Mother Theresa

A new full moon is a new ‘full’ blog :)!

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Everything that is being put in motion, moves forward. Every movement gives birth to a change. Even when it looks like you are doing nothing (no-thing), you’re doing something. It is impossible to do nothing. Just by being, you set something in motion. Everything influences everything.

Maybe you have heard of the butterfly effect? This theory tells the story about how minor perturbations such as the flapping of the wings of a distant butterfly influences a chain reaction of unforeseen consequences and even months after can cause something gigantic as a tornado. The idea that small causes may have large effects in general, shows us that what we think, say or do has an impact, however big or small.

This text (in Dutch) continues in Rosalie’s blog on her website. Her text inspired me to make this illustration. I hope both the words and the drawing will inspire you as well.

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Project Circles is a co-creation of Rosalie Heefer and Leonie Verbrugge.

At first I was just a little seed.

My roots feeded me and the sun gave me her loving warmth.

Slowly I grew a little bigger and a little stronger, day by day.

Then one day my shell became too tight.

It felt as if I could hardly breathe any longer.

Just as I felt I could no longer hold on, my shell broke free.

Suddenly, there was this soft pink light surrounding me.

That light, it came from the inside of me.

Carefully I began to unwrap the layers of my self, one by one.

First the tough ones on top,

then the softer ones in the middle,

and finally I gently unfolded the most vulnerable ones on the inside,

covering my heart.

With every layer I became more aware of who I really am.

And what it is that I am here for.

It is, so I can shine my light.

Sing my own precious song.

The light of my heart, shines for you.

So it can warm and sooth you, just like the sun once did for me.

This is the circle of life.

It is only when we let go of what’s holding us back,

that we get to reach our true destination.

To be exactly who and what we are meant to be.

I am soft, I am pink, I am light and I am love.

Rosalie Heefer (text)

Leonie Verbrugge (illustration)

What a great five weeks it has been! I have been following the MATS e-course ‘Illustrating Childrens Books’ and it feels sad to have submitted my final assignment for the course last Sunday. I wish it would last for another 5 weeks.

This most inspiring MATS (Make Art That Sells) course was given by Lilla Rogers, artists’ agent and Zoë Tucker, art director. In a short amount of time I have learned so much about character design, drawing expressions, handlettering, drawing environment and so on. The course takes you trough lots of very inspiring and challenging assignments, videos and encouraging sessions. It has brought me closer to where I want to be as an illustrator.

The most important lesson in this course for me was to enjoy and celebrate the ‘now’, where I am and what I can as an illustrator. Of course you can always improve yourself, make better drawings and think that you can do better! But every fase has it’s own plusses and minusses and you just don’t know what is going to come next (thank you for these words, Lilla). I’m eager to continue my journey and explore further. Can’t wait!