Why we like to suffer and my illustrated book!
To create is something very challenging and frustrating. In some moments it can even take us to the the edge of despair. But somehow, we keep on creating! It seems like a human necessity. It might be because creating is a practice that helps us to understand and know ourselves as we are forced to untangle what we carry inside, and that can feel very motivating and beneficial.
I know, I know… After 8 hours of work and 2 hours of commuting, the last thing we want to do is something that requires any type of physical and mental effort. There is nothing wrong with leisure and with bringing the body to a horizontal position, but I truly believe that we all have stories and ideas inside of us that are really worth the effort to bring to life, to give birth. Those stories might be inspired by something we did, dreamed, felt, listened or even ate.
Whether you paint, dance, play piano, garden, weave with recycled materials, pimp your car, write poetry, or learn to airbrush, anything goes when it comes to creating.
Do you create more or consume more?
Consuming is wonderful, comforting, and inspiring. I can´t tell you how many books, movies, songs, cartoons, and even recipes have changed my life. They have robbed my sleep, making me cry and laugh, teaching me and expanding me.
Like salting a soup, it´s the right amount. Same with creating and consuming.
In my efforts to mantain a balance between creating and consuming, a couple of years ago an idea was spinning in my head. At that time I started to develop it as an animated series, I wrote and drew several concepts but I had to drop it because of time and life, y´all know how it is sometimes. Now I feel it´s time to give it a second try, as a series of illustrated books. The series is about a girl named Mija and her friend Toque, the Skeleton. But more on it later!
I hope you take time here and there to create something new. Meditation and creation have a lot in common, they both bring your mind to a steady state, stopping that constant mind chattering and reloading yourself.
Art is a guarantee to sanity
Louise Bourgeois
My Week on Senses
👂 I´ve been listening to this wonderful playlist on repeat of Chet Baker while painting.
👀 I can´t stop watching Amphibia, an animated series about a frog family living with a human, created by Matt Braly, who also worked on Gravity Falls. The art in the series always leaves my mouth open, plus, it makes me laugh a lot.
👅 I cooked these Plantain Lasagna for my family and we loved it! I get hungry just thinking about it.
👐 I´ve been getting my hands dirty planting some seeds ❤ and was amazed by how easy is to grow carrots in bottles.
👃 This week’s smell is that of wet dirt after weeks of no rain. We are so happy it is raining again after a very dried season.
Again, thank you so so much for reading and your support.
Coming Up Next
- What is the story from Mija and Toque about.
- The process behind the curtain of making an illustrated book.
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Tina Ovalle 
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