December Doodle Calendar – The Changing Seasons

December was a busy month, in both good and stressful ways. I started the month by flying to Australia, where as you know the bushfires are still raging on. My heart goes out to the people, land and animals that are affected. Halfway around the world you can’t help but feel helpless, but what little I can do is donate. Through Sha’an’s Furry Little Peach store I checked out this link to support the NSW Rural Fire Service, and the NSW RFS site also has a page to support firefighter families .If anyone has already donated or knows of a good organization to support, please share in the comments.

This is what the Sydney sky looked like while I was there. A month later and the crisis continues.

From Australia back to Seoul. On my calendar you can see that there are some very strange looking doodles from Dec 8 – 10. These were my symbolic representations of feeling overwhelmed and anxious (the eighth was a take on a post by @worry__lines which perfectly encapsulated how I felt, the tenth is a bubbling vat of anxiety). At the time I had several balls in the air, with preparations for a Christmas card collage class the next week, and two other freelance projects on top of my day job.

I just finished the longer of the two projects yesterday, and looking back now it all seems doable and almost a pleasant memory. Almost. Most importantly though, I learned how to ask for help (for more time) and I think I can better manage a similar situation next time. I will need to learn how if I’m going to take my creative hobbies more seriously in the new decade, so this was good training.

BUT DID YOU CATCH THE IMPORTANT BIT? I TAUGHT A CLASS? AN ART CLASS! I’m not an art teacher! I haven’t taken a formal art class since it was mandatory in middle school! The participants were amazing and creative and I learned from them as well as what I could do better next time (hopefully there’s a next time). My friend who IS an art teacher posted an Instagram cartoon (in Korean, but it’s pictures!) about how she took what she learned in the class and taught it to her kids the next day! How great is that?!

Some of the participants’ work! Also I made a short little video for my own memz.

Midway in December I had given up on sending holiday cards this year, but receiving my lovely friend Sarah’s card and the energy from the class inspired me to just print one of my quick collages and I got some cards out. Late but not never.

Other highlights include an end of the year dinner with friends, going to the winter edition of the Seoul Illustration Fair (post forthcoming… I hope!), seeing my bestie and her husband for a short bit during their visit to Seoul before I left, and of course, coming home for the holidays.

See previous months doodle calendars from: April, May, June, July, August, September, October and November

This post is part of Su’s The Changing Seasons. I have so appreciated this challenge and this community, and I hope you’ll check out how other people spent their Decembers.

About The Changing Seasons

The Changing Seasons is a monthly challenge where bloggers around the world share what’s been happening in their month.

If you would like to join in, here are the guidelines:

The Changing Seasons Version One (photographic):

• Each month, post 5-20 photos in a gallery that you feel represent your month
• Don’t use photos from your archive. Only new shots.
• Tag your posts with #MonthlyPhotoChallenge and #TheChangingSeasons so that others can find them

The Changing Seasons Version Two (you choose the format):

• Each month, post a photo, recipe, painting, drawing, video, whatever that you feel says something about your month
• Don’t use archive stuff. Only new material!
• Tag your posts with #MonthlyPhotoChallenge and #TheChangingSeasons so others can find them.

If you do a ping-back to this post, Su can update it with links to all of yours.