Creative Action Plan

Ideas are easy to come by for me.  I have no deficit in the way of inspiration.  It is discipline and follow through that I lack.  And it is discipline and the action born of it that make art, not ideas.  For this reason, I have decided to complete 30 days of consecutive creative action.  Each and every day I will document my progress on this blog.  It would be nice to complete something everyday, however, I may choose to work on something a little more long ranging than that which I could do in one day.  I am not limiting myself to any one project or art form, but I will work on one thing at a time until I determine that it is complete.  This may be a song, a poem, a drawing, or some other creative endeavor that catches my whim and strikes my fancy.  I don't intend to set a regular time and place for this creative action, instead, I will do something, anything - EVERYDAY, NO MATTER WHAT.  Each day before I go to bed, I will be sure to have completed my update on here.  This serves as documentation for my creative process and, I hope, will help me remain accountable to my goal.  I have been considering this project for a few days now, and have actually begun it (but not officially until now).  So, now I will share my progress thus far and feel accomplished in already knocking a few days off of my goal!

Tuesday, January 17th

My first pen drawing of 2012!  I took a quick photo of it cause I couldn't be bothered to scan it on my picky printer, so it's a little blurry, but you get the idea.  It is untitled, like the bulk majority of my little drawings.  I so enjoy these art adventures, which are always started with a random shape and done almost exclusively in black ink.  They are complete experiments.  I never have a plan going in, only a feeling.  Once the first line is drawn, I begin seeing shapes, often faces and I help them to emerge.  Some drawings go very quickly, others I work on here and there over a long period of time.  I almost always complete them, though occasionally one goes unfinished.  If you asked me to replicate any of my drawings, I could not do it.  I simply don't have the technique, everything I do is an accident... well, a sort of intentional accident. 

 This art practice is very liberating for me, because I don't have any bit of identity wrapped around it.  I don't really consider myself a visual artist and I have no real desire to be one.  This is not the case with music, which is something I caught my identity in as a very young child.  I had a dream that one day I would be a professional singer and I pursued that dream quite fervently until I was 18.  I bound myself up in all sorts of expectations about who I was and what course my life should take due to the fact that I was a singer, and a good one at that.  Unfortunately, my life didn't follow that course and I have not yet achieved my dream.  I have had an incredibly difficult time finding my path regarding my desire to sing and I still have no answers in that direction.  I have some ideas, but nothing concrete.  I've tried to divorce myself from this self-identification and all the story that comes with it, yet there is something deep within my soul that whispers, do not give up.  It's that small voice who's call, it seems I must one day answer.

Sunday, January 15th

I just realized that I skipped Monday, but I've been quite sick, so just this once, and because I hadn't officially started this creative action project, I'm going to let myself off the hook.  I feel justified in this decision because I spent the previous four days or so reacclimating myself to the art of knitting.  My first attempt was unacceptable, so I had to start again.  The second attempt was much better, but still rather novice.  This is a hat intended for my first born, due this summer.  It was a joy to make and I hope to make some more knitted goods in the coming months.  Perhaps I'll make some more hats for other babies soon to join my immediate and extended family or maybe some toys.  I'll have to see what gems of yarn I can find at SCRAP in Portland, that should lead to some knitting inspirations!

Yay!  So here it is, two days down, 28 to go.  I'm excited to see where my little project takes me.  May it be fun, if nothing else!