This will be my third year of participation in the 100 day project and I return to my first year goals: Show up every day behind the pen, brush, or lens and share my work.
We begin February 22.
It’s time for another project
creativity exercises
It’s been a weird few months.
The first eight of this year I was enthusiastic with art, writing, blogging, and all things creative.
But September came and momentum screeched to a halt. I felt some guilt and anxiety for not keeping up the “schedule” I’d set for myself.
October was a wash for regular activities. The Walk When the Moon is Full project timing didn’t work out so well. The phenology wheel and journal only saw some errant notes with a few doodles on scratch paper to be transferred later. Tomorrow. Next week.
The negativity I felt subsided and instead, I acknowledge I needed some time off. Some time to rejuvenate. Regroup. Refresh. And other Re- words as well.
I’ve been experimenting with printing leaves. Thinking about setting up an online shop. Dreaming of building a new studio. Looking at classes to take and what I might teach others.
And writing. Always writing and reading and learning more.
I guess I’ve been creative just behind the scenes. Quiet. That’s how I’ve felt lately.
Today is the 324th day of the year. I have written and posted 196 blog entries. My intention was to post something every day. I did the first 100 days, then the frequency lapsed.
What other goals did I have? I returned to my first blog post from January 20th and re-read my intentions.
The overall plan was to document and share what I’m learning and doing. To include those of you interested in a creative path and practice. To make connections and discover what it is we want to say and do.
Did any of this happen?
Some. Maybe. I don’t know.
A quote from Emerson hit home this morning: “What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us.”
What is within me that can be of value to others? How can I be of service? What’s the next step?
I’m going to keep going down this path and my hope is along the way, we meet, we create, and we find the answers together.
Until next time, may your life be filled with creativity, curiosity, and lots of love. xox
Discover your unique imprint for work
Work that makes you come alive
Last week on the Creative Pep Talk podcast, I listened as Andy J. Pizza interviewed Jonathan Fields about his new book Sparked, which helps you discover your unique imprint for work that makes you come alive.
Which caught my attention.
There’s free quiz you can take online and the results will determine your primary, shadow, and anti Sparketypes. The book does a deep dive into You. In a Nutshell.
I’m a Maven (I live to learn) and a Maker (I make ideas manifest) which is no surprise to those of you who know me. What WAS a surprise though was the depth and understanding given in the book which has me lifted and thinking in new directions.
I’m only partway through the book and have arrived at the “Now what?” section. Putting your Sparketype to work. I’ll post updates as I learn more. (How Maven of me…!)
I hope you’ll check out the quiz at Sparketype dot com. It’s fun and free and who knows what you may discover?!
Click HERE buy the book through Amazon.
My love affair with words and art
Today’s Squareathon prompt brings back a childhood memory
Vacation starts today and in that spirit, I embrace time off by chasing rabbits down holes. One of the Squareathon prompts is cerulean, and as I’m wont to do, I googled the word.
It’s a pure blue pigment discovered in 1789 by Swiss chemist Albrecht Höpfner.
It’s particularly valuable for artistic painting because of its hue, permanence, and opaqueness. Artist Berthe Morisot painted the blue coat of the woman in her Summer’s Day, 1879 in cerulean blue.
In its inaugural year, Pantone kicked the COTY (Color Of The Year) selection off with Cerulean, which they actually called the “color of the millennium.” They felt consumers would be seeking inner peace and fulfillment in a time of uncertainty, while also reflecting on the past and looking toward the future. Thus, they chose this calming blue shade that’s reminiscent of the sky.
All interesting facts, but then I read one and it ushered in a significant childhood memory. A defining moment in my love affair with words and art.
Ceruleun Blue on the wrapper of one of my blue Crayola crayons. It was one of the first words I ever noticed. How was it pronounced? What did it mean, exactly?
I remember swatching colors, even though I didn’t know what it was called, with all 64 crayons from the box with the fold top lid and built-in sharpener on the back.
There’s a site called Crayon Collecting, and that was my rabbit hole. I felt like Alice in Wonderland, swirling and twirling and grabbing memories from a mist of dreamy colors.
And with that, I give you two of today’s prompts, cerulean and moon, in a 3”x3” watercolor.
August is the Sunday of Summer
August is the Sunday of Summer. And like a Sunday, we enjoy the vestiges of a rhythm we have become comfortable. August brings changes all around us, if you look.
The once majestic sunflowers hang their heads, tired. The verdant hillsides are suffused with a dullness. Morning birdsong comes later than usual. Queen Anne has traded her white lace for fields of purple ironweed and feathery goldenrod.
Hummingbirds are scarce, woolly bear caterpillars are on the march, and foggy mornings are frequent.
August gave us a grand show, though. The morning glory blossoms were at their deepest velvet. Electric pink milk thistle appeared in fields. Pokeweed berries ripened to the color of burgundy wine. Orange jewelweed dotted the landscape.
The air still wraps itself around us like a steamy wet blanket, but soon we’ll use a real one to ward off the chill. Windows will reopen and curtains will billow with cool breezes. Bedtime stories will come earlier and car headlights once again necessary for the morning commute.
When the sun shines in a September blue sky, it will illuminate mountains sprinkled with multicolored confetti against a backdrop of windswept white clouds. There will be hints of pepper and sassafras in the air. Squirrel’s nests will appear among the treetops, their height perhaps an indicator of the level of snow we might expect in winter.
I heard cicadas for the first time this summer on Saturday the 21st. According to folklore, six weeks from then will be our first frost here. I’ve marked the calendar for October 2nd, just to see.
There’s only a little while longer for short sleeves and flip-flops. Butterflies, bumblebees, and trees thick with leaves. For this Sunday of summer, I relish the remnants of this relaxed time before I turn the page and begin anew.
The crickets felt it was their duty to warn everybody that summertime cannot last forever. Even on the most beautiful days in the whole year – the days when summer is changing into autumn – the crickets spread the rumour of sadness and change.”
E.B. White, Charlotte’s Web
