Gail McNaughton Doodle Artist

What is Doodle Art

by Gail McNaughton, February 20, 2011 ©

Doodle Art for me is a whimsical expression of my deep connectedness with spirit. It is the imaginative side of my being. It is as if my soul is coming out to play and taking me away from the stress and drama of life. It is the child within who wants to draw and colour and paint. It is mindless meditation. It is a way for me of visually thinking and taking me beyond the linear world of the written word. It helps me capture creative bursts in the midnight madness when I wake at 3 a.m. to draw and write. It is a way for me to be “original” at any hour of the day for I draw everywhere and anywhere. Through Doodle Art, I am one with the innermost spark of imagination that God planted in my seed of being. Doodling makes me one with the universe and is my bridge between heaven and earth.

The repetitive symbols of hearts, flowers, animals, cartoons, gratitude symbols, stars, angels and fairies represent to me that my artwork is all about healing the planet and reinforcing world peace through my own energy. It is the emotional “I” in form and colour.

If you would like to try your hand at Doodle Art, spend time with pen and paper, be present in the moment, and go with the flow. Meditation, praying, nature walks, feelings of gratitude, love and peace will still your ego and allow creativity. Many years ago, I took a course called Rainbow Centering in which you meditate using the colours of the rainbow while listening to a tape. There was a short version and a long version, but I only used the short one. Sometimes I cried, laughed or rested during the process of listening. I found this exercise highly effective and could actually see the colours. To this day, I dream in colour. I learned that not everyone dreams in colour and I realized what a lovely gift I have been given.
The process of life is lived from the inside out. Repetitiveness of our actions makes us more focused without realizing that our mindless doodling is causing action and reordering in the universe. 10% effort by us makes 90% effort by the universe to follow the laws of the universe. Doodling is doing soul work at the unconscious level and it helps dissolve the mind blocks and mind friction of day-to-day living. It is said that you eat the fruit of your own tree, so you might as well grow a happy, healthy tree with your internal resources.

Some suggestions to help you expand and grow are to:
. Make a gratitude list
. Make a list of what limits or contracts you
. Celebrate and make a list of what expands you

The heart is the centre of consciousness within your body so when you put your self into your heart, events will happen in a serendipitous way. When the heart is open, so is a deep level of consciousness where you can dip into the river of opportunity and the writing and art brought forth are the ripe fruit of your tree.

The vision you invoke in the creativity of your doodles will be a testimony to your life’s purpose. As a rosebud opens, the beauty, talent and essence unfold to create a better world. When you are the best you can be, you open the space for others to be the best that they can be. Remember, your life is the size of your vision so when you get a chance, make those doodles life-sized and if you need to, use a magnifying glass to see them bigger.

Value “the void”– the space between words and thoughts and the silence of the world – to find the part of the universe that wants to talk to you in signs, symbols, pictures and numbers. This “letting go” galvanizes change… so be it.

Your Dreams Are a Good Source of Inspiration

Lucid Dreams I believe are the source of my inspiration. It is the process of dreaming while knowing (being aware) that you are dreaming. This has become a skill that I am able to tap into. I am able to see during this period of time. Sometimes I catch myself laughing for I literally see fantasy. I am also able to utilize my own doodles in a video type of situation with the camera being my mind. I feel that I am at the movies. Unfortunately the doodle characters move too quickly – or at least I cannot catch up to them – so I don’t get a sense of the ultimate story they are portraying. They are in bright colours and I am always amazed that I am creating them. Sometimes specific ideas are presented to me. Sometimes animals come to me. This meditative time is very important to my ability to have the resources to doodle. I am able to relay to others what I am seeing while in this lucid state, but primarily it takes place when I am resting in bed.

The wake-initiated lucid dream occurs when “the sleeper enters REM sleep with unbroken self-awareness directly from the waking state”. There are many techniques aimed at entering a WILD. The key to these techniques is recognizing the hypnologic stage, which is within the border of being awake and being asleep. If a person is successful in staying aware while this stage occurs, that person will eventually enter the dream state while being fully aware that it is a dream.

