How do you challenge yourself? As an artist I’m always looking for different things to try as ways to grow and expand my skills. Here, this tile was drawn entirely with my left hand. I even signed and dated the back with my left hand. Why? Well, first of all, I wanted to see if I could. In addition, drawing with your non-dominant hand builds new neural pathways in your brain.

I recently visited Holland, Michigan for a little R-and-R with my husband and older daughter. We decided to walk the main, downtown shopping area, looking in various stores. We came across The Bridge, a store that specializes in unique, fair trade, import items. There were some very interesting things in the store, but the most fascinating to me was paper made from elephant dung! I purchased both a small, spiral-bound book and a box of small, loose sheets.