Drawing daily and buying a breath machine

Fall has arrived.

Illustration by Catherine Arnold

---

Opening the door this morning, the air brushed my skin with a delicious chill. 55 Fahrenheit, 12 Celsius. In summer, this valley is hammered with heat. And, like most of the world, we’ve had record breakers this year. Today I quickly checked the forecast and it’s a good one. We’re shifting toward Rocky Mountain-adjacent fall and winter, aligned with the national calendar.

Aside from feeling the air and seasonal change—or maybe because of it—lately I’m drawing, learning design, and thinking about visual things even more of the time.

While not calling myself an un-writer (or, fine, a non-writer), I’m leaning toward the visual. But I’ve recently watched several online events from Utah Humanities Book Festival and the (U.S.) National Book Festival, finding them thrilling. Will attend readings in person, distanced and boosted and masked in most cases if indoors.

Also have been improving the Redbubble shop for my drawings and illustrations. Have plans to add more this season, but at the moment I recommend the cards and postcards. If you want to see my art updates on Instagram, follow here.

Am also “paying myself” to learn a new skill on (my own, self-employed) work hours. Today, after watching a 36-minute intro to graphic design class by Ellen Lupton and Jennifer Cole Phillips at Maryland Institute College of Art (MICA), I feel excited about the balance, color, and possibilities of this art form. The class I took is on Skillshare; if you click this link, you’ll access a 1-month free trial. Also, if you subscribe after that, I’ll receive another free month.

Seasonal change also may be why I got up pretty darned early the past two days. Started work at 7:15 a.m. yesterday, shuffling out of bed at 5:30. Used a lightbox, had tea, exercised, worked, felt zonked by noon. We’ll see.

Below is the first “design” piece I’ve done the proper way, with a grid. Made it on Canva, and didn’t realize until the end that my “grid” would show up in the finished piece. But I like that Lupton and Philips said in their class that we could practice principles of design on any framework: Adobe, PowerPoint, or elsewhere. I’ll probably take this course soon too.

Oh, by the way, the breath machine is for routine exercise of the lungs. NPR reported this week on the blood pressure lowering effects of one such machine in a University of Colorado study. There’s a chance it may decrease asthma and congestion symptoms too.

Are you doing anything new this season?