There are key times when this state is best entered. While success at normal bedtime after having been awake all day is difficult, it is relatively easy after sleeping for 3–7 hours or in the afternoon during a nap. Techniques for inducing WILDs abound. Dreamers may count, envision themselves climbing or descending stairs, chant to themselves, control their breathing, count their breaths to keep their thoughts from drifting, concentrate on relaxing their body from their toes to their head, or allow images to flow through their “mind’s eye” and envision themselves jumping into the image to maintain concentration and keep their mind awake, while still being calm enough to let their bodies sleep.

During the actual transition into the dream state, dreamers are likely to experience sleep paralysis, including rapid vibration, a sequence of loud sounds, and a feeling of twirling into another state of body awareness, or of “drifting off into another dimension”, or like passing the interface between water into air, face front, body first, or the gradual sharpening and becoming “real” of images or scenes they are thinking of and trying to visualize gradually, which they can actually “see”, instead of the indefinite sensations they feel when trying to imagine something while wide awake.

It Is All About the Flow

My inspiration comes from many sources and at the present time includes our new dog, Fleecy and two kittens, Poppy and Panda Bear. Each is a Doodle Art character. These doodles have carried through to a tattoo I have on my back, rug hooking and punch-needle designs, as well as painting and making photo art greeting cards, and other products like T-shirts and mouse pads, so it is all encompassing in my life. The tattoo was all about expressing who I am on the outside. I created it on the inside, drew it on paper, and then had a tattoo artist use my pattern to create this art on my back.

I’ve utilized my characters to help tell a story but I never know what the end result is going to be when I start – and that is the magic of the process. My pen has wings and an hour later I have a drawing. I draw on vacation, on planes, on trains, in reception areas waiting for appointments, waiting for my car to be fixed, on the beach, in the car, and wherever I feel that I can. I mainly draw 8½” by 11” sizes and all art is vertical and not horizontal. Each piece goes into a binder in chronological order so I have all of my artwork right from the beginning of this endeavour. In February, 2012, I will have created Doodle Art for 5 years, and I have over 100 selected Doodle Art pieces on my website for the public to enjoy.

The character, Mommy-Millie Bear is my Mother personified. I have felt alone many times in my life but especially around the time that my Mom was in her 90’s. She had both legs amputated over a 10-year period and was in and out of hospitals and moved from her apartment to a retirement home and finally to a long-term-care facility. We also had friends who were in their late 80’s. My mother-in-law had also moved to a long-term-care facility. I was grieving, knowing all these wonderful people would pass away. I created my cartoon characters as family and they used to make me feel happy, especially when I was drawing them and later colouring them in. They would never leave me, I often said to myself. I took enlarged and laminated doodle art to my Mom when visiting her and she had a pole light where I hung my art from the heart. She became my biggest fan and had her own private art exhibition. Having Mommy-Millie Bear keeps my Mom in my life as the bear has always been a totem to me. I also discovered that Mommy-Millie Bear represented all Mothers who had passed away and was there for all daughters and sons as a totem. This made me feel good that I could share my Mommy-Millie Bear with others.

Flowercat™ is my original character and came to me after the experience of watching an angel take my lost cat (missing cremated cat remains), who had died and was cremated, to be housed in a teapot. The angel led me through this experience and I’ve written about it in my book, Angel Witness. She is the basis for the creation of all my art. I also wrote a poem about how she was born and drew some art around it. She has managed to remain in my psyche as she is eternally with me. She has enhanced my life and continues to share her story with me through the animal kingdom, my doodle animals that materialize and my pets, who live with us.

Choco-Cat came to the forefront after my husband, Bob and I attended a chocolate seminar. Choco-Cat wanted a birthday to bring us sweetness in life. My husband really likes caramel but I love chocolate and especially dark, rich healthy chocolate.

Chili-Chikka is a southern-style bird with peacock feathers and was born out of Mexican flavour. Iris Eye-Lash has eyes on her peacock feathers and her body is one big eye. She came to be while we were traveling in Scandinavia.

