create art every day #7

I didn't feel like creating today. But I don't want to dork out this early in the game.
I grabbed my sketchbook without moving my lazy self out of my seat and made some dancing trees. I make dancing trees just for fun sometimes. They make me happy.

i love me some buttons

I think I figured out why sometimes I'm happy with my creative results and sometimes I'm not.

I'm happy with them when I don't have a plan. When I just start doodling, like yesterday, or decide I want to do something with buttons, like today, then I'm happy with what I get.

But when I have an idea of what it should look like, like the chicken or the wreath, I'm more likely to be disappointed.

It has everything to do with expectations. I shouldn't be surprised. Expectations cause of a lot of disappointment in my life. I'm learning (slowly) how to let go of them. Toss them. Give them up and just take what comes. Life is so much more beautiful and satisfying that way.

Buttons glued to card stock.

bird on a fence

Today I was study hall monitor at my daughter's school. I remembered to take my sketchbook, but forgot pencils. So, I started doodling with my pink and green pens. I like the little picture I ended up with.

Yes, you read correctly. I like it. :)

art of friendship

Today I created a warm and relaxing environment for my friends. I created a tea party. I worked on a lifelong project: friendship.

All the goodies were store-bought. The effort involved was minimal, but the rewards were great. I love my friends and I love providing a brief respite for them.

about being an "artist"

I have been doing artistic stuff a lot longer than I have been writing. Like, all my life. I've always enjoyed drawing and painting and cutting and gluing and squishing clay and all that.
I've only been writing about 4 years.

When I read something I've written I often think, "Wow. I wrote that? That's good! I like it!"

When I look at some art piece I've made I inevitably see only the mistakes and flaws and think, "Eh, it looks like I drew/painted/made it."

I guess I want my art to look like someone else did it. I also guess that the fact that it looks like I did it means that I have a unique style. It's just that to me, that style looks like a 5 year old.

But I had so many wonderful comments on the last post and I don't think people were lying. I think they meant them. So... it seems I need to figure out how to appreciate my own abilities in this area. I'm not sure how, though.

Seems this challenge is going to do me a lot of good.

Here's a wreath I made today with a form from the dollar store and some odds and ends I had stashed in a box.

today's art

The reason I'm posting these is because I really, really, REALLY don't want to.
It's part of my whole, "Get over yourself" plan.
This is my experiment with water colors, water color pencils, and markers.
Someday I want to learn how to use these tools satisfactorily.

In memory of Linda.

This writing a verse in the painting thing is an idea I got from Michelle Pendergrass who makes beautiful art. 

art every day

Last year I did the NaNoWriMo challenge. I wrote 50,000 words in November. It was really good for me. I turned off the inner critic, the inner perfectionist, and the inner rule-follower and wrote whatever came into my head.
I gleaned two stories from the mess that came out of that.

This year I'm not doing NaNo. I'm doing something called Art Every Day Month instead. The process will be similar for me, though. I'm just as critical and perfectionistic about my art as I am about my writing. Which is quite frustrating as I can never get things to look the way I want them to. I'm not a real artist, I just play one in my mind. ;)

Creating some kind of artwork every day is going to require that I put all that aside. The idea of random and carefree creativity appeals to me and terrifies me.

I know that this throwing off of the fetters will help me in my writing as well.

It's been a long time since I've been in an artistic groove. I'm looking forward to it. I'm declaring it a month of fun, unleashed creativity. Imperfect. Unedited. Free.

If you want to join in the fun, click here.

Today's piece is "Chicken."