Dear Readers,

Have you ever tried to do something new and fear gets in your way?

Me too. I want to illustrate a children’s story I wrote because I know it will help kids in Los Angeles who lost their homes in those horrific fires in January. I used to live in LA, so the devastation of those fires hit home for me. I was deeply saddened. I know two people who each lost their home in the fires. Nothing left but the chimney. I can’t imagine how hard it must be.

I sent a donation to the California Fire Foundation,

http://www.cafirefoundation.org

but I wanted to do more than send money. I talked it over with a friend and decided to write & illustrate a story for the kids in Los Angeles.

I wrote the story and sketched eleven illustrations in my little sketchbook. Little sketches felt easy. Now, I need to do big paintings that will be part of the published book.

I got one picture painted. Then stopped for a couple weeks. With all that’s going on in my country right now & the world, plus my daughter suddenly losing her federal job, it’s easy to lose focus, worry about politics & the future, and how best to respond.

Yet I know taking action and creating something is often the best remedy for fear & anxiety. It brings me back to the present moment. “Act as if” I was taught long ago. Act as if I am a good enough artist to illustrate this story. A friend in LA said she could give the book to her clients who lost their homes.

I tell myself the kids are waiting for my story. They don’t care if it’s not perfect.

So here’s my plan:

Every week on Sunday evening I will write a post and share how it’s going with painting the pictures. One done. Ten more to do.

This feels kind of like the movie “Julie & Julia” ~

only my blog is about creating a picture book, not Julia Child recipes.

I know the story I wrote will resonate with kids. It’s about a baby animal that lost its way while fleeing a forest fire and can’t find its mother. Help arrives and there is a happy, humorous ending.

So whether you’re interested in this or not, it helps me to tell you about my process because the hardest part is just sitting down in front of a blank white piece of paper and placing that first brush stroke of paint.

I’m not a professional artist. I’m a writer who has realized I’m also an artist who wants to paint pictures for my stories.

Many of you know I moved to Oregon last year after living 40 years in LA. It was an old dream come true and it took a lot of courage, time, and effort. One little step at a time.

Now I’m happy living in Oregon, and I’m embarking on another dream I’ve had since 2020 when I discovered I enjoy writing children’s stories. I took a picture book class from UCLA back in 2020. I loved it & wrote lots of stories.

Later, I decided I wanted to learn to illustrate my stories as well. I took several art classes. Now I’m finally illustrating my first children’s book and fear arises every time I look at the blank paper before I begin to paint.

It’s almost laughable.

Here I am, an American watching daily political chaos in my country while admiring the courage of President Zelenskyy & his people who have gone through 3 years of war, and I’m scared to paint a picture? Really? “Just get on with it!” I tell myself.

Feel the fear and do it anyway.

So I hope reporting to you each week will help me stay on track with this new endeavor and keep me coming back to paint, just one brush stroke at a time.

Afterall,

I am “Leap of Faith Linda.” 😊