GOOD 30-Day Challenge: Art Every Day

from GOOD.is

I can't resist a challenge. Especially 30-day challenges, and especially art. While my track record with such challenges hasn't been the best (see here and here!) I'm compelled to take on this challenge from GOOD: make time for art in your life. This is especially important to me recently because I've been so busy I haven't had time to make as much as I used to.

One thing I like about this challenge is that they give you 31 things for the month of March, but say you can do one a day, or them all in a week - just as long as you finish as many as you can in a month. In the past, I've tried to make one thing every day and some days it was near impossible. I like this flexible approach - let's see how it goes! The 31 things (I'll cross off and link as I go along!):

1. Visit a museum or a gallery.
2. Take a street art walking tour.
3. Take a photo.
4. Research an artist.
5. Create something hand made and give it to someone.
6. Sign up for an art class.
7. Create a floral or stone arrangement.
8. Make a self portrait.
9. Doodle for 10 minutes straight.
10. Frame something you have been meaning to frame.
11. Sketch somebody and give them the picture.
12. Create a font type for your name.
13. Create a business card.
14. Check out an art book at the library.
15. Break something. (You have to destroy in order to create!)
16. Make a collage.
17. Support the local arts scene by going to a local festival, music event, art show, play, museum exhibit, etc.
18. Make a card for someone you love.
19. Make an inspiration board (moodboard) for a future project.
20. Draw some chalk art on the sidewalk.
21. Make origami.
22. Finger paint.
23. Illustrate a song that inspires you.
24. Add an art blog's RSS feed to your reader.
25. Draw the best part of today.
26. Send a friend a link to your favorite artist's work.
27. Create a place in your home to store your create supplies.
28. Close your eyes and draw for 5 minutes.
29. Draw yourself as a cartoon.
30. Take your camera with you on a walk and record the experience.
31.  Create an artist's workspace in your home.

Tessellations! - 30 Day Challenge

I recently re-discovered an amazing book: Designing Tessellations by Jinny Beyer. I think it’s out of print, and I was lucky to find a copy on Etsy.

My goal for this month is to design a tessellation a day. I love geometric designs and am fascinated with repeated needlepoint stitches and repetitive patterns I see around. I began doing some tessellation design accidentally when I went through a phase of cross stitching my name in binary. The abstract design really lent itself to experimentation and I realized I could create larger patterns by rotating and offsetting the “tile” of my name. I like the idea too of taking something meaningful (my name) obscuring it and making it abstract (translating it into binary) and then creating meaning and order again by finding a design.

I hope to work my way through the book, formally learning about the different types of symmetry, and then apply that to my own designs. At the end, if I have a design I really like, I want to have it printed on Spoonflower and create something from it for my new apartment… curtains? pillow? a quilt?

Daily Art Journal Recap

Now that the month is over, how did I fare on this challenge? It was such a fail. Okay, maybe not completely a failure, but I didn’t do so great either. I missed a lot of days and only made up a few of them. I lost focus in the middle/end and had challenges with packing up my art supplies for my move (hence, not completing the last three days of the month). Sometimes I would come up with ideas and be frustrated at my inability to carry them out, whether it was my artistic skill or not having the correct supplies. This was wayyyyy too broad for a daily challenge.

However, there were some positives! I learned a lot about myself and how/when I can create. I learned a ton about structuring daily challenges and have ideas for how to make the next one more doable. Also, I did make some pieces that I was really proud of, and looking back at a lot of these, I can remember what I was thinking and feeling on those days.

A major positive is that I now have some fellow 30daychallenge-ites who can spur me on and keep me on task for the next month. I’ll post links to their blogs on the sidebar.

Daily Art Journal (DAJ) - 30 Day Challenge

I was recently inspired by this TED talk to take on a 30 Day Challenge related to crafting. I have been toying with this idea for awhile but the biggest challenge was to come up with a theme for the challenges: most of the things I make are exercises in patience and cannot be reasonably be completed in a day.

Last night, I came up with the idea for an art journal. Basically, creating one picture per day that represents a meaningful event or idea of that day. I think it's both a wonderful way to mark the passing of time and to ensure that I make something each day.

Originally, I had set up a Tumblr account for my daily art challenges. And neglected this blog in the process. Now, everything is simplified and in one place!