Last night, I found myself awake, struggling to get in the number of sleep hours that is recommended for optimal health, and I realize this has been going on for the past few weeks. Probably more like months. In any case, it has nothing to do with any worries keeping me up, or my to-do list growing in my head. No, those things really are not the crux of my issue. Instead, It has been my fur babies. And sometimes the human babes. Though, on this particular night, it was the fur babies. Our dachshunds, Bogey and Spud. And anyone that knows our family knows how important these two are to our life. But recently, about 2 months ago, one of them decided that he needed to go to the bathroom in the middle of the night. And if anyone out there knows anything about dachshunds, you know they are little heat tubes, and their most favorite thing in the world is burrowing under the covers to sleep. They keep your feet warm, and just love to cuddle. Well, when he decided he needed to go to the bathroom, that meant jumping off of the bed, and if you can imagine a low-rider dog, jumping to the ground, you better believe he was airborne, and he hurt himself. Poor guy! Now, these boys are both almost 16 years old. I can hardly believe how lucky we are that these two chose to let us love them as much as we do for this long. But I digress. He hurt his neck, took him to the vet, and at that point we decided that we needed to get them used to sleeping in their doggy beds. He was prescribed some muscle relaxers and had a bunch of other tests done. He is doing great now, but we had to change our lifestyle. And they are now relegated to sleeping on the floor. On a big cozy bed that they share, and a blanket to cuddle under. But you know, I thought they would be missing us at night, and they don’t! They are fine down there at the foot of the bed. My how time changes things. Because now, we also have the added bonus that they have to go to the bathroom more often. Being nearly 16 years old they are not as fit as they were a few years ago! Their tiny bladders are even more tiny, and I feel like I am a new Mom with an infant at home, needing to get up with the baby every other hour. But instead it is late nights with the dachshunds.
Sounds like fun, huh? Every shake of the dog tags, every shift on that bed gets me to wake up, just like the babies did when they needed to nurse to go back to sleep. And just like in those early days, I had to shift my frustration to positivity, because that really is the only way to keep your sanity when you are getting up every other hour, or every half hour to make sure that the dogs are getting outside to relieve their bladders and to not do that on my bedroom floor. So I have to reframe that frustrated mindset and start to realize that these boys have brought joy to our life for nearly 16 years! And they are feeling 16 years old, and probably not as spry as they were even a few years before now. So I realize how blessed I am to have had such longevity with these sweet babes, and instead of being grumpy every other hour as I put on my robe and slippers so that I can take them out to relieve themselves, I remind myself of how lucky I am that they are otherwise healthy. And I give them kisses, and tell them how much I love them. And when they are done, I carry them upstairs, and tuck them back into their big bed next to each other and cover them up with their blanket, and go back to bed a bit more emotional as I realize that these days really are numbered, but I sleep well knowing that they have been given pretty good lives. At least for an hour or so while we wait until the next bathroom break.
Meanwhile, in honor of these sweet babes, I started a drawing of Spud. I wanted to share that with you step by step. I was drawn back to the basics, charcoal, conte crayons and sepia tones, and I am enjoying playing in these materials.
In this first image, I prepared the background by rubbing charcoal lightly over the page, and the taking my chamois, I evened out the tone to create a layer that I could then use my gum eraser and start sketching out the outline of the image.
And next, pulling those light tones out even further….
Adding in those sepia tones….
Charcoal for definition….
Then highlights added for additional details.
Awwww, I just love this guy! Still finishing up some minor details, but this image will be found in our print sales as soon as I am satisfied with the finished product. The other thing that is neat about this project is the paper I used. It wasn’t a traditional paper, but instead was a piece of really thing cardboard paper that was between the layers of boxes of cereal on the palette at Costco. So if we free, and an absolute delight to work with. And I have a few piece left! I can make another!
Hopefully this leaves you with the inspiration to take a moment to see these fur babies as Just the. Take some time to count the blessings in the difficult parts of your life. If you recognize that part of our role here on earth is to be in service to others, you will be infinitely rewarded. Lots of love! -Heidi