Trees, ghosts, and old gals learning new tricks

Dear Sarah - Day 92 of our daily drawing exchange

April 2, 2025
Hi Nikki,

I had a few minutes to wait in the car for Kianna to get out of school, so I drew a large tree just outside the schoolyard. The fence is, I think, the weak link (LOL!). Ugly in both reality and execution. But I am pleased that I can now do a drawing of a tree that actually looks like the tree in front of me, rather than some cartoon version of a tree. So I think this daily drawing practice is really paying off. Everything I draw or paint teaches me something that I can bring to the next drawing.

I find I am very nervous about tomorrow's meeting with you. As you noted in your previous email, this is a departure from what we've been doing, and it feels, not exactly uncomfortable, but odd. And maybe a bit vulnerable. I have no doubt that we will figure out what to do with the mirror scenes, but as you know, it was a new thing for me to write out of sequence. It's no doubt good for me as a writer, and the more I wrote, the easier it became. Just like drawing, I guess.

See you in the morning.

XO S

Hi Sarah!

How funny that our pieces today both involve trees.

I am really feeling the pressure to decide on my three school assignment pieces, each of which needs to relate in some way to the Camino with Dad. This is a terrible Dad (fortunately, he is on his own layer in the iPad so I can replace him and try again, if I decide to include something like this in the end…) but the general concept - ghostly Dad in a burnt out forest could go somewhere.

The year we walked in Spain, the northern part of the country was on fire and one day we walked through the blackened remains of an oak forest. We had to stop to eat a snack at some point, and while Dani and I were packing up, Dad started collecting burnt twigs, each about the length of a toothbrush. He wrapped these in a napkin and stashed them in his pocket. That night at the hostel, he drew burnt branches and tree trunks using those bits of natural charcoal he had scavenged from the ground.

As for our writing - I think it’s great that we are still experimenting and learning and growing as we work on our project. I am also unsure how we are going to integrate what we each came up with into something that makes sense… I’m excited to see where the manuscript goes next.

See you in the morning!

Cheers,
Nikki