Woolgathering

Blueberries scattered across the table in an early constellation of summer.
Elizabeth Perry
from Woolgathering

Drawing is a discipline. Drawing every day can be an obsession, a practice or a job. Elizabeth Perry has made drawing every day a form unto itself.

"In December 2004, I decided to learn to draw by sketching something every day in a small journal. I have been posting these daily drawings, sketches, and paintings to my blog woolgathering... since January 2005." —E. Perry

Teacher, writer, artist and techie, Elizabeth began blogging in 2002 — long before blogs hit the mainstream. Watch the transformation of her blog into a daily drawing journal in this January 2005 video of the first 28 days.  

Not enough to draw and post those drawings to a blog every day? Elizabeth shares the first bound journal she made in late November 2005 and describes her subsequent holiday project:

"Over the holiday, one of my sisters and I each bound a dozen sketchbooks for the year ahead. Working in our mother's beautiful seaside studio, we took a break from the rest of the world, folding and stitching and pasting and talking. Wonderful.

That sister - Maria - has been keeping a weblog with her drawings, too - she's a painter with two small children, and her sketchbook gives you a taste of the vitality of her work. We were having such a good time that another artist sister - Rachel - joined us and made herself a journal, and then my mother made four of them. My closest sister - Margaret - is a longtime committed diary-keeper, but she hasn't jumped into the world of blogs yet. I feel fortunate to be inspired by such an expressive and creative family."

To commemorate posting 1000 consecutive daily drawings on her blog, Elizabeth made this one-minute video in September 2007 —



Think you don't have time to draw every day? Woolgathering is created in the midst of an extremely full life packed with family, work, travel and a multitude of other projects. It's a very good example of commitment and of blogging as a tool to help solidify commitment.

From Table Salt to growing children, Elizabeth's posts are brief and elegant. Subscribe to Woolgathering for a daily treat. Today marks her 1,982nd subsequent drawing. Elizabeth Perry's discipline is inspiring.