CED August Theme: Move

July 30th, 2009

ced move

The *totally optional* theme for the Creative Every Day Challenge in August will be Move! I'm thinking of the word move in terms of physical movement (dancing, stretching, yoga, etc...) and in terms of taking action (taking risks, boldness, forward movement, baby steps and so on.)

Funny bit of synchronicity: I had no idea when I picked the themes back in 2008, that the theme I chose for August would be so meaningful for me! The hubster and I have just had our offer on our first home accepted and we'll be closing at the end of August. So, not only will I be working with the move theme with you, I will also be really moving!

I will be posting about the theme throughout the month with different ways to approach it. If you need some suggestions, here are a few ideas to get you started. You could:

  • *Dance wildly by yourself, with loved ones, or in a group of strangers.
  • *Incoporate movement into your artwork.
  • *Get bold and take risks in your art and your life.
  • *Take baby steps in a project you've been putting off.
  • *Get inspired by movement in nature: how animals move, how trees sway in the wind, how water flows.
  • *Experiment with moving things around in your creative space to see how it changes things for you.
  • *Try using physical movement (shaking, stretching, dancing) to help get you unstuck.
  • *Create kinetic art
  • *Make art about the body in motion.

How to use the CED themes:

If you're feeling creatively stuck or blocked at any point during the month, use the theme as a source of inspiration to get you moving. 

Using the theme is entirely optional for CED participants. Use it if it inspires you, ignore it if it doesn't. I'll be sharing posts throughout the month around the theme (among other things) to get you thinking about how to incorporate it into your life. I'd love to hear how you use the theme in your creative world.

Feel free to focus on the theme in your creative activities for the entire month or as much as you'd like.

And have fun with it!

"Movement never lies. It is a barometer telling the state of the soul's weather." ~Martha Graham

p.s. The art I used in in the left part of the banner is Leap.

35 Responses

[...] This post was Twitted by jezzabell13 [...]

Congratulations on your first home of our own! May it be always filled with love and laughter.

Last night I was watching a film clip and the singer seemed to just let go and dance with the spirit that was within her. I was admiring her when my husband said “She’s a wild dancer!” I wonder what he’ll think once I tell him the theme this month is “Move” and to expect more of same!!

Hey congratulations Leah on your new home (that is very exciting stuff). I just loved your “move” artwork. Very nice.

Kerry.

Funny! Must be in the air (ha!). I’ve been writing lately about the importance of movement and how it’s related to meditation and mindfulness. I think I have to link to this! :)

Congrats on your new house Leah ! How exciting !

I love this month’s new banner and the new theme !
I have been at a little bit of a stand still this summer. I think this is good because I have moved very far from some ugly places I was in at the start of this year, and the momentum probably needed to slow down a little. But the fall is coming, (yikes – already !!!) and I have a strong feeling that it is time to move… I love the prompts you mentioned for this month – so inspiring for the moves I feel my soul and body need to make !
Thank you as always, for all the love and care you put into inspiring and encouraging us to keep moving forward in our own creative ways ! You are remarkable, beautiful Leah !

Sounds like a great theme. I love how many different interpretations the word ‘move’ can have. I think I’ll start by telling myself to get off my ass and move over to the easel…

Congrats on the house!

Oh Happy Day!!! Congratulations! How exciting for the two of you!

Your intuition is so strong…and always shows up with impeccable timing. I think I’ll participate in this months CED challenge by doing Yoga. We just moved to Portland (so this months theme is perfect for me as well) Hopefully getting back into the flow of some ahimsa will do my body good!

Great theme…and great news (re house)! Congrats!

Leah, hooray for finding and moving into your new home! May it be a beautiful, creative sanctuary for you and your family for a long time.

I love that this month’s CED is movement. Have been playing with a Feldenkrais alignment series for the past few weeks, and discovering how much movement happens in my life when I move my body in new ways.

Thanks so much for your beautiful blog, and all the ways in which you serve the creative spirit here.

Love, Hiro

When you made your list of themes you may have set in motion your desire to make this move. The power of positive intention will never cease to amaze me. I’ve been doing more in the last couple of months to move my body as I make healthier choices. I’m also doing a lot of work internally as I look at old mindsets. There is a lot of movement happening inside. I met a woman a month ago whose work is on applied kinesology. It is interesting to see the relationship between the mind, body and soul. She is an interesting woman with a practice in Cambridge, MA. I could send you more info if you are interested in exploring this more.

Congratulations on your house. Remember when I said I walked by your house in a dream? I’m dying to know what it looks like and if it is anything like the dream.

{soul hugs}
Kathryn

congrats on the new house! Its funny how life works out like that.:o]

Yeah! The absolutely perfect theme for me this month!

Absolutely perfect – each word of your post, the accompanying art, and the energy in the comments.

I naturally thought, immediately, of how to combine movements into my self portraits. The amusing irony!

YAY!

congrats on your new home! How exciting! Everything is moving right now! This is going to be a spectacular month!

Very Awesome news “first HOme”!! Congratulations! I guess the theme is well not optional for you ~:O) Pack up your moving in…way to go!

Oh, moving! Having just done it, I am so excited for you (and know how hectic it is!) My best advice? pack a box of essentials!!

I am completely in love with this month’s theme – it couldn’t be better for me! I’ve been secretly making art for CED over the last little while but I have been too nervous to put it out (it is bad art – giggle!) BUT Lots of things are moving for me too –

I love – LOVE – LOVE – LOVE that artwork from leap. Oh, I had a delighted grin when I saw it – I am truly a fan of your work!

xo

thanks for the kick in the pants!

I love this month’s theme.

