Her lovely bright red hair & blue eyes (hard to miss)Her well known doodle art work she blogs about.
Her charming wit and interaction in our discussion boards on BC
Other Bits and Pieces including her choice of music and much more…….
Angie: Dearest Claire, thank you so much for taking the time to answer a few of my question’s as inquiring minds want to know. First, how long have you been blogging and when did doodling take its active role in your life?
Claire: I started blogging on the 29th October 2006, at 22:02, so I have been blogging for roughly 1654 days or 4 years, 6 months, 11 days. I started the blog, as a way of keeping a journal for my, then, introduction to counselling course.
Doodling didn’t appear on the blog until over a year later and then it was only using my mouse and Microsoft ‘paint’, to be produce classics like the ones you can view on my flickr account.
I started producing my own ‘doodles’ as I read somewhere, maybe on BC, about the naughtiness of using images ‘borrowed’ from Google. So I started to create my own artwork to illustrate posts. Even if they were a bit crap, at least they were my own. Then sometime in 2008 I pick up a pen and started doodling for real again. Still working on the clothes.
Angie: Well,….as long as the lipstick and eyelashes are set, I think they are perfect. 
I do wonder though, what state of mind would you say is best for you when your pencil takes over your creative mind and captivates your art’s expressions?
Claire: For me that varies, sometimes the best time to grab a pencil is when you least feel like it. As it is a way of getting rid of that stuff that blocks your mind. Other times it is when excitement takes over, when you get a really cool idea and can’t wait to sketch it out and see if it can come to life.
Angie: You’re not only an artist at heart but you do use your creative doodling in your professional trade being a “therapist/counsellor”. Art + Therapy = ?
Tell me, how has it helped you?
Claire: My ‘professional’ training has been put on hold for now. I was at the point of qualifying as a counsellor when my mum’s health took a turn for the worse, which led to her having an amputation. You can read the following blog post to learn a little bit about that on “Operation Lopitoff Complete“.
During this period, I had a lot of time to think, sometimes too much time, about life and where I wanted to go next. So I stripped things back and looked at what was making me happy. I loved learning about mental health, listening skills and many many of the tools that the counselling training has given me. The Inner Child work we did woke up my own inner child and quite frankly she didn’t ever go back to sleep.
I came across this quote and loved it “Be the change you want to see in the world.” – Mahatma Gandhi.
When someone starts therapy, you are asking them to do something brave and do what it takes to make the changes in their lives, that they want or need. So I decided to make the changes in my life that I wanted and took to leap into the unknown world of selling cartoon art to the public.
Therapy, Art Therapy in particular, is something that I will always be interested in and something that I maybe will go back into, when I have lived more doing things that make me happy. The key to being a great therapist, in my opinion, is not only having the empathy and listening skills, but you must also have a rich and rewarding life outside the world of therapy, which is something that I did not have. I would have burnt out very quickly, which wouldn’t have been good for my clients or me.
Angie: I’ve heard it said that a person who doodles is one that is unfocused on any one concept. Unconsciously, what’s really going on is they are trying to keep enough energy in their brain from falling asleep. In fact, a study shows elementary school teachers report lack of performance in children is usually due to lack of sleep. These kids can easily be pointed out by simply viewing the cover of a child’s notebook. It’s either lack of sleep or plain boring. Yet, viewing “your” own personal doodling drawings, it’s easy to see they speak volumes of love in more ways then one and anything but boring. So, are you the exception? What is your take on this?
Claire: I am not the exception on this at all, doodles were something I definitely did to keep awake and still do! I was a night owl in school and also bored (a slight troublemaker), often daydreaming about other things.
After the counselling training I started looking at my doodles with a different take and realised how much happier and less stressed I was when I was doodling, instead of just bottling things up.
Angie: I slight troublemaker?….Is that why the red hair kept getting brighter? Just saying,….hummm…Can’t help myself, what did your notebooks look like when you were still in school as a child? Did anyone ever comment on them?
