Find that patch of heaven in your heart

: a surprise "musical" right outside my home | 6/24 new drawings ⻦ (a haiga, visual poetry) | new product update! 🙌

Jan 21, 2022

HopeMail #130 | Sharing one new drawing and writing about life to brighten your inbox, twice a month on Fridays. This issue is the 6/24 new drawings for HopeMail. Counting down 18 more issues till we complete 24 new drawings in a year in October 2022. 💪🏻 If a friend shared this with you, and you'd like to receive my next newsletter, c'mon in.

This issue of HopeMail was brought to you by the marvellous Beauty around us. ☺️

Out from the quiet of my living room window, a loud musical sprang into action! Mondays seemed to be meeting days for my feathered friends. Usually, it’s the same regular ensemble. Occasionally, guest performing artists would make a special appearance. Wanting to record their song, I thrust my iPhone 6 through the window. And pressed “video”…

…suddenly
six yellow birds!
a patch of heaven.

Image: a haiga (a type of Japanese visual poetry). Black & white line drawing of trees with six bright yellow-coloured orioles (bird). Four yellow orioles are flying around the trees, another two yellow orioles are perched on the tree branch. A nature scene that warms the soul.

I gave thanks. Smiled. With my heart full, I resumed my work.

Find that patch of heaven in your heart. Often—it’s closer and more accessible than you think.

👂 What is heaven to you? What does your patch of heaven look like? I’d love to hear your sharing. Comment or reply to this email and share a photo, a word, a few sentences, or you could even share a poem, doodle or drawing!

🎧🎶 Look at the World

This issue goes well with this beautiful song composed by John Rutter, performed by The Cambridge Singers and the City of London Sinfonia orchestra.

Listen on Apple Music, Spotify

Look at the World lyrics

Text within this block will maintain its original spacing when published

Look at the world: everything all around us
Look at the world: and marvel every day
Look at the world: so many joys and wonders
So many miracles along our way
Praise to thee o Lord for all creation
Give us thankful hearts that we may see
All the gifts we share and every blessing
All things come of thee

Look at the earth: bringing forth fruit and flower
Look at the sky: the sunshine and the rain
Look at the hills, look at the trees and mountains
Valley and flowing river field and plain
Praise to thee o Lord for all creation
Give us thankful hearts that we may see
All the gifts we share and every blessing
All things come of thee

Think of the spring, think of the warmth of summer
Bringing the harvest before the winters cold
Everything grows, everything has a season
Til' it is gathered to the fathers fold
Praise to thee o Lord for all creation
Give us thankful hearts that we may see
All the gifts we share and every blessing
All things come of thee

Every good gift, all that we need and cherish
Comes from the Lord in token of his love
We are his hands, stewards of all his bounty
His is the earth and his the heavens above
Praise to thee, o Lord for all creation
Give us thankful hearts that we may see
All the gifts we share, and every blessing
All things come of thee
All things come of thee

Give us thankful hearts that we may see.

The pair of yellow oriole regular seen outside my living room window inspired one of my first few drawings, "Commitment". When they brought another four of their friends for a visit, they inspired this issue’s poetry and drawing; a modern haiga.

What’s a haiga?

Portrait of Matsuo Bashō by Yokoi Kinkoku, c. 1820. The calligraphy relates one of Bashō's most famous haiku poems: *Furu ike ya / kawazu tobikomu / mizu no oto* (An old pond / a frog jumps in / the sound of water). Source: Public Domain

It’s a form of visual poetry. Traditionally, it’s a haiku (a type of poetry of Japanese origin) with brush painting. Nowadays, it has been broadened to a haiku with imagery: a painting, a photo, a drawing, even a video.

⻦ Bring them home

Image: a pair of yellow oriole perched on tree branches, facing each other, with their beaks touching, seemingly kissing. (In human’s eyes, of course. Do birds kiss, I wonder? Hmm.) — Commitment | Fine art print | Line drawing of a pair of yellow orioles

Commitment | Fine art print

Image: an office/work table scene. A white table, a glass vase with two plants with skinny stem, two pencils on the table, a journal and two notebooks on the right, and a coffee cup. There’s a silver laptop with an art sticker of a haiga (a type of Japanese visual poetry). …suddenlysix yellow birds!a patch of heaven. The sticker is a black & white brush pen drawing of trees with six bright yellow-coloured orioles (bird). Four yellow orioles are flying around the trees, another two yellow orioles are perched on the tree branch. A nature scene that warms the soul. — A patch of heaven | Art sticker with haiga (visual poetry) | Brush pen drawing six yellow orioles and tree

A patch of heaven | Art sticker

📣 Update! Artwork now available as art stickers

See a story you like through my drawing? You can now bring them home as stickable art.

Image: A black and white die-cut sticker. It’s a black & white line drawing of a tree branch with a flock of seven birds flying around in the sky. A minimalist, Zen look. The drawing has a haiku and it reads: Birds, birds, everywhereflying high up in the skyHow freeing—I thought. — Tree Branch and Seven Birds with haiku | Art sticker | Perfect for your journal, diary, laptop, or water bottle!

As an artist and a consumer, I want my art to be accessible to more people. Not to just a few elite art collectors. Nothing wrong with that. Just that it doesn’t resonate with me. So, I’ve been working behind the scenes developing my product range to be inclusive of people who want my drawing as wall art, and also for people who want something smaller, usable, cost less, and something they can buy more frequently whenever they see a drawing they like.

I reckon art stickers fit those criteria. 😄 And I’ve created three art stickers to start off with. There’s a 20% discount using the code STICKERS20. Take a look at my shop, and let me know what you think. I’m open to suggestions, what else would you like to see, digital phone wallpaper, note cards, etc.?

Shop art stickers

Using my iPhone 6, here’s the video I’d taken of the bird songs and the six yellow orioles flying around. Bonus, if you watch till the end, spot the model for my Tree Branch and Seven Birds line drawing! Can you spot it?

Image: a photo of me taken from the back, seated in front of my living room windows. I’m wearing a light-blue striped billowy short-sleeved shirt with navy blue shorts. My hair is loosely braided. I’m looking up and out with my binoculars, soaking in the scene of trees and birds! — How I sometimes draw from my surroundings. With binoculars!

That’s all for now, folks. Thanks for reading. I had fun with the haiga! Maybe I’ll create more of them. Let’s see what life brings next and I’ll share them with you. See ya in my next issue of the newsletter on February 4th, where we’ll have the 7/24 new drawings for HopeMail. Take care.

💖 Melinda

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Anne Chandran

Jan 26, 2022

It almost looks like they were all out to impress you! What are the chances of that? It got me thinking if we visit our surroundings often enough chances are they recognize us too! Imagine if one bird said to the other, ‘it’s the lady with the pen, come on guys it’s showtime’!! That all in my wild imagination!

Absolutely loved how your brought the story of these musical birds to us. It reminded me to turn off my music every once in a while to listen to the ‘live band’ outdoors, especially in the morning.

#keepwritinganddrawingMelinda

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1 reply by Melinda Yeoh