It got me thinking about how movement is an important part of my process when I paint.

The way the paint moves across the canvas has always been something I’ve paid a lot of attention to. The way the brush holds the paint. The way the canvas receives it. The kinetic nature of paint-meeting-canvas is something I can feel in my body when I paint. And somehow that contributes to the direction the painting goes.

I have also always leaned toward painting larger pieces because I like to be able to move when I’m painting. To stand up, and walk around, to stretch out my arm fully across the canvas.

So this month’s theme has given me the chance to reflect on things that have always been important to me, and to more fully realize just how much I appreciate movement as it relates to creating art.

And lots of yays for you and your new home. Talk about synchronicity! I love it.

Congrats on your first home, Leah!! I can’t wait to see what an awesome studio you’ll create! :-)

Congratulations on the new home! Woo hoo!

it is so funny. I spent today completely revamping and updating most of my wordpress blogs, where lives my writing and my actual work blog. The work blog took the heaviest redesign hit.
I didn’t come to see what the theme for August was until I was done for the night. Funny thing is MOVE is sort of my catch phrase for August. All the things I’ve been putting off I am planning to do–most if not all–in the month of August. :-)

I love synchronicity!

Hi Leah and everyone!

I didn’t get a chance to do my post for last month for the theme of SELF, but I’ve been reflecting about myself a lot lately, so there’s a lot of autobiographical goodness in my Japanese poetry through haiku, senryu, and tanka.

Please enjoy!

http://twitter.com/alotus_poetry

Looking forward to this month’s theme of MOVE. Well, I surely have many things to do! :)

Love this!!! Thanks for encouraging us to notice movement around us and within us! Over the weekend, I wrote a post (Aug 1) about a butterfly I photographed and the freedom it must be so thankful for everyday… http://www.oneyearofbeauty.com

Beauty & Blessings,
Liv

Congratulations on your new house Leah. I hope everything goes smoothly – good luck with it all. I have a few ideas for ‘Move’. Hope to be able to report back later in the month with some of them.
Janice.

I hope to create based on inspiration that came yesterday while I was getting my back x-rayed! Last week I posted a recent project.

Going swimming today, thanx for the inspiration….finally getting unstuck in my artistic journey and moving. Started an art jounal.

I just found you last week – what a great boost you have given me. My movement this month is intense, both physically and spiritually. Last summer I did a daily visual journal and it was so wonderful! It challenged me to use new materials, ideas, formats, and techniques. Really moved my artistic confidence forward. Ready to get it going again!

I just looked at August’s theme “Move” and am amazed that I finished a painting this morning at 2am titled “Dance”. Wow…most of my girls on my paintings are pretty still but this one is is in motion so what a coincidence!!

“Move” is really a good theme….so many ways to think about it. Well, this weekend I was “moved” to tears because my son became a U.S. Marine. I am incredibly proud of him….it’s something he’s wanted his entire life…since he was a kid and couldn’t even spell Marine…and now he’s a 21 yr old incredible young man…so I did a journal page yesterday…see what you think.

I am a very visual person so when i thought of movement I put together a collage of some pictures that represented different types of movement for me. I love the idea of a theme because I am new to creating and it gives me some motivation. Thanks!

Congratulations on your move to a new home, I hope you have a wonderful time in your new enviornment. We are constant movers in the home stakes. Since we moved back to Australia in 2004 after two years in the UK, we have moved three times and as I’ve explained below, we’re on the move again.

Okay, I’m inspired too by the “move” them. We have put our own home up for sale and are moving further north, back to New South Wales hopefully. We work on the basis that we put our house up for sale then relax, what will be will be. Our home will sell to the right person, at the right time, at the right price. And the perfect home will be waiting for us. Works a treat!

But the country is calling us back – peace and quiet, the song of Willie Wagtails, Butcher Birds and Kookaburras, and the bright stars in the sky at night. Can’t wait!

I have just discovered the site. Interestingly, just one and a half hours ago we had the call to say that our offer on what we hope will be our last house has been accepted.

There is a lovely view of the spire of Chichester Cathedral from the back garden. I can hardly believe that it is true!!

Congrats Isabelle….. Hope the transition goes well for you!!

My challenge to myself was to create a 12X12 quilt/art block every 2 weeks for 3 months, with the theme of Openings. It has taken me 3 weeks to get the first one done, mainly because I always take so long for the concept and project to simmer and percolate, but I have done #1, and I’m almost happy with it (the binding is being re-done!!). I still have to take a picture of it, but check my blog on Wednesday and it will be there. I already have #2 in my head, so that won’t take so long to be done. I have two friends who have also taken up the challenge. Donna is doing toadstools, and Ingrid is doing fairytales. Their pieces will also be on my blog once I get the photos from them. Have a GREAT week!! Shirley

I am definately “moving” to improve my studio space and expand on the range of art I make! My recent retirement has allowed me the time to “move” ahead in a new direction and I am loving life every day! Congrats on your new home. As a former realtor, I know how precious this time is for you…may you live happily ever after in your new nest!

I found you in ARTFUL BLOGGING magazine. I am just getting up the nerve to start my artblog. I haven’t even set it all up yet except for the URL. At least I think it’s a URL. I need to locate the Sept. I love to paint with oils, acrylics, draw, glue, tear, scrunch, smoochilate, any kind of interesting thing I can find. Also enjoy making wacky photography using some of the great editing tools out there. SO here I go jumping into this challenge in September!! I can’t wait to see what happens!!

oops….can you tell I am ADHD!! I meant to say in the last post that I need to locate the Sept. THEME. How do I find it??

Post a Comment