Sally Spider comes forth as Bob and I try to decide who is the spider and who is the fly in our relationship. She is there as comic relief with big hair and big eyes – “all the better to see you with”. She is very stylish with a coat of many colours and fits in everywhere. She is a very good listener.

Heart Cat says it all. She has a wide and open heart to love everyone and she has a heart shaped head but cat ears so she cannot be mistaken with her long whiskers. She often wears trendy colours.

Sammy the Snake is a very spiritual character as the sign of the snake has been with me a long time, emanating from a past-life experience of being bitten by a snake and dying, and also stoning a snake and roasting it over a fire when I was little. Snake energy has led me into the healing realm. Sammy is a very healthy and happy snake who has magical powers.

Lava Loo came to me while my husband and I were on an Angel Practitioner’s course in Hawaii. I knew that a character was trying to come forth but it hadn’t materialized until we were ready to board the plane to come home. I went to the washroom and realized the character should be called Lava Loo. I had a good laugh and then when I got on board the plane, I drew her.

Ollie the Owl came to me after visiting an artist, Kelly Dodge, who introduced me to her pet blue jay and then showed me a photo of an owl that she fed out of her hands. We also purchased one of her paintings, Lady Grey, which is an owl, and hangs in our cottage. I got in the car and drew Ollie right then and there.
Eli The Eagle came about to represent Bob, my husband. He soars like Bob and has the characteristics of bravery, humility and gregariousness. He has the ability to fly anywhere he wants but mostly presents himself in situations to look good sitting on trees, flowers or on people.

There are other characters and they are spokespeople. I can speak through them in a non-threatening way. They are there with peaceful messages of hope, joy, love and gratitude.
The angels and mermaids come forth as they drift through my mind and when a heart is put behind a figure you know that an angel is present – because looking from the front, the heart becomes wings. I often draw the angel Elisha, and when Angel is in human form she is Angelica.

Our cat, Poppy, was named for a Remembrance Day poppy. My parents both died in November – my Dad on Remembrance Day and my Mom two days after her birthday. We also had to put our 17-year-old Main Coon cat, Walley, to sleep at the beginning of the month, so Poppy represents these lovely memories all wrapped into one character. Our other cat, Panda Bear, resembled a panda that Bob and I saw at the Atlanta Zoo. She has such a lovely even disposition and we feel she mothers us.

What To Doodle

I draw the same symbols over and over again, but over the years, I’ve also experimented with new shapes. I always include hearts, flowers, cartoons, angels, fairies, mermaids and the gratitude symbol. This is what I feel most comfortable drawing. I have one rule that I’ve followed right from the beginning and that is: with doodling there are no mistakes. In all the time I’ve doodled, I’ve perhaps thrown away two sheets of paper that I started something on and then didn’t like or the paper got wet. If something needs to be changed, or I have drawn a line too far, or whatever it may be, I just incorporate it into the drawing. This to me is real success. I am not a perfectionist as that is not what my art is all about. It just “is” the way that it is supposed to be. I am not a fine artist. There is structure and I feel that my artwork is balanced on the paper, but this is because practice makes perfect, if you want to call it that. You get very used to your own style. I just “go for it” and draw what comes to me. I have colleagues who cannot get started as their “masterpiece” has to be all planned out. When I am designing a rug hooking Doodle Art, I do it the same way. I draw on the burlap and then go to my stash of wool and pick out colours that might work and then just start somewhere. The colour “speaks” to me along the way and the hooking gets done using this method. Being a visual person, and in need of using primary colours to intensify things, I am happy with my belief that the characters want to be boldly introduced to be memorable, yet the Angels and Fairies often are softer and more iridescent.

How I Exhibit My Doodle Art

My Doodle Art is exhibited on my website. I have also exhibited in the St. Thomas Library, on the art wall of our local MP’s office, in the Santa Claus Parade, in stores on the photo art greeting cards of Doodle Art I make, in the homes of friends, family and colleagues, and during a Tour of Gardens when our home was on the tour. I hung the art in our gigantic Blue Spruce tree. I also make enlargements for people and they are displayed in their offices and homes. Small 4” x 6” photos are put into frames and hung on walls. I hope to have an Art From The Heart show in 2012 to celebrate 5 years of creating Doodle Art.

