Kate Ristau's Blog, page 33

He Helped: Drawing Dragons Day 108

I was working on my sea dragon, when Wonder decided I needed help with the arm. And the body. And the wings? There are finished.

Those were his thoughts. Those were his words. This is our dragon.

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Those days: Drawing Dragons Day 107

Then there are those days. The fast ones, where the day flies by, though nothing feels done. How can it be? We close our eyes in the face of our worries, but fail to disappear behind them. These days, we pull the covers up again. We dig in deeper, like the dragon beneath the waves.

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Right head, wrong body: Drawing Dragons Day 106

Wrong head, right body. Or right head, wrong body. This dragon just does not want to come together. It’s like the avocado I was trying to eat today. ALMOST GOOD.

But then the knife slipped, and I almost shaved my finger. I kept at it, but the avocado was too hard.

This dragon is simply not sure about the whole thing. More needs to be done. Discussed. Allowed to ripen.

Time, my friends, is what it needs.

Tomorrow, then.

Keep creating,

Kate

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Dragons or Demons: Drawing Dragons Day 105

I wish there was a class I could take on the anatomy of dragons. I think, then, my dragons might look more like dragons.

More work to do here.

Keep creating,

Kate

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Play ball! Drawing Dragons Day 104

And so the baseball season begins. Little Wonder raised his bat, and hit the ball, sailing toward the bases.

It’s his very favorite thing. If he had it his way, he’d wake up with a glove on his hand and a ball cap on his head.

But for now, he’ll take the field, cleats digging into the sand. His first inning.

Here’s to many more.

 

Keep playing,

Kate

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Another Sea Dragon! Drawing Dragons Day 103

Sea dragon, sideways. Turn your phone, or turn your brain.

Keep creating,

Kate

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Tired: Drawing Dragons Day 102

I’m tired. So I drew this dragon, and his face kept growing and growing. He’s going to take flight, without a twitch of his wing.

I don’t think it’s any kind of artistic rule, that you just keep adding lines and lines and more lines until you’re finally satisfied.

But that’s what my sleepy hand brought you, and that’s the tired words you get tonight.

Sleep well, and keep creating,

Kate

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His Dragon Heart: Drawing Dragons Day 101

I first heard his heartbeat when he was still inside me, the sound thumping back through grey monitors against white walls. It seemed impossible then. I couldn’t see him. I had no idea who he was, but I could hear him, like a roll of thunder inside me.

When we were rushed to the hospital 6 months later, I heard it again, through wires taped to my belly, the sound rushing toward me. Each beat a reminder that he was alive. That he was okay.

When they rushed him into the world, they pulled the wires from my stomach and sliced him free. His wings unfolded beneath the surgical lights and his heart pounded in his chest. The blood rushed through him. He took a breath.

3 days later, I heard his heartbeat change.

2 holes in his heart.

1 breath after another.

We moved forward. We held him close, then let him take the lead. He broke away. He headed toward the mountaintops. He wanted to fly.

We held him back.

We listened. We heard it. And they did too.

One year ago today, they stopped his dragon heart. They held it in their hands. They closed the hole, then breathed life back into him. They made it beat again.

For one long moment, we stood on the edge, willing him awake. And then he came back to us.

I told Bob tonight that we can never be the same. Not really. Because we stood on the edge of all of that, and we knew that nothing else mattered. Just him. With his fierce little roar and his sweet-tooth fangs. With his dragon heart.

I drew him a dragon heart tonight from this reference.

Today, he played baseball and ate lemon cake and we celebrated HEART DAY. His dragon heart is strong and fierce, sweet and kind. And I’m sure, over time, all these things will make more sense, and they’ll have more meaning and a lot less shine, but for now they are so bright that I can barely see the path in front of me. It’s all possibility, friends. It’s life and light and love and him, and he’s got so much more to do.

He’s shining, with every beat of his dragon heart.

And he is serious, oh so serious, about cake.

Keep creating,

Kate

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He carried a harp upon his back: Drawing Dragons Day 100

He carried a harp upon his back

Wings once bent into the wind

Bowed under the pressure of his claws

And released music

Epic and terrible

And quiet

Like a sunrise

On a forgotten mountain

One hundred days of dragons!

Keep creating,

Kate

 

 

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And that just makes me happy: Drawing Dragons Day 99

Look at this little guy…

Doesn’t he just make you happy? I gave him wings like a chicken and a soul like a duck, but he’s the perfect little dragon.

I hope he makes you happy too.

Keep creating,

Kate

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