It all started with pumpkin art.
To be more precise, learning to draw and illustrate pumpkins well in Procreate with drawing tools and watercolour brushes. See last week’s post.
And it all became about discovering the tradition of Thanksgiving this week.
THIS POST USES AFFILIATE LINKS. FIND OUT MORE ABOUT OUR AFFILIATE DISCLOSURE HERE
I wasn’t particularly raised with such tradition, but the adult that I am today has grown to value gratitude as a result of life experience. So, learning about Thanksgiving has been rather pleasant for me the past week as I embarked onto building my first ever Thanksgiving collection on Zazzle.
I had a pumpkin and some foliage and had to cook something up with them. So, a Thanksgiving collection it was. The collection is not complete yet but I hope to complete it by end of next week or so. For now, I share some of the products I’ve already added to the collection below. The look is elegant rustic vintage.
I learnt that Thanksgiving is about celebrating the good people in our lives.
You know, those who enrich our lives, elevate our spirits, inspire us, those who have our back when we hit rock bottom or are there for us when we face tough times, those who check on us and appreciate us as we are, those who make us feel good about ourselves, those who challenge us to keep us growing, those who see and hear us and above all those who care about us, etc.
So, I now totally get why Thanksgiving is a big thing in the US. Even if the tradition of Thanksgiving may have not totally started this way from what I saw at a quick glance online. I won’t get into this because I know very little about it and the point of this post is to stay focused on giving thanks and gratitude which are what my heart loves to discuss sometimes.
In the US the tradition seems timed late each year in October and November, the fall months leading to Christmas. This, to the cosiness lover that I am, feels totally appropriate for such a time of gratitude because the season itself carries the cosy and warm vibes our human hearts need to give thanks for and honour our loved ones.
I think giving thanks for the blessings in our lives is generally speaking a healthy thing to do all year through because it also has a positive impact on our mind and mental health. Not to mention the good impact on the other person.
These fall digital watercolour and mixed media drawings have a modern loose character to them and I love it this way. I’m far from finished with my pumpkin drawing learning as, in the end, the thing I learnt last week wasn’t enough to make me happy as I discovered other ways I could approach drawing pumpkins. Anyway, it’s a work in progress, as usual. Learning never ends on a given date but rather continues for life for as long as we’re willing to learn.
I can feel that I am developing a new appreciation for autumn and year end now that I have discovered the tradition of Thanksgiving because I love the warm cosy nurturing set up the tradition is today rooted in. The fall colour palette, the beautiful changing nature, the warmth indoor with the baking, yummy teas and cosy living, the focus on love, family and gratitude, what’s not to love!
This has revived my desire and plan to start designing gratitude merchandize for my Zazzle stores. So, some of this should start any time soon now, as a light hobby.
Today I shall continue work on the Thanksgiving collection.
Whereupon I wish you a happy, worm and cosy Thanksgiving season!
Alex
CHECK MY THANKSGIVING COLLECTION ON ZAZZLE
