Art Every Day Month: Day 1
November 1st, 2010, 58 Comments
Today is the 1st day of Art Every Day Month! Welcome! I'm so glad you'll be joining in. I usually post my art at the end of the day, but every morning there will be a check-in post like this one, where you can share your work whenever you're ready to do so.
The box below is a widget that I provide each day as an optional place to share a direct link (blog post or flickr image) to that day's creation. If you don't have something to share today, don't worry about it! Share when you can. In the meantime, be sure to check out what other participants are creating! Check out the links from today's post and the links on the participant page for instant inspiration. You can also see lots of great work in the AEDM flickr group. Feel free to share your work there too!
If you use the widget, please link to a specific blog post (or specific image if you're linking to a flickr page or other website) instead of your main blog page or website. If you want to share, but don't have a specific page to link to, feel free to use the comments section of this post to share what you're working on. If you're posting less than once a day, no problem! Simply use the latest one of these posts to share a link to your creation. For some, it's too much to keep up with posting every day, but don't let that get you down. Do it if you can and if you can't, just keep on creating, that's the most important part. If you get off track and miss a few days of creating, don't let that freeze you up either. Just pick up where you left off and keep moving forward. One foot in front of the other. You are making your life a more creative one with each step.
How to participate in Art Every Day Month: Check out the AEDM info page for all the details, instructions on how to get involved, and then visit the participants page to sign-up before you use the link widget to share your creations. The Information page also has instructions about how to use the widget below, if you're having any trouble with it.
Survival Guide: If you feel like you could use some more support, prompts, and motivation to keep going throughout the month, check out the Art Every Day Month Survival Guide.
Twitter: If you're on Twitter (I'm on there as @leah_art), I've been using the hashtag #aedm2010 to mark Art Every Day Month tweets. It helps to find others who are tweeting about AEDM!
Creative Every Day Challenge participants: If you're not doing Art Every Day Month, you can still use any of the daily Art Every Day Month check-in posts to leave your weekly link.
The birds they sing at break of day, "Start again..." I hear them say. -Leonard Cohen
Arts and Healing Network Podcast
October 28th, 2010, 7 Comments
I was recently interviewed by Britt Bravo for the Arts and Healing Network podcast about Art Every Day Month. You can listen to the podcast here or on iTunes.
We talked about dealing with the excuse of "not enough time," some of the beautiful things I've seen happen during Art Every Day Month, and how a creative practice has impacted my life. Thank you Britt, I enjoyed speaking with you! If you haven't already, check out the Arts and Healing Network website. It's full of amazing information and resources.
p.s. I'm loving hearing about how you have prepared or are preparing for Art Every Day Month in yesterday's post. Keep the comments coming!
Preparing for Art Every Day Month
October 27th, 2010, 29 Comments
A few folks have asked on Twitter and by email how people prepare for Art Every Day Month. Do folks plan out the month, have one big project in mind, or just wing it day by day? I have seen many different approaches to AEDM and there is no right or wrong way to do it. I think you need to do what will work best for you. To help give you some ideas, I'll share how I prepare and share some links that show what a couple other people are doing.
What I do is a mix of preparing and playing it by ear. I usually go to my sketchbook before Art Every Day Month begins and look at ideas I've had, but not brought to life, make some notes about things I'd like to try or play with, and doodle to see if anything else is coming up. If there are some supplies I need before the month starts, I'll make a run to the art supply store and get stocked, so I'm all ready to go on day one. I think AEDM is a great opportunity to bring ideas to life that I've been wanting to do, but just haven't gotten around to it for whatever reason. For example, I've been wanting to paint a picture of the story "The Owl and Pussycat" for ages, but I haven't done it. I plan to next month!
Having some sketches I might like to play with is a good way to never feel like I'm out of ideas or don't know where to start. If I'm feeling uninspired on a particular day or days during November, I can turn to my sketchbook and pick one sketch as a starting point. These sketches may be fully formed ideas or they might just be a note like, "Tree with houses for leaves." If you don't have any sketches built up like this, try taking an hour before Art Every Day Month begins, to play and doodle and see what comes up. Or keep a notebook by your bed or in your purse so that you can capture ideas, doodles, and things that inspire you, before you forget them!
Along with the ideas and projects I know I want to tackle, I leave plenty of room open for creating in the moment with no plan in mind. I might even do this most days, as it allows me to play with whatever is coming up for me that day. I'll begin by asking myself what materials, colors, and mediums are calling to me in that moment and then I'll let my intuition guide my creations. It's a fun way to create and it often surprises me!
Here are what a few other participants are doing or have done in the past:
Last year, Wendy Edsall-Kerwin did a Doodle-A-Day during Art Every Day Month. This year, she's got a list of ideas for what she might do this year on her blog, including a very creative idea involving the periodic table of elements, which you can read about here.
On Twitter, Julie Jordan Scott wrote, "YAY! I am creating quite a goody-box of raw materials for #aedm2010. I am so gleeful to wake up & ask my heart, "What's next?"" Love the idea of a goody-box, Julie!
