One blog I love is My life is but a tapestry, kept by an artist who works in oils and tapestry. She does beautiful work in both mediums.

Her blog drew my attention to a site called Illustration Friday. A theme is chosen every week, and illustrators create artwork inspired by it.

I’m nowhere near organised enough to do an illustration each week. But I do need something to spur me into practising my art skills on a regular basis. Lately I’ve been thinking of ways I can fit art into my routine. I get a lot of knitting done because it’s easy to do it while watching tv. Knitting and tv watching only take half a brain to do (depending on the type of knitting), so together they make great, relaxing entertainment.

But what if I drew something instead? What if I grabbed some object from around the house, put it on a little table in front of me, and sketched it in one of the little spiral bound cartridge paper books I use for jotting down ideas?

Better than nothing, I reckon. And who knows, I might venture out at lunchtimes, if the weather is good, and sketch something outside. And I might take that journal with me when I go out, in case there’s a good sketching opportunity, or I get stuck in a queue or a waiting room.

So each week I’m going to sketch something, and then on Sundays (or near enough if I’m too busy to blog on the actual day) I’m going to photograph and post it. If I happen to do more than one sketch, well then I might keep them as backups for times when life gets too hectic, or I’m sick.

So here’s my first sketch, done one night last week while waiting for dinner to cook.

A pair of rustic seats