My Artwork Is My Personality

My Doodle Art is very busy – there is little or no white space. This is the nature of who I am. I am a very busy person and many things are transpiring at the same time, so I believe this is reflected in my artwork. It is lively and colourful and “in your face” with bold frankness. But it is very calming to do. It is fantasy personified and self-expression of the fantasy artist that I am. My art often remains in bed with me, and I go to sleep with it at my side until my husband comes to bed and has to move it off his side. My art is given to him after completion and is put in his mailbox in the kitchen so he is the first person to see it. I now write poetry that goes along with the Doodle Art and I share it willingly with friends and colleagues. I’ve been a poet since I was 16 and all my poems are chronologically stored. Doodle Art is an added bonus to combine with my poems. I just love doing special art for all the festive seasons and we use my artwork for our Christmas cards and other celebrations like Valentine’s Day, Easter, and Thanksgiving. A highlight was creating Doodle Art for my husband’s 60th birthday that was made into 6-foot panels to be showcased at his party. His party theme was “60 Scoops & Counting” so ice cream was the theme in the panels. On top of that, Forest City Image Centre helped me put together a slide show of the Doodle Art and my husband eating ice cream cones, as I have collected quite a stash of photos of him doing this. Now I join him and ice cream is always a staple in our house.

Tips for Artists

Anybody can create Doodle Art. I like to use a medium, thick-nibbled pen in black or blue and that is my drawing tool. I use Xerox paper, which is plentiful but have also used napkins, envelopes, paper tablecloths at restaurants, placemats and scrap paper. When I colour in the Doodle Art, I use paint pens and brushes or magic markers. I particularly like luminous colours (magic markers) and have also tried glitter which makes the originals sparkly. (You just squeeze the glitter on where you want it and let it dry for a couple of hours.) I also have markers that you can mix and match, and subtract or add colour, which gives an interesting effect. I put all my finished art through the photo scanner, colour correct it, size it, name it and file it in a folder called “Doodle Art”. I also keep a book of samples. I make art cards of the Doodle Art and have stock cards that I use with my logo on the back. I have other cards that have my portrait and a message on the back. These I have made up by the Printer.

My tip to you is to try things out and get a feel for things that are comfortable. When we go on vacation, I make books of the art done on the trip and keep them with the photo albums I construct. I designed a colouring book that has uncoloured doodle art in it and it’s gone to third world countries. I appreciate the sponsors who contributed to my project. All my original Doodle Art is stored chronologically in large black binders so I can trace the artwork right back to the beginning. I must say that I’ve tried new things along the way, and added new characters, but the artwork always looks the same, so I know that it is how I am to express myself.

Another tip is not to compare yourself to anybody else. I have met many different artists and we all express ourselves differently. At one point I didn’t even call myself an artist but I do now, for how could you not be an artist and draw (almost) every day. The late artist, Paul Schleusner, who was a friend of mine, told me that he painted every day. You cannot perfect things for yourself if you just dabble in it once in awhile. Once you see yourself doing this over and over again – like a compulsion – you will know that you are an artist.

My sister got me started as an artist, when I was in my late teens, drawing giant bugs. I would draw the bug and then do dots inside the lines. I had a whole wall of bugs that were framed. I also made bread dough baskets, stained glass, knitted, crocheted, built willow furniture, created paper machete objects, and when I discovered rug hooking, I was hooked, so to speak. That is my other passion and I design my own patterns using my doodles as the basis. Antique rug hooking is an old and forgiving art because if you don’t like what you’ve created, you just pull out the wool and rethink the colour and design. It allows me to create as I go and I like to be very spontaneous.