In 2009, Jennifer Lee did a drawing a day in a mini journal (so cute!) It allowed her to participate in the challenge in a way that was manageable for her during a busy month. And the drawings were fabulous!
If you feel like you might need some extra support through the process, check out the Art Every Day Month Survival Guide, which is a private blog with daily posts that provide prompts, links, quotes, and creative ideas to help keep you going throughout the month.
I hope that helps you think about how you'd like to prepare for Art Every Day Month. I'd love to hear how you prepare!
Creative Every Day Check-In: October 25 – 31
October 25th, 2010, 25 Comments
This weekly check-in post is a place for Creative Every Day Challenge participants to share their creative activities.
Join in the Challenge: You can sign up for the 2010 Creative Every Day Challenge anytime! Find out more and fill out the sign-up form here to join in!
Ways to share: Once you've signed up, you can leave a comment on this post and/or use the "Mr. Linky" widget below to link to a blog post(s) about your creative activities during the days of 10/25/10 - 10/31/10.
The widget below is an optional method of sharing your creativity that makes it easier for others to check out what you're up to. You can use it to link to a blog post (or posts) or flickr image during the week listed. Or if you have a bunch of posts and don't want to link to all of them, you can link to your main blog page once. Do it in a way that makes sense and is fun for you! If you're unsure about how to use the widget, check out the "How to use the Mr. Linky widget" section on the Creative Every Day Challenge page. (If you're reading this in a RSS reader or email subscription, you will not see the "Mr. Linky widget", so click on over to the blog to use it.) If the Mr. Linky widget is missing from this blog post, it's probably a problem with their server and it will come back as soon as it's fixed. You can always leave your link in the comments.
You can also take advantage of the great CED flickr group to post your images and see what others are up to. If you're on Twitter, there's a growing Twitter list of CED participants and you can use the hashtag #CED2010 to help others find your Creative Every Day tweets!
Theme: The (totally optional) theme for October is the element of Earth. I'll be posting about the theme throughout the month and you can feel free to use it to inspire your creations, follow your own muse, or do some combination. You can find out more about this month's theme and some prompts to get you started with October's theme here.
Art Every Day Month: Next month, the focus (and totally optional theme) is Art Every Day Month (AEDM.) If you won't be participating in AEDM, you can continue to share your links in any of the daily AEDM Check-In posts throughout November. Want to learn more about Art Every Day Month? Check out all the details about the challenge and how to sign up here. And if you're interested in a little extra help, check out the Art Every Day Month Survival Guide here.
Happy Creating!
There are times when I cannot believe I am separate from this earth, when I could swear the wind blows through me as it does the woven needles of the pine tree by the creek, when I feel my feet planted deep in the earth with the roots of trees and wildflowers, drawing essence. ~Cathy Johnson
Fall Collage
October 22nd, 2010, 10 Comments
I've collaged together some rice paper prints of leaves and stamps that I made while in Judy Wise's class at Squam. Rice paper collages so beautifully! I plan to work with this image more, painting and/or drawing on top of it once it's dry. It definitely feels like fall and fits right in with the earth theme.
By the way, make sure the top on giant containers of gel medium are closed before you carry them around. Yikes! What a mess! Thankfully, I couldn't help but laugh, scrape up what I could salvage and clean up the rest.
Two quick things:
1. Today, I have a video up at SPRING, all about creativity, cycles and the beautiful community of Art Every Day Month. If you haven't checked out SPRING, please do. It's full of inspiration and this month the focus is all about creativity!
2. Art Every Day Month is right around the corner. It's a low pressure challenge that draws a great group of creatives every year. Your daily art could be jewelry, knitting, cooking, collage, drawing, anything else you can dream up or a great mix of lots of creative activities. I'll write more about it in the coming week, but you can read all about the process here and sign-up here.
And if you want to join in, but would like a little extra support, inspiration, and daily prompts to keep you going, you can sign up for the Art Every Day Month Survival Guide here.
Creative Every Day Check-In: October 18 – 24
October 18th, 2010, 20 Comments
This weekly check-in post is a place for Creative Every Day Challenge participants to share their creative activities.
Join in the Challenge: You can sign up for the 2010 Creative Every Day Challenge anytime! Find out more and fill out the sign-up form here to join in!
Ways to share: Once you've signed up, you can leave a comment on this post and/or use the "Mr. Linky" widget below to link to a blog post(s) about your creative activities during the days of 10/18/10 - 10/24/10.
The widget below is an optional method of sharing your creativity that makes it easier for others to check out what you're up to. You can use it to link to a blog post (or posts) or flickr image during the week listed. Or if you have a bunch of posts and don't want to link to all of them, you can link to your main blog page once. Do it in a way that makes sense and is fun for you! If you're unsure about how to use the widget, check out the "How to use the Mr. Linky widget" section on the Creative Every Day Challenge page. (If you're reading this in a RSS reader or email subscription, you will not see the "Mr. Linky widget", so click on over to the blog to use it.) If the Mr. Linky widget is missing from this blog post, it's probably a problem with their server and it will come back as soon as it's fixed. You can always leave your link in the comments.
