More from the "Wonder" Book

I finally made a choice for my "Wonder Book" for this year - a beautiful little red Chinese "Diary" with a cover made of silk fabric and edged with tooled canvas. Measuring 5 x 7 inches (125 x 178 cms) it fits snugly in any bag, and has, very approximately, 380 pages, allowing me to do double page spreads when the need arises. With designs already faintly printed on the page, the wafer thin paper accepts light watercolour washes surprisingly well without buckling, and handles as a whole assortment of markers and crayons quite nicely.

Here are the start of a couple of pages. The first represents the year long Giraffe Class I am taking with  Carla Sonheim, an absolute dream come true for me. (this was actually my first quick giraffe sketch... from a photo!)

The second page depicts the day we spent last weekend on Mudge Island, where I often go on retreat to house and cat sit. It is always a journey to another world for me and I loved how the old sailing ship already ensconced on the page fits right into the theme.

Both pages are unfinished, designed so that I can go back and forth as the days go by and add little touches. Together with a tiny art kit I sit up in bed in the evening and reminisce about the little "wonders" that have made up my day, or week.

So what else might find their way into these pages? Here are some more examples from my own life recently:

• the day Juniper, one of the lovely cats I cat sit who is painfully shy at the best of times, came to lie beside me, turned over, and presented herself for a long, delicious tummy rub...
• the email from a friend, written in gratitude, that sent tears coursing down my cheeks...
• the quiet meal we shared last Sunday with a very precious person in our lives...
• the walk I took earlier today which soothed my weariness...
• the comment from a client, that reminds me why I do what I do...

Years ago I knew a very wise young man who believed that his day could begin anew whenever he wanted to. That even in were late in the evening of a rough day, he got to start that day afresh. I think this "Wonder Book" should be a lot like that, not restricting it to having to start at the beginning of a calendar year, but allowing us to begin, at any moment of the day, the week, the month to make a brand new start.

I don't have to fill in every day, but I do try to find one little seed, one little nugget that stopped me in my tracks, took my breath away. Something that reminds me of who I am, why I am alive, and why this life, even on the worst of days, truly is quite wonderful...

So what would fit into your "wonder" book today? Have you begun one already? If so please send me an email with photographs so I can feature them here on the blog.