A highlight for me was taking an Art From The Heart program at Serenity House in St. Thomas. Although I wasn’t suffering from a life-threatening situation, I was going through a grieving period. I was introduced to several different kinds of art, but it was the painting that I identified with. So, my hearts, flowers, and Mommy-Millie Bear got painted. I also painted a banner which hung in downtown St. Thomas in the Banner Art program, and was able to buy it at the end of the season. It now hangs in my home. My sister helped me design it, using her computer program to finalize the design from my original drawings. She also did this for art in my book, To Have a Cup of Tea With a Cat & Other Cat Tails. My Doodle Art has stretched to be included in my latest book on angels, Angel Witness, and some of the paintings mentioned above are in the book as well.

All in all, just “do something” instead of “nothing” and soon you’ll be expressing yourself using your own style. Your doodling will bring out the best in you and add to the collective spirit of healing the world.

ARTIST’S STATEMENT – GAIL MCNAUGHTON (February 29, 2008)

WHO IS FLOWERCAT ™ & FRIENDS

Flowercat ™ & Friends are symbols of peace and harmony. They reach out to the world to offer peace through their gentleness and friendship. There are specific characters that are intertwined in one another’s lives – Angelica the Angel/Woman, Flowercat ™, Sammy the Snake, Grapeapathia, Pow Wow the Sheep Dog, Dogflower, Chili-Chikka the Bird, Priscilla the Pig, Cornacopia, Ollie the Owl, Eli the Eagle, Chocó-Cat, and others that are constantly being developed. It is my belief that these doodle art characters can bridge the gap for world peace by bringing a softened heart to each and every person. When we feel love we can give love. The symbols of hearts and the gratitude symbol “G” invoke calm and serenity as I draw them. The energy of love that is put into each drawing radiates outward through time and space to reach those in need for where intention goes, energy flows. I am divinely guided to draw and use my magic markers and I hope that I inspire you to find your own voice through art.

My vision for people is to look inside themselves and find their passion and go ahead and do it. A passion is something that gives your life meaning and makes you get up every morning. My Flowercat ™ and Friends characters live and breathe within me. They were developed out of a creative spirit who was feeling alone. By them being born on paper, out of my head, they have become my confidants and best friends. They are my children. They are a part of who I am as a person for I created them out of the very depth of my being and a great need to not abandon myself in the face of adversity around me with what was happening in the world and very close to home. My Mother had lost both her legs to diabetes, had several amputations, moved from home to a retirement home and then on to a long-term-care facility and I was two hours away. At times I was feeling homesick and didn’t know how I could help. Flowercat ™ came to me and has inspired me out of my feeling of loneliness and abandonment and shown me a way to help. My Mother was also inspired by my doodle art characters and at times she became Flowercat ™ and personal drawings were done to celebrate her life. At 91, at the end of her life, I am feeding her like the Mother Bird feeds the baby so a lot of my drawings have taken on real activities that I’ve been doing in my life today. They are one way of healing my heart from the loss that I am feeling but the longevity of her in my heart. Dementia of a parent really takes them away.

Flowercat ™ & Friends have voices and want to be part of society’s evolution to a more peaceful nature and speak to the world by spreading Joy, Love, Gratitude and Good Will.

WHEN AND WHY DOES A DOODLE ARTIST DOODLE?

I doodle all the time and have spent countless long hours drawing and colouring. Art can be doodled in the car, sitting in bed at night, sitting in a hospital room, in the middle of the night when you can’t sleep, sitting on a long flight, watching TV or any time that you really want to. I have one rule and that is that any so called mistake cannot be a mistake and has to be turned into something else. So far, I have not destroyed one drawing.

Doodling taps into creative sources that sometimes seem foreign. Doodling has made me laugh, cry, shifted my mood and lightened my spirit. I have had revelations of information and solved problems in a very creative way just by letting my imagination flow. By drawing the same things over and over again they often give you new interpretations and a new perspective. I sometimes sleep with my doodle art and awaken refreshed and motivated by my pictures. A routine in our household has been for me to put each picture in my husband’s business mail box so that he can have a peek at what I am up to. After he looks at them, they are given back to me to file by date. These albums are accumulating and are as meaningful as photo albums as they are a glimpse of where I am in space and time and what my beliefs are. When I am traveling and in foreign countries or in new situations I find that I incorporate the culture into the drawings so this gives me a glimpse of where I’ve been. I also doodle while in training classes and at seminars and when I come home I make books out of my notes and artwork so when I reread my notes the drawings are there as a spirit of good will and are watching over my learning and living.

