Reflections, Revelations and Resolutions

Finding My Daily Practice

January was a time of reflection for me. I guess it is with most people, trying to figure out resolutions and ways to make the new year the best that it can be. Looking back at 2018, I am so proud of myself for writing and publishing a book and for tackling the world of social media and marketing. (I still have a lot to learn and a long way to go.) What I didn't do was draw and sketch enough. I didn't create enough new work or get excited about anything except my book. It took over, I’m a little OCD that way. 

Last week I had a migraine on and off and couldn't bring myself to do the things I needed to do, such as cleaning my email, finishing my taxes and paying the bills, etc. It wasn’t a terrible one so instead of just doing nothing I changed into comfy clothes, made my favorite tea, put on a yoga sounds playlist and I went to sit at my studio desk. I pulled out all kinds of supplies, and I spent the next three hours drawing, sketching and painting. It was fantastic, the time went so fast and was very relaxing. I almost forgot what that felt like this past year.

I made my goal for 2019 to remember that feeling and make it a daily practice, like taking my vitamins. I tend to get stuck when I look at a blank piece of paper and can't think of what to make each day. So many ideas flood my brain at once and I end up doing nothing. To try and remedy this, I decided I am going to create five different sketchbooks, one for each day the week and each with a different theme. I got this idea from following other artists who post images from their "various" sketchbooks. For example, one might be quick line and shape drawings, one watercolor backgrounds, collage, old book revival pages, general doodling, etc. I love the idea of having more than one focus sketchbook as well as the idea of a specific day for each; boom, the decision is made for me. I can still change my mind, change the order or create something different that day if the urge hits me.

My past behavior of focusing on my one “holy” sketchbook, never worked for me. But if I can make this a daily practice and commit to picking up a different sketchbook each day and spending twenty minutes doing a page or two, I can be creative and not get stuck or bored doing the same thing every day. In a way, it would be like keeping an artistic day planner. 

A revelation I had while reflecting on 2018 is that I found that I have become a creative “watcher” more than a “maker”. I spend a lot of time on social media viewing other artist's work and techniques. I get super inspired and collect ideas for future projects. I don't think there's anything wrong with that, on the contrary, the internet allows me to see the visual world from all around the globe. But if not careful, it becomes a time suck and then I find myself not creating at all. Maybe I am saturated with so much that I see, that it is just too distracting. I am hoping that in 2019 I can ground myself in a daily creative practice that nourishes my soul and finds my spark again.

Organizational Bliss

"Nesting" or Purging Every Few Months...

I just finished the bi-monthly cleaning of my workspace. When I first set up my studio years ago, I thought that I, like other artists, would live in a creative "mess", paint, supplies and papers all over the place. (That's the way our studios were at in art school.) I have found that I can't be inspired to create when I feel overwhelmed by the "mess". I love having artwork and inspiration everywhere, but I need everything organized and accessible.

So I began a regular clean-up of my space. I go through my sketches and supplies and don't keep everything the way I used to. The purge feels great afterward. I usually get the urge to do this when I have a big project coming up and I just can't get started, then I know its clean-up time. This time around I even rearranged furniture and opened up a corner of my space which I love. (I can't figure out why I didn't think to set it up that way from the start!)

So now I'm ready to go, no more excuses. I have an exciting opportunity for my book, "The ABC's of Non-Consent" that I will be sharing next week and now have space to prep for it. Stay tuned!

Learning and Re-inventing

You are never too old to learn...

Over the year I have been doing a lot of soul searching about my artwork and business. I love doodling and creating my mandalas, but I definitely have gotten in a rut as far as producing products with my artwork. Being a one woman show, I have done so much repetitious production that I forgot the joy of drawing and creating. I needed to reconnect with my inner artist... the voice that called me to start this adventure in the first place.

In December I found a wonderful three part online course given by Rachael Taylor and Beth Nichols on surface and pattern design. Pattern design has always intrigued me and I have wanted for a while now to explore ways to use my art as repeats for fabric, stationery etc. The first part of the e-course was about learning how to be creative again, sketching and inspiration, which I so desperately needed. I was excited for the first time in a long time. The second part of the course was more technical on how to take your designs and sketches and get them into the computer to manipulate. I learned so much and created some cool repeats. I also learned about trends in the marketplace both here and all over the world. The third part of the e-course starts at the end of the month and is geared towards monetizing and marketing my work. I can't wait. Below is an example of a collection I created for one of the exercises. You can find more on my website and Flickr account. I am working on finding my own signature style that stands out from the crowd using my mandalas and doodles.

Time to reinvent myself a little...

While I was getting all excited about my new course, I began looking at my own identity and branding that I have been using. I decided it was time for a little facelift to freshen up what I had. I wanted the logo to look more fun and whimsical like my work, while still keeping a familiar look. After I liked what I came up with I began recreating all of the banners for Facebook, Flickr, Twitter, this Blog etc. to coordinate.

By far the most exciting part of this transformation is completely redoing my website. I had used iWeb before, which no longer works on my new Mac. This time, with the help of my son to get it started, I created a fun, clean website I am proud of in Adobe Muse. It links to everything, my online social accounts, online shops and is a portfolio of all of my work, from doodles to graphic design. I'm very excited! It still needs some tweaking but I hope to launch it any day now.