I’ve always been a doodler. All the way back in my high school days, I used to doodle while the teacher was lecturing (though I might have been better off if I’d taken notes instead). I’d fill page after page of my notebooks with doodles. Most of them featured spirals, which I loved even back then. I especially loved doodling during music appreciation class. I remember my doodles becoming very loose and flowing when listening to classical music. That’s still true today. But, when the music becomes something like modern jazz, the doodles become very different. They take on a short, staccato feeling. Actually, I don’t really listen to modern jazz at all. My musical taste runs much more towards rock and roll than it does towards jazz!
I’ve always found that my creativity is greatly influenced by music, and I try to make that work for me in my studio as often as possible by listening to music that makes me feel good.
I thought it might be fun to share some of the doodles I’ve been creating lately. I tend to spend time doodling in the morning. It helps me to judge what kind of day it’s going to be. Am a feeling creative? Do I need more coffee? These are questions that often can be answered by the quality (or sometimes the quantity) of my doodling. Most of my doodles end up very detailed, like this one . . .
All of my doodles start out simple, like this one:

But then, over time, I add to the blank spaces in each one, and they become more detailed. Some days I like to create new doodles, and other days I’ll spend a half-hour or so filling in a doodle that’s already drawn. This next doodle is a half-completed one, where I’ve only filled in the background so far:

This one, which is completely filled in until there is almost no space at all, is finished.

I think that my doodling looks a lot like my quilting. Notice the feathers? I like feathers, almost as much as I like spirals.
As for my quilting, well, I am doing some of that. In fact, you can see a tiny little piece of what I’m working on in the background of the two photos above. Unfortunately, I can’t show you more. It’s got to stay a secret for the time being. So . . . . Ssshhhhhh . . .
I hope you enjoyed this little peek into my doodling journal. I’ll post again soon with some more snippets of creativity when I am able!