When you create something internally you really take on the nature of what you’ve done and you become your creation in mind, body and soul. It is my greatest gift to help heal the world in my own way, at my own speed and in the context of my own self expression and for that I honour my soul.

The Birth of Flowercat
January 21, 2007

On a wintry night,
There was a pounding at the door.
I put the lights on,
And sitting on the front porch,
Was a present,
That had a card that read,
“Only one who believes,
Should open this box,
For it contains magic.”
The red bow was enticing,
And I traced it with my finger.
I swear the lid popped up,
When I knelt beside it,
And put my face close.
Was this a jack-in-the-box?
I reached inside,
And there at my fingertips,
Was a round snow globe.
There was a white ball,
Emerged in fluid just floating aimlessly.
It intrigued me.
Compassion flew in my heart,
And feeling like the globe must be cold,
I held the sphere in my hands,
And watched it like a believer.
My hands became warm almost immediately,
And I felt such an attachment to the globe.
It was like an embelic cord.
Before my eyes,
The white ball started to spin,
In the sea of clear soup,
In its home in the globe.
Like blowing up a balloon,
The embryo took shape,
And I smiled watching what appeared to be
…Birth…
A head, two furry ears, 5 petals around the face,
Two furry paws with nails, a nose, eyes, mouth,
Long eye lashes under and over the eyes.
I was enamored.
I was a Mother.
This heaven sent creation,
Hung in animation,
And smiled at me,
From her self contained world.
When I shook the ball,
It snowed and,
Her lashes and whiskers,
Got coated with snowflakes,
But with another flick of my wrist,
And a twirl of the globe,
The snow swirled faster and faster,
And my little newborn was dancing.
It was magical,
And she looked like a ballerina,
And the next, a tap dancer.
In my heart,
I could feel her urge to jump out,
And sit in my lap.
She just stared with those sapphire eyes,
And I was caught in the moment,
Mesmerized by my fate,
For what had I done to deserve this honour.
I watched spots appear,
One by one, on her petals,
All in different colours.
Then a heart announced itself,
Sat on one petal and painted itself red.
Another heart appeared at her paws,
Which she stretched forth to me.
It warmed my soul as it sent thoughts,
Of pure love, harmony and joy,
To the core of my being.
Her tail began to grow,
And became a lush vine,
Filled with flowers, leaves and berries.
It just took root,
And circled the snow globe,
Blossoming and growing where it traveled.
I wound the crank on the base of the snow globe,
And to my delight,
It turned on a magic light show.
The pool was purple, then green, then blue,
And Flowercat that I named her,
Pulsated with brilliant white light.
Her love radiated beyond the snow globe,
Out through my heart,
To every living creature, plant and animal.
There was such an infusion of harmony,
That happiness multiplied.
The peace of the moment,
Became the peace of the world,
And the lushness of living,
And the symmetry of the world,
Was readjusted just by one small,
Gesture from Flowercat,
Who ignited her whole heart,
Into believing in the survival of the world,
That the body of the world followed in pursuit.
That’s what love is all about.
Flowercat had been created by God,
To bring peace and harmony to the world,
And limitless opportunities for us,
To blend together in true love.
In this moment of joy that I and the rest experienced,
Flowercat walked through the snow globe,
Hopped onto my lap,
Had a nice long nap,
And now resides in my mind’s eye.
She brings her gestures of love to the world,
When we have communion,
And I set pen to paper,
And draw her in vignettes.
Her voice is strong and she initiates intuitiveness,
And through one drawing at a time,
The world will be healed,
As she radiates her love willingly,
To mankind.

(Flowercat was created in 2006 as part of a dream)
Gail McNaughton, Canadian Poet & Doodle Artist