creating easier and more fulfilling. I wish the same for you in whatever creative activity you enjoy engaging in. If you have recently found a tool in your creative trade that has made a difference for you, you are welcome to share in the comments below! I love celebrating with you in community! 

Journaling Prompt: 
What makes keeping your journaling practice easier? Is there a particular tool such as type of pen, journal or other accessory that you especially enjoy using? Why? Is there something you would like to experiment with that you have yet to try? How do you think it will enhance your experience? 

Thank you for being a part of my artistic journey. I appreciate your presence here. 
And I wish you the Very Best of Beginnings! 

Hello and welcome back to Beginnings! I'm having so much fun sharing with you my choice for Pic of the Week from my daily personal illustrations I create in my sketchbook journal when I do my evening practice. It gives me such JOY to create these "spot illustrations" inspired by moments I want to highlight from my day. 

This week's Pic features me in the kitchen cooking lunch (having just sliced some carrots for my veggie to be boiled), while doing a video chat with my daughter, Sarah, the day after she turned 32! Yes, it was party time! We had such an enjoyable conversation, especially focused on her poetry, which is her most natural way to express herself (for many years!). I enjoyed telling her what I was making for my meal, what my ingredients were for my customized "coleslaw" I make for myself, which she thought sounded delish. We did a lot of laughing and enjoyed one another's company. 

I enjoyed celebrating with my daughter as she turns another number, with her being my winter lady. (I don't call her a Baby anymore!) It was so good to see her mega-watt Julia Robert's smile. 
And in our house, birthdays are celebrated all month long...so day 2, we're just getting started! Ha! Why not, right? 

Art supplies: 
I used fine line pen for the figure and objects along with colored pencil and pastel for the garments. The lettering is pencil and pastel combined. I absolutely LOVE the texture the pastel adds to the mix. Texture is one of my favorite elements of making art. What is yours?

Journaling prompt: 
Do you have a special way you make birthdays last longer? What is your favorite way to celebrate your own birthday? If you could ask for something as a gift, what would it be and why? 

Thanks for being a part of my artistic and family journey; I enjoy celebrating with you! 
​Wishing you the very Best of Beginnings! 

Hello and Welcome Back to Beginnings. For this post, I am sharing my Illustration Pick of the Week from the week of 1/8/24. I so enjoy creating an evening illustration in my journal to highlight something I want to remember from the day's experience. I chose to illustrate and emphasize the One Year Anniversary of my beloved father's passing. My Dad "Danny" Bel-Tempo was the best dad I could have asked for as a child; he was fun loving, enjoyed seeing me happy and had the greatest chuckle to highlight his sense of humor. 
One this Day of Remembrance, I chose to focus on all the things I loved about my Dad and what made him, him. I always loved his choice of grammar and how he would point it out if you weren't accurate with yours. (He did write 3 novels!, one of which was called Foxes. So the fox is the animal that always reminds me of my dad.) 
In my illustration, I aimed to use facial expression to emphasize how I felt that day, still hearing his voice in my head, which is often accentuated with humor. I sometimes find myself laughing out loud at what I hear in my mind's ear. 
Well, Dad, I remembered you and do daily. And now I know you and Mom are reunited, so enjoy! 
With love always, your daughter Dawn

Art supplies: I used a combination of colored pencil and pastel crayon for the letters: ONE YEAR. I used fine line pen for the figure and words, colored pencil and pastel for the wardrobe. I so appreciate the blessing illustration is to me especially when I want to express my love for my Dad. Art supplies are the gift to create from the heart, as I intuitively choose what will best help me make visual what is inside. 

Journaling Prompt: 
How do you best choose to express yourself when remembering someone you love who has passed? Do you find it satisfying? Are there ways you can create a context to support yourself and focus on self care during a time that may be difficult? I wish you well in discovering what that is. 

​And I wish you the very Best of Beginnings!