I have too many stories swirling in my head. Some of them will stay unpublished. Some are just depressing. While I do not find anything wrong with writing about how you feel, I know for me right now; I need more positivity in my life.

I have finally started wanting to make art. It has taken almost a year to pick up a pencil and want to draw. I have been following my heart and working on what meant the most to me at the time. I have a few surprises going out in the mail very soon.

When thinking about what art project I wanted to start next, I was at a loss until the magic of Hive happened. I ended up in a DM with one of my favorite people, @Wesphilbin. He and I had a great talk about many things. He offered me advice when I told him I was getting into vaping.

Between Wes and my computer guru friend, I learned more about vaping than I thought possible. The more Wes and I talked, the more I knew what I wanted to try making next. At one point, I was having three conversations and smiling thru it all.

Wes was trying to help me develop a story to accompany a drawing I had just finished coloring. He is very subtle when it comes to helping with things like this. I will slowly get sent gifs, knowing one or more of the things Wes sends will spark something inside my head.

He knows me well because what he sent between our vaping conversation pulls out a story I want to write and will go perfectly with my art. The problem with that story is being able to quiet my mind enough to do it justice. I have tried several times since that night, but that story is not ready to be written yet.

What made me itching to start a new painting was trying to draw and paint a realistic person's face for the second time. The last time I tried this, I used my son as a reference, and no one thought it looked like him. I thought it did, but what do I know?! It was now time to try again, and who better to do a portrait of than our Wesphilbin?

Below is the final painting. I am very proud of how it turned out. Are there things wrong with it? Well, yes. I never said I was an artist. I am a person that wants to be able to paint what I see in my brain and will not take You can Not! as an answer.

So I will keep trying to teach myself. People will keep having slightly odd things happening to their faces until, one day; they don't.

A huge "Thank you!" to Wesphilbin for being there for me. I hope you can see past the oddities and enjoy what I have made.