A Few Tiny Things

In The Creativity Book (goal #7), the author suggests you do one tiny creative thing each day in pursuit of your goal. I managed to do several tiny things each day over the last few days. I do think it really helps to break things down into very small steps and do them one by one. On Monday afternoon, I bought a 16x20" canvas and painted it with neutral gray gesso. When it was dry, I stitched my piece, "Portrait of the Viewer," to the canvas with a metallic gray thread, to resemble staples. This is one of the pieces I'm considering entering in the "Made in NY" show (goal #3 ). I photographed it under the best circumstances I could devise with my current lighting situation, and it's okay, but still not as good as I'd like it (goal #5). You can probably see how the left side of the photo is darker than the right. I'm still trying to remedy that.

Here are some detail shots. I like this piece, although I still think it is kind of out of character for me, with the monotone gray, distressed metal, and raw edges. My husband asked me what I'm trying to say. I think I'm trying to say that it's possible to make interesting art out of discarded objects, and that by inserting yourself into the art (the reflections of the viewer), you make it more colorful and more personal. How's that for a statement?

A few more of the tiny things I accomplished:

Here are three more detail shots of embellishing and stitching I've done on the "conceptual art" piece I did for the FANE challenge back in the fall. I think I'm going to call it "Rhythm of the Earth" because it has a lot of natural rhythmic symbols in it, like waves, seasons, and rain. I'm working on how it will be hung, and then I hope to get the entire thing photographed well by the end of the week.

I'd love to enter the two pieces in that show, since you can enter up to two for the fee (and I love to get my money's worth!). These pieces are similar, both being abstract and mostly composed of squares and rectangles with embellishments. But one is so monotone and the other so colorful and varied. I wonder what the juror's first impressions of me will be, after looking only at these two pieces.

I also joined SAQA online (goal #1 completed!) and mailed out the sketchbook (insert audible gasp here). I tried to do it quickly, like removing a bandaid, without thinking too much about the possibility of never seeing it again - just shoved it in the envelope and sealed it up. So it's going out into the world, a little ambassador for me and my art!

If you're wondering if I really did post this at 4:30 am, yes I did! Sometimes the only uninterrupted time I have is in the wee hours of the morning. It is snowing heavily right now and we already know there will be no school today, so when I woke up for no particular reason around 2, I decided to get up and do a few more tiny things. Now I think I'll go back to bed and enjoy sleeping in, and the excitement and leisure a snow day brings (as long as we don't lose power!). But first I'm going to have a slice of banana bread with cream cheese and maybe some hot chocolate...