Claire: My notebooks where in fact covered in doodles and people often commented on them. In fact my college tutor was convinced this doodle drawing was of her. Other college related doodle stuff to found here.
Angie: Ever thought about publishing a child’s book? I am sure you’ve heard you’re talented enough with your doodling adventures. Should we expect one?
Claire: I have always wanted to write and illustrate my own children’s book; in fact I have ideas for a LOT of them. At the moment I am developing a few characters, The Grumpus is one. A green, furry and somewhat homicidal/grumpy monster, some people think it is my alter ego.
The Grumpus is not actually a children’s character, as it would rather eat children, than be nice to them. So everyone will soon meet a cousin of The Grumpus, which is child friendly.
Lots of other ideas floating around, but at the moment my new business is the priority. Which you read about in one of my blog post and please do feel free to visit more or me on FaceBook, and my website.
The Doodologist would have never happened if I hadn’t gone into counselling training and started blogging, so I guess everything happens for a reason!
Angie: WOW, they sure do, and If I didn’t know any better, I’ld say you were more in the advertising business. Lets not forget the ole Twitter account either. https://twitter.com/thedoodologist lol
Seriously though, you are very active and witty in our BC discussion. So much so, that you’ve taken time to write about how to get the most benefits when participating, right on “your own profile” page. What keeps you here at BC? Since we obviously haven’t scared you away.
Claire: I am very loyal when it comes to my social networking homes, mainly because when I started blogging, I had no clue what ‘social networking’ was. When I first signed up to BC, there weren’t any forums/discussion areas and it was just another widget that I attached to my, then, widget filled blog. I checked back one day and there was forums! Something I had never used before, because they were for strange internet people. Little did I know, that I would in fact, turn into one of those strange internet people.
People on BC were kind, helpful and most of all understood what a ‘blog’ was, something that friends/family was just not that interested in. I got advice on certain topics about HTML and other technical things. Once I was happy with my blog and blogging style, it became fun to help out the next lot of newbie’s and make fun of trolls and spammers.
The friends that I have made on BC are not just throwaway internet people; they are proper friends that mean a lot to me. I have met up with a few in real life and they were just as nice, if not nicer, than I thought they would be. When some of the old crowd left, well most of them, I thought BC would become stale. At first it seemed like that was the case, but some old folk came back and some really new cool people wandered in.
My ‘Advice’ section on my profile is a warning really, I don’t like liars in real life, so why should online people behave differently. If you need to hide behind a troll mask, then shame on you. There is nothing I would say online, that I wouldn’t say to someone’s face, as it should be. It is also a warning that sometimes you can be too sensitive online; I have taken things to heart myself and then laughed about it later on.
I stay on BC, because I like the people (some of them) and love the fact that the admin/owners are people that you can have a conversation with. An unmoderated/unloved community is the worst kind of place and just not worth my times. So when BC ever feels like that to me, I just wander into ‘lurk mode’ and wait till things return to somewhat normality.
People should not underestimate the power of blogging and utilising a blogging tool like BC, you never know what people you will connect with and how that will help you in the future.
Angie: With all of this great insight info., what is it then, that most people don’t know about you?
Claire: I cry watching stupid programs/films.
Angie: What are your biggest dreams about?
Claire: I would like to be happy and contented with my lot in the world, just waking up in the morning with a contented sigh and not a disgruntled groan. I feel like I am well on the way to living that dream, just need the business to keep growing, so that my world can be filled with doodles, dreams and travel.
Angie: What would you like to be remembered as after everything is said and done?
Claire: Some tweeted this to me the other day, in regards to The Doodologist:
“You’re welcome and good luck. You make the world more smiley 
”
That will do me
Angie: So there you have it, one of our BlogCatalog loved ones, “Crpitt”, is more then just a little piece of BlogCatalog, she’s one of the reasons we all keep coming back.
Thank you so much Claire for what you give to us all. You are truly an inspirational beacon of light.... SHINE ON!!
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