Round 2, Day 1





I started my new challenge yesterday. Only a few minutes into the first painting, I was already having second thoughts and felt my inspiration deflate. Due to the more "relaxed" rules of this bout, I questioned if it was silly to label and announce it at all. There was a reason I decided to approach this one differently.



Day 26/30

It has only been a month since the end of the original 30 day challenge, and I have done a couple small paintings in between there - but they all took place on the same day. Basically, in one month, I ended up with one day of actually painting. I have done a few other small things in between - doodles and ideas. I've been holding myself back, however, since I have loose ends to finish up from last year's challenge and the original 30 day painting challenge. While I thought it was necessary to refrain from new creative projects until those were officially complete so I could remain focused and productive, the opposite has been happening.

 



The "wrap up" process has felt like slow motion, some of it relies on other people, the weather, technology - all of these outside sources that I can't always control. These pieces are also not "creative"...I crave creativity on a daily basis, and am essential starving myself of having that. Physically/mentally/emotionally, I can already feel the draining effects. I may begin a day full of motivation for progress, but if the outside factors don't "cooperate" with my plan, it is easy to become frustrated and feel stuck, which can domino and before you know it, it feels like a wasted day. 



Day 30/30

During my original 30 day painting project, one of the coolest things was that no matter what the day held, I was going to have a creation out of it - that feels like a day that was worthwhile, productive, important. And what I'm finding just one day into this project, is allowing myself to create again oddly enough helped me be more productive with the other items on my to-do list. Not only did I do my painting yesterday, but I also did a second one! In addition, I restarted my daily morning meditations, had a great workout, retouched a ton of photos, returned all sorts of messages, wrote a blog post, ate super healthy, etc.

I think it is common for us to put what we really want to do on hold due to all sorts of other obligations. But each day we withhold our true desire, we drain ourselves. This can eventually be felt mentally, emotionally, and physically. Our other "obligations" can even end up suffering - we may not be doing as good of a job as we really could, we start letting things slip, we start resenting these things... sometimes we just drop the ball on them completely.

 

Day 1, Round 2 ... 2 out of 30 paintings complete

I am realizing I still struggle to treat creativity as a priority, I am still treating it as a moveable piece that can be pushed around or out by anything and everything that pops up. While I believe it is good to have flexibility, as we never know what may be thrown our way, that isn't what is happening.

 

While I am not terribly pleased with my first two paintings, what I'm rambling about here was important for me to hear and it is obvious I still need reminders that it is ok to do what I love.

 

Now on to day 2...

Round 2 : 30 day challenge

Day 5

It was almost a month ago that I completed a 30 day painting challenge, using watercolor pencils - a medium I had not been familiar with. I am still working on wrapping up the video editing (it feels like that part is in slow motion) and then will be sending the paintings out as promised.

I did not want to start anything until every part of that challenge - and last year's monthly challenge - was wrapped up. However, I really miss creating daily and am feeling the effects... Plus, I just recently got accepted to display as part of Definitely DePere's ArtWalk! Since I will be sending all of the original 30 paintings away, I thought it could be fun to do another 30 day challenge to have some fresh work to show.

Day 24

This time, would still like to end up with 30 paintings in 30 days, but I am going to allow myself to do multiple a day if I feel inspired to do so. Also, the reveal of all final paintings will take place AT the event - not on a daily basis online like last time, though they will probably be posted at some point. I have not decided yet if I'll be doing videos this round. I do hope to post sneak peek images and updates on my facebook artist page. As of right now, I intend to do the same size (approximately 3"x4"), folded to allow them to be used as cards or to display in an easy, stand alone manner.

Since the completion of the original challenge, I have done a few watercolor paintings. One of my favorites was done immediately after another, using the paper I used to catch any run-off paint. It turned into a world of its own! During my first 30 day project, there were times I really enjoyed a certain technique, and would have loved to jump into a second painting right away to see where it would lead. These all took a few hours to complete, and there were days it was difficult to fit that in. I know I have some very long days scheduled over the next few months where it would be physically impossible to fit this kind of project in as a daily assignment. That is why I have decided to try a more flexible variation.

If you want to see the project in full and have first dibs on any of the paintings, the event will be Friday June 10, 5-8pm, in DePere, WI.

And here we go...Round 2.