You can also take advantage of the great CED flickr group to post your images and see what others are up to. If you're on Twitter, there's a growing Twitter list of CED participants and you can use the hashtag #CED2010 to help others find your Creative Every Day tweets!
Theme: The (totally optional) theme for October is the element of Earth. I'll be posting about the theme throughout the month and you can feel free to use it to inspire your creations, follow your own muse, or do some combination. You can find out more about this month's theme and some prompts to get you started with October's theme here.
Happy Creating!
The best remedy for those who are afraid, lonely or unhappy is to go outside, somewhere where they can be quiet, alone with the heavens, nature and God. Because only then does one feel that all is as it should be and that God wishes to see people happy, amidst the simple beauty of nature. As long as this exists, and it certainly always will, I know that then there will always be comfort for every sorrow, whatever the circumstances may be. And I firmly believe that nature brings solace in all troubles. ~Anne Frank
3 Years
October 13th, 2010, 26 Comments
Another lovely milestone. Today, the hubster and I have been married for 3 years. Happy Anniversary, babe! Above, is the moment before we saw each other for the first time. You can see the hubster waiting at the top of the stairs. Below, is just after we said our vows, which included bits about accepting excess cat hair. haha.
Here we're cutting the cake, topped with two metal birds I found in Boulder, Colorado. We had a bird/tree themed wedding. And below that is our first dance.
Aww, memories. Tonight, we'll celebrate with a night out. After knowing each other for 9 and half years, we're still crazy about each other. I think that's a good thing. 
Art Every Day Month is right around the corner!
October 12th, 2010, 18 Comments
Time flies and it's nearly that time of year again, time to jump into the fun and inspiring challenge of Art Every Day Month (AEDM.) This will be my 8th year of doing the challenge and wow, it has grown by leaps and bounds! I hope you'll read all about this low-pressure challenge here and sign yourself up right over here. I just put up a link to the list of participants, so you can see who your fellow participants are.
I will also be offering the Art Every Day Month Survival Guide again this year. The material will be essentially the same as last year, but the format will be different. Instead of a daily email, I'll be offering the guide as a daily post on a private blog, where you can gather up daily inspiration and prompts, while also having the space to make comments and get support in a smaller group format. Find out more about the Guide and sign-up here.
Creative Every Day Check-In: October 11 – 17
October 11th, 2010, 24 Comments
This weekly check-in post is a place for Creative Every Day Challenge participants to share their creative activities.
Join in the Challenge: You can sign up for the 2010 Creative Every Day Challenge anytime! Find out more and fill out the sign-up form here to join in!
Ways to share: Once you've signed up, you can leave a comment on this post and/or use the "Mr. Linky" widget below to link to a blog post(s) about your creative activities during the days of 10/11/10 - 10/17/10.
The widget below is an optional method of sharing your creativity that makes it easier for others to check out what you're up to. You can use it to link to a blog post (or posts) or flickr image during the week listed. Or if you have a bunch of posts and don't want to link to all of them, you can link to your main blog page once. Do it in a way that makes sense and is fun for you! If you're unsure about how to use the widget, check out the "How to use the Mr. Linky widget" section on the Creative Every Day Challenge page. (If you're reading this in a RSS reader or email subscription, you will not see the "Mr. Linky widget", so click on over to the blog to use it.) If the Mr. Linky widget is missing from this blog post, it's probably a problem with their server and it will come back as soon as it's fixed. You can always leave your link in the comments.
You can also take advantage of the great CED flickr group to post your images and see what others are up to. If you're on Twitter, there's a growing Twitter list of CED participants and you can use the hashtag #CED2010 to help others find your Creative Every Day tweets!
Theme: The (totally optional) theme for October is the element of Earth. I'll be posting about the theme throughout the month and you can feel free to use it to inspire your creations, follow your own muse, or do some combination. You can find out more about this month's theme and some prompts to get you started with October's theme here.
Happy Creating!
The body repeats the landscape. They are the source of each other and create each other. -Meridel Le Sueur
Traveling with Uncertainty
October 7th, 2010, 15 Comments
I did this piece recently to submit for one of Patti Digh's latest books. It was inspired by an essay she'd written about dealing with uncertainty and stepping bravely into the unknown, something I find quite difficult in some ways and quite exhilarating in others. Just now, this piece makes me think of the daring decision I made at the age of 15 to be an exchange student and live with a family in Madrid for a month. What a scary and mind-opening experience it was! It certainly took a leap of faith to do, but I have no regrets about it.
And then thinking about the earth theme, I'm curious about the places you've traveled to, whether that be to a new part of town or an exotic location. What brave steps did you take to go somewhere new and what effect did it have on you? What kind of art might that inspire in you?
By the way, I received Patti Digh's Creative is a Verb in the mail and it's beautiful! Chock full of gorgeous art and inspiring words. Patti is amazing. I've got a piece in the book as well, it's this piece and it's on page x. I love that's it's opposite this quote: "Don't apologize for who you are or the art you create" - C.J. Rider
p.s. I'm working on the Art Every Day Month sign-up page and hope to have it ready to go shortly!
p.p.s. The piece above, "The Unknown," is 11"x14" with collage and acrylic on wood.
