January 2024 Update
Happy New Year!
Welcome to 2024!!! This is always a time of reflection for me as I review the past 12 months and create a vision for my goals for the coming year. Many people choose a word for the coming year and this year my word is….
CREATE!
While I have spent a lot of time this year developing my art business, I want to make sure that I carve out time each and every day to CREATE ART!
Sometimes it is hard to get started….that blank page effect. I have a whole cupboard full of blank notebooks. The same thing happens with a blank canvas. One of my art groups this week mentioned a phrase, “Wreck this notebook”, with the idea of just start….it may not be perfect, but you have to start. So I am committing to do art every day this year….even if just for a few minutes….I will do something! I find, the more I create, the more creative ideas I get! This month my focus is creativity!
I traveled quite a bit in December with family, which was great, only to come home to a busted hot water heater which was NOT great…sigh. Anyway, that meant I was focusing primarily on digital art on my iPad.
I also used my camera, as I am constantly taking photos of things that inspire me — whether it is a cool design, a beautiful color, landscapes, interesting shapes, etc…..I try to capture it. When you start looking, you will find so many interesting inspirational ideas all around you. Here are a few of my inspirational photos from December.
Exploring
I am reading a book called The Artist’s Way by Julia Cameron. It has been recommended to me by several people, though I confess, I forgot I had purchased it. A friend posted about it a couple of weeks ago and I am so glad. Now was the right time to dig it out.
“Creativity is the natural order of life. Life is energy: pure creative energy.
—Julia Cameron
Julia’s book is about unlocking our creativity. She has two initial recommendations. One, develop a practice called “Morning Pages”. Every morning you write at least 3 pages, which is a brain dump of everything you are thinking about. In just a few weeks time, I am finding this practice so helpful. Quiet time with my morning coffee, and writing on my iPad in Goodnotes, has helped me focus and process my creative ideas.
The second idea is called an “Artist Date”. This is “a block of time, perhaps two hours weekly, especially set aside and committed to nurturing your creative consciousness, your inner artist.” This is time with just you and your inner artist. Both of these practices are designed to boost your creative juices.
What is your creative practice? How do you nourish your creativity?
The creation of something new is not accomplished by the intellect, but by the play instinct acting from inner necessity. The creative mind plays with the objects it loves.
—C.G. Jung
Learning
As a teacher, I believe in lifelong learning!
“The more you learn, the more you realize how much you don't know.”
– Albert Einstein
This quote really resonated with me. I have spent the past five months totally immersed in exploring, learning, and creating art as well as setting up my art business. I have learned sooooo much and connected with many wonderful artists in different art groups I am in. It is so helpful to connect and share ideas with others on the same journey.
The more I learn, the more I realize that there is to learn. I had no idea. My “To Do” list and my “To Learn” list keeps getting longer, instead of shorter. Right now, I am taking classes right and left, some small short ones, and some really big ones that go on over a month or two. My brain is full!
What is on your
“I want to learn….” list?
How do you like to
learn new things??
Classes, books, YouTube, Podcasts? I would love to hear from you!
Last month I mentioned my friend, Delores Naskrent’s Art School. Delores offers a variety of classes for a set price. She also offers a monthly membership (same price) but that gives you access to her entire school which includes a ton of classes on Procreate, Affinity Designer, Adobe Illustrator and more. She also has a community where you can talk with other artists, share your learning, ask questions, etc..
There is a free tier and a paid tier, and I have found it to be an incredible resource for me. Plus, an added bonus….many of her classes include brush samples or templates.
Delores is offering an Artistic Evolution Facebook Challengestarting on January 8th! It is open to anyone. This 7 day challenge will delve into different artistic themes, designed to spark your creativity and expand your skills. Whether you're a beginner or an experienced artist, this challenge is a wonderful opportunity to explore different mediums, styles, and techniques.
Join the exclusive Facebook group for the Challenge. This space is where the community of creative minds will gather to share progress, offer support, and inspire each other. It's a great place to connect, ask questions, and get to know other art enthusiasts.
Another great learning resource is Skillshare, an online learning community where you can explore thousands of classes in illustration, design, photography, and more. You can go at your own pace and rewatch anything at any time.
If you haven’t checked it out yet, I encourage you to take a look. If you are interested, you can use this link to join Skillshare, and get 1 Month Free and 40% off your first payment. I do an annual membership and have just begun to tap into all of the courses available.
I hope to start teaching my own classes at some point, and Skillshare is where I think I will start.
Inspiration
As I work to develop my artistic style, I find I gravitate towards the work of different artists. I thought it would be nice to share each month a little about the artists that INSPIRE me.
This month I want to share Amanda Clark. She is on Instagram as amandaclarkartist and on Facebook as earthangelarts. Her work has an ethereal fairytale quality that transports me to another place. I want to know the story behind each piece. Her work always inspires me!
Who Inspires You?
Creating
This past month I have been focusing almost exclusively on digital art using Procreate, Goodnotes, and Keynote. The beginning of the new year always means setting up new journals, graphic organizers, and planners. I have a monthly Art Journal, Morning Pages journal, an annual Budget Tracking document in Goodnotes, a newsletter planner, meal planner, etc. I love creating graphic organizers in Keynote or Procreate, export them as images, and then bring the images into Goodnotes to use.
I just added a Weather Tracking Journal to my Etsy shop. The 2024 Weather Tracking Journal is similar to one I have used for several years to stay focused on the natural world around me. I like to note the daily weather, temperatures, celestial and seasonal events, and add photos of my yard and neighborhood to document the changing seasons.
It is a Goodnotes file, but there is also a PDF version for use with other planners. I have included the seven weather stickers as individual files. I am pretty proud of it!
Each month I am offering a free download for you to enjoy. Eventually I hope to have a resource library which you can browse through.
For now, click here to get this month’s freebie, a 2024 Calendar Wheel. You can use this image in Goodnotes or another digital planning tool.
Freebie Terms of Use:
For personal use only
You may not sell or give away the image in any form.
To share with a friend, just share the link to my website and newsletter signup and they'll not only get this background, but any future freebies.
Thanks for your support! If you haven’t already done so, I would love to have you follow me on social media to see more of my work. See the links at the bottom of this email.
Please feel free to share this email with a friend who might be interested in art. I would love to have them Join the Journey!
Finally, feel free to reach out via email at any time. Simply hit reply and let me know your thoughts and questions.
I appreciate you!
Keep exploring, learning and creating!!!
Always,
Sally
