In The Groove

Some days, like this past Saturday, it's hard to find the groove when you're making art and you end up feeling like a salmon swimming upstream.  Other times, like tonight, it's like a river and you just dive in and let the current carry you along.  I made 3 pages tonight, smoothly and quickly, two of which I had planned and the third just came together quite easily.  Only a few more pages left to do and then I will be done.  Which is a good thing, since I have to get my book in the mail in less than a week!

The theme of my sketchbook is "mystery", which is one of the choices suggested by The Sketchbook Project organizers.  Here's a sneak peek at one of my pages:

Jan 2013 Play Date

Our first play date of 2013 at Bizzy B.  Barb, Daniza, Kelly, Laura and I spent the afternoon around the big table in the store, working on various projects.  It's usually hard to know what to bring, as I never have a clear idea exactly what I want to work on but today, I needed to focus on my Sketchbook Project, so that helped me to decide what to take.  Still, I ended up taking more than I actually needed but that's okay - better too much than not enough or heaven forbid, leaving something crucial at home.

Here's a peek at the table about mid-afternoon, just after we'd shared a pizza for a late lunch.  As any artist will tell you, making art is not a tidy process!

Christmas Gifts

My mom and my sister very generously gifted me with some very cool art books for Christmas.  Take a look:

This first one is called "How to Make a Journal of Your Life" by Daniel Price.  It's a small book (6.5 x 5 inches) but it's packed with good advice and some awesome sketches.

I love the title of this next one, "How To Steal Like An Artist" by Austin Kleon.  The title means, basically, that nothing is original.  We're all influenced by everything around us, everything we've seen before so anything we create isn't completely original (as compared to plagiarism, which the author defines as "trying to pass someone else's work off as your own").  Once you accept this principle, the pressure is off and you can go out and be a sponge, learn from anyone and everyone.

"The Sketchbook Challenge" by Sue Bleiwiss contains a whole bunch of techniques and prompts for filling up those blank pages, as well as pictures of pages created by many different artists who make sketchbooks and journals, many of whom I have met and/or studied with,including the wonderful Diana Trout.

Last but not least is "642 Things To Draw" by Chronicle Books.  It's a bunch of blank pages with, you guessed it, 642 drawing prompts (here's just a few examples: snowshoes, a robot, bricks, an uneventful street (!!) and even David Bowie). 

So far, I haven't been brave enough to draw anything using any of these books yet (mostly because I just haven't had time - I've been forcing myself to focus solely on finishing my Sketchbook Project, which is due next week) but I will!

Holding Tight

My online horoscope today said, "You may not realize it, but the fun in your life may be getting chipped away little by little.  Hold tight to the things that give you passion and purpose in life.  These are the keys to healthy living."

Some days certainly feel like that, don't they? Like they are just dragging you down into grey and depressing murkiness with no fun in sight.  Then again, it might just be the January blues, the post-holiday slump. 

Thank goodness the world continues to turn on its axis and we are slowly making our way back to longer days of more daylight.  You can already see the difference in the mornings and evenings, even though it is only 2 weeks past the equinox. 

Pretty clouds at sunrise like these ones I photographed this morning certainly help too!

A Bit of a Mystery

You may have noticed that yesterday's post went up without a photo included.  Normally, I add a photo to every post.  (I can't say for 100 percent sure but I'm reasonably certain I always put one in.)  But last night, as I wrote about my word for 2013 ("trust"), it occurred to me that I could add that word (and a couple of others) to a little collage that I had made on New Year's Day.  So I did and then I took a picture of it and downloaded it onto my computer.

Except that when I downloaded it, it mysteriously disappeared off my camera but who knows where into my computer.  And my computer screen went completely dark, not once but twice, while I was trying to add the picture to the blog post.  I rebooted both times and the second time, I published the post and then quickly turned the computer off completely.  I figured I'd let it rest overnight and see if it felt better today. 

Everything seems to be working as usual now, except...I can't upload the photo.  Seems to be problem with Picasa (which is what I use for photo editing) - the little button I normally see that says "browse" in order to select a photo from my library is missing from the uploading screen.   Okay, wait, I tried a different option and got it to work.  Phew!

It's all just a little bit spooky and very mysterious.  Especially when I downloaded the second picture I took and it queued up on my screen right beside the photo I thought I'd lost last night!!

You might be wondering what I wrote on that collage.  Are you ready?  It was..."trust the mystery"!!

Okay, cue the Twilight Zone theme music now!

One Little Word 2013

There are many in the art journaling community who choose a word for themselves at the beginning of each year.  I heard about first on Ali Edwards' blog and I've heard it mentioned by several other artists in the art journaling world since then. 

Ali's idea is that we should each choose a word that "sums up what we want for ourselves" for the year.  She says "It can be something tangible or intangible. It could be a thought or a feeling or an emotion. It can be singular or plural. The key is to find something that has personal meaning for you. This is not your mother’s word or your spouse’s word or your child’s word – this is YOUR word. One little word can have big meaning in your life if you allow yourself to be open to the possibilities. And here’s one thing that is totally interesting: sometimes a word will pop into your brain and it will not make any sense to you right now. Give it some time. Let it percolate a bit. I have often found that our hearts speak to us in very unique ways.  Maybe this is a word you need to hear but just aren’t ready for it yet. Again, be open to the possibilities."

In 2010, she described it this way:  "Essentially the idea is to choose a word (or let it choose you) that has the potential to make an impact on your life.  Maybe you want to invite something or maybe you are hoping to subtract something. Maybe your word will be practical or hopeful or creative or fanciful. Maybe you need a big word, something in-your-face that will challenge you everyday. Maybe you need something smaller and quieter that will whisper gentle tidings as you make your way throughout the year.  Whatever word you end up with, make sure it is your word (not your sister’s, mom’s, partner’s, child’s, etc). You can share it publicly or keep it close to your heart."

Ali's word for 2013 is "open" and when I read her blog post about it last week, I thought I'd like that word too.  I also considered her word from 2006, which was "play", that seemed a good choice to me as well. But it seemed a bit of a cop out to just take on a word that someone else had chosen, I figured I needed to come up with my own word and that maybe if I let the idea of finding a word percolate in my psyche for a while, my word would come to me. 

Tonight as I was driving home, the word "trust" came into my mind and I thought, right, there's my word. 

Ironically, my initial reaction was that I wouldn't blog about it, I would keep my word to myself!  Ha! How's that for trusting?!  But then I thought, hey, part of the trusting process is about putting things out there, sharing your inner thoughts with others.  Which doesn't mean that I have to share every detail of my private thoughts but I can choose to share some of them. For example, I'm not ready to explain all of the reasons why that word has meaning for me right now and that's okay, but I can tell you some of the reasons why I like this choice, which can be summed up with the following statements:  

Trust yourself.  
Trust your instincts. 
Learn to trust the process. 
Trust that we are where we are meant to be, right at this moment. 
Que sera sera (what will be, will be).

I'd love to hear your word for 2013 - if you have chosen one and would like to share it, please leave a comment on this post.

Welcome 2013!