I began 2014 determined to get back into an artistic practice.  I feel like this part of my life is filled with so many starts and stops.  It’s too easy to let it slide when other things come up.  It’s too easy to choose watching BBC serials rather than sitting and drawing.  So on January 1st, I started my #colorforaging2014 project, in which I’m exploring a different color in paint each day and posting my finds on Instagram.  I hoped that this daily exercise would feed my desire to create and making it an Instagram project would help keep me accountable.  And you know what? It has.

And it’s teaching me some things about myself as a person and artist ( I’m trying hard to accept that label ).

1 | I have to make time to do the things I want to do.  If I don’t carve out specific time, I’ll always find other ways to distract myself, with previously mentioned serials, web surfing, work, etc.  This Instagram project has forced me to spend at least a few minutes each day with my palette out and a brush in my hand.  And those few minutes have made me ache for longer, more dedicated time– I’m usually doing my #colorforaging2014 project immediately after dinner cleanup, but rarely do much else creatively in the evening.  So when Mr. F announced that he was planning to spend Sunday afternoon brewing beer, I announced that I was going to spend the afternoon painting.

2 | I need accountability.  There was a reason for saying out loud to Mr. F that I was going to paint on Sunday.  Because I knew he would remember and ask me why I wasn’t painting when I sat on the couch and watched back to back episodes of Doc Martin on Hulu.  I have all these grand schemes and ideas in my head but if I don’t get them out and tell someone, much of the time, they never leave the comfort of my mind.

3 | I need deadlines.  I am a procrastinator by nature.  And a perfectionist.  I think those two traits go hand in hand.  I procrastinate because I’m afraid of my results being less than stellar.  But I know that I need practice to improve and grow.  But the perfectionist in me hates it when my efforts result in disappointing work.  Such a vicious cycle!  My niece Kendall told my sister-in-law ( after I’d already purchased & shipped her Christmas gift ) that she wanted a painting from me for Christmas.  So I decided she will have one as a birthday gift in June!  Deadline established. But her sister Samantha’s birthday is coming up on February 3rd, and how could I not give her one, too?  Deadline established.  I also signed up to be a Contributor for the February 2014 project for We Are the Contributors.  Another deadline established.

4 | I need to seize moments of inspiration.  Every day I see little moments of life that I want to sketch.  My coffee cup and its shadow.  The funky yellow chair in the living room.  Mr. Forager’s profile.  But often I see the inspiration, note it, then let it just slip by.  No more!  From now on, if I see beauty in a moment, I want to try to capture it.  My sketchbook now lives on our coffee table instead of hidden in a bag.  There is a felt pin with it always.  Even if I’m just inspired to doodle, I need to do it.  Because once I start, I don’t want to stop.

5 | I need mini-projects to spur creativity.  This truth applies to my blogging and freelance work as much as to my fledgling art practice.  It’s so easy just to do what I’ve always done, but in order to grow and evolve, I need to challenge myself.  The mini-projects I’ve done on Instagram get my wheels turning in so many ways.  I find myself challenged to look at things differently, to come up with new angles on old ideas.  Painting is my first love, but not every project has to involve paint.  It’s about finding new ways of seeing.  I want to learn to weave and throw pottery. I want to find new ways of approaching the world.

6 | I need to mess with the just OK.  In some things, good enough is good enough.  Like making the bed or doing laundry.  It isn’t perfect but its done.  This attitude doesn’t fit for an art practice that is about growing, learning and evolving.  When in college, I was a pretty good artist.  Then in the following years, I became an OK painter.  Being OK is no longer OK with me.  Now, I’m finding myself bored with the type of work I would have been happy with a few years ago.  On Sunday, as I was working on a little 6×6 canvas ( which you’ll see when the WAC February project is revealed! ), I arrived at a point that was OK.  Not bad, but not super fantastic.  Not exciting.  I hesitated.  I wanted to do something bold to it, feeling like it needed a push.  But I was afraid to screw up the OK.  I hemmed and I hawed. I tried to visualize a bold change.  Then I watched this Philip Guston video.  He didn’t settle and neither should I.  So I took the chance.  And that one change prompted other changes.  Until I was left with something I liked.  Something I daresay I am proud of.

I feel like I’m making progress.  Its slow, but building up a good habit always takes time and effort.  How about you, Artsies?  Do any of you struggle with some of these issues?  How do you face them down?

All images by Artsy Forager.