Lettie Jane’s Intuitive Drawing is a weekly newsletter about making art. This year I am trying to publish 52 newsletters that are each an art lesson of sorts. They are an invitation to draw, if you feel inclined, but also a description of why I do. These are not episodes of Game Of Thrones, you don’t need to watch them all. I encourage you to take what you need and leave the rest.
You know nothing, Jon Snow. I like to say this phrase from Ygritte to myself to make me laugh and lighten up. As a teacher, I sometimes feel the need to be an authority or an expert. While I feel pretty confident in my ability to talk about art and look at drawing compositions, I also know that each person making art with me has a background of wisdom, experience, and information. I never want my expertise to get in the way of honoring that.
You know nothing, Jon Snow. The dark side of thinking that I’m an expert in anything is that I feel some hidden pressure to be perfect in everything. I know intellectually this doesn’t make much sense. Just because I know how to mute green paint (add a touch of red) doesn’t mean I will automatically know how to change my engine oil. Still, if I let myself feel good at one thing, there’s a part of me that thinks I should be good at everything. Why did you schedule that at the same time? / Why can’t you keep your clothes clean and tidy? / Why didn’t you respond to that email?
This past week was way, way too busy. I’ve been working on saying yes to less, not double-booking myself, and leaving enough time to do things. This is the work I do as a self-employed person who makes art for a living. As a parent, I can make some of these choices as well, but I have to remember that the hours of that job (parenting) never end, there is always at least one emotionally exhausting day a week, the only thing you can rely on is curve balls and I belong to the sacred church of Melotonin and an 8:30 bedtime.
I do not need to make everyone their own breakfast, and this could be a metaphor for life. I don’t need to do everything all the time.
Finding myself in the pinch and squeeze of there being too many items on my list made me come back to the phrase you know nothing, Jon Snow. Rather than shaming myself, it made me laugh and I thought listen to your friend’s advice.
When you know nothing, the best thing to do is listen and watch. This week I watched my friend Jolyn ask for help and saw that she got it. I thought about the things I HAD to do and what was more negotiable. I got messy in front of a few people and tried to be okay with that. Jolyn and Cole volunteered their help. I asked Matt for space. I cried in therapy a lot.
What do you find out about yourself if you permit yourself to not know? How can being an expert in one area make you feel the need to be perfect everywhere? Where can we ask for help?
You know nothing, Jon Snow.
Until next week.
Much love,
Lettie Jane
And Then Some Tidbits
Come see my art show! It’s got big paintings! They are messy! Usually, I edit the exclamations! But not today !
Last week I read There There and loved it. This week I read Heavy: An American Memoir by Kiese Laymon. This is one of the most brilliant, vulnerable and real books I’ve ever read. It’s about growing up a black, male and in Mississippi. The attention to language runs deep and makes reading about racism, feminism, weight, family, relationships, and moments that shape us, feel like an intimate conversation with someone who is running linguistic circles around me. I highly recommend this book.
Y’all probably know I love Adrianne Lenker and Theresa let me know their new album dropped this week. Nicky had already asked me to stop playing “Sadness As A Gift” on repeat, so here’s an album full of the same.
Take A Class with me. Y’all I am so jazzed on Deeper Drawing, take this class with me if you need some time and space to make art, it starts so soon!
Deeper Drawing (Saturday Afternoon) Apr/May 2024
$275.00 - $300.00
Dates: Saturdays, April 6th - May 18th
Time: 1:30pm-4:30pmFriday Night Figure Drawing (Apr 19)
$50.00
Date: Friday, April 19th
Time: 5:30-8:30Intuitive Drawing (Saturday AM) Apr/May
$300.00
Dates: Saturdays, April 13 - May 18
Time: 10:00am - 1:00pm
Take a class with me AND YOUR KID at Mudland.
Ages 6-teen + adult
$24
APR 7 & APR 21
2 hours 30 minutes
Take a class with me at Sitka Center for Art and Ecology
$230
September 21, 2024 - September 22, 2024
Listen to LINE TIME, a monthly podcast and art lesson I helped create.
Bun Updates
Trouble is the rabbit I need to talk about the most because he is a destruct-a-bun and it’s about half cute-and-funny and about half annoying. But let’s be serious, our favorite bunny is Jiji. I don’t mean just my favorite bunny, I mean our whole house is obsessed with the tiniest bunny, who thumps the most and is least interested in being petted but most interested in stealing treats from her house-brothers. She has the most dignity, gives the least fucks, and is not here for your pleasure, thank you very much, she is just here for the treats. If you haven’t heard her purr, you haven’t really lived. Her cuteness is deadly, her eyes are large and her ears are small.