Short and Sweet

Day 21 - An illustrated, 10-word love story.

Though the "illustration" is somewhat lacking, I'm liking the story as well as enjoying my journey into understanding how to use watercolor pencils.

Beautiful Day

I'm a day behind. Really, I mention it because I'm aware of it, but it's not a dire concern. See, it's a matter of perspective. This project is teaching me to relax, to loosen up my tight and very judgmental hold on my creative work (and on my life in general).

That need for fluidity and calm was underscored today as I bid adieu to a wonderful woman, mother to one of my very best childhood friends. In her death, I found out she was much more than simply "L's mom" - she was an accomplished, productive, influential member of our community. I was honored to bear witness to her family's last goodbyes and offer one of my own.

The day couldn't have been more perfect.

Play with Clay

Day 20 - Make something with clay.

This project started through a previous one. Only problem with it is that the clay was too dry when I began pressing the beads into it. This meant that when I was photographing it, I inadvertently knocked half the beads loose. A bit of profanity later, I decided that I had enough shots for a blog post and didn't feel enough of an attachment to the work to try and reconstruct it. In the trash it went and on I moved with my day.

Float Little Boat

Day 19 - Make something that floats, doesn't have to be a boat.

My phone was being cranky and deleted the draft of this post before I could figure out why the photos wouldn't synch from one of my apps (Instagram) to my photo roll... So much blah blah blah. So there'll ostensibly be two posts today. Roll with it, I will!

I thought this tiny crocheted bowl would look pretty ferrying a bit of black tea across the surface of a glass of water. Except it capsized about five seconds after I set it afloat. Luckily, I was quick enough to capture its graceful (sort of) descent.

Vehiculart

Day 18 - Make something from stuff in your car.

I'm totally cheating today... When I first got one of the photo apps on my phone, I tried it out in my car and caught a lovely shot of my keys (and accoutrements) hanging in the ignition. It's a piece of photographic art, done by yours truly, in my vehicle... Just wasn't captured today. Sue me.

Petite Purple Pirate Patch

Day 17 - Make something inspired by and/or to cover an eye.

This is sized to fit my smallest child. Alas, he was abed afore I had finished yon small patchy. Perchance he might be willing to model fer ye on the morrow. Argh, matey!

Two Fer

Days 15 & 16 - Use a dollar to make something and make a print using a homemade stamp. (I paraphrased a bit more than usual.)

What can you use a dollar to make? To make a purchase of some tulle. (It's cheap.)

What can you make with some tulle? A little crocheted thing, maybe we'll call it a bracelet.

How can you use said bracelet as a stamp? Easy - smoosh it down into some clay.

Then stand back and marvel at the shape the clay made in the paper towel you rolled it out on (since the impression of the bracelet is less interesting than you thought it would be).

Voila!

Mini Nature

Day 14 - Make something microscopic.

Okay. I'll admit that I toyed (albeit very briefly) with the idea of crocheting using human hair instead of thread. There are some steel hooks hiding in my house somewhere and they are meant for working with thread (to crochet lace) (not that I've ever done that) but I couldn't locate them amongst the other missions I had to accomplish today. Instead I considered what's the tiniest I am able to work in my primary medium with the tools and materials I have readily available?

Answer: A "B"-sized aluminum crochet hook and size 5 embroidery floss.

Coincidentally, one of my missions this day was to attend the first birthday party for a friend's daughter. This friend crochets too and digs crocheted stuff and does not dig toys that do lots of beep-bop-booping so I thought a little handmade pretty that would satisfy both my daily art project and the not-requisite-but-appreciated gift was perfect. I made the beaded hair band then decided it needed a little pouch (to which I added a drawstring after this photo). It looked adorable in the wee babe's hair and her mum inquired after the possibility of my making more for her to sell. Yay!

After I returned home from the festivities, I made an even smaller hair band sans beads to use up the remainder of the skein of thread. You can get a sense of it's size from the quarter sitting in its center.

P.S. - I can't, for whatever reason, swap the order of the photos using only the Blogger app on my phone and I don't feel like hunting up a full-sized computer since I'm already in bed so that's why the one with the quarter appears first. Sweet dreams!

Rising Life

Day 13 - Use tea, however you like, to create.

So, yes, the concept of using tea to paint is actually quite ancient but I had never personally used it as a medium. Since I knew I had a variety of teas from which to choose, I knew I'd have a decent palette of colors with which to work.

This project, simple as it is, really delighted me. The colors look so different wet than dry and so much of the process is difficult to control so you end up with some fascinating surprises when it's dried. I may even make this pretty lady into a logo of sorts... Never know!

Thoughts on the Journey

Now that we've been at this for nearly two weeks, we've had some interesting explorations of our parameters. I have done almost all the posts completely with my iPhone using the Blogger app, the phone's camera and a couple different photo editing apps. This has allowed me a certain sense of freedom to do a simple, straightforward post without concerning myself overmuch with getting it "perfect" - since I don't have access to the full spectrum of gadgets available on the full Blogger site, I write my post, add a photo, tag it and I'm done! Exactly what the anal retentive, detail-obsessed artist needs to loosen up.

In addition, I have refrained from looking at the next day's prompt until I am finished with the current day's and I only give myself until the day is out to complete each prompt.

Again, these "rules" are helping me move away from some habits that I felt it was time to release. It's still very fresh and fun and I honestly haven't felt an iota of stress about offering up these daily bits and pieces. They may not constitute high art, but they're a valuable exploration and I'm enjoying the journey! Thank you for riding along!!

Revelers

Day 12 - Camouflage - Create something that blends into its background.

Can you see the two dancers?

Fourteen by Five

Day 11 - Working with a familiar medium, create a piece using your non-dominant hand.

[GASP] Exsqueeze me? That would mean I'd need to crochet something with the hook in my RIGHT hand?!? The heck you say!

Well, okay, I'll give it a whirl.

Guess what? I'm pretty chuffed with the results of this little experiment after my initial panic. It's more a swatch than a finished thing, per se, and it hasn't been properly blocked, but it is an object crocheted entirely right-handed versus my normal left-handed lovelies. For comparison, the same size swatch hooked with my dominant hand is pictured alongside. The one crocheted lefty (a.k.a. "normal") is on the left, righty on the right.

She CAN learn new tricks!

P.S. The title refers to stitches wide by rows tall.

Noodle Doodle #3

Here's Noah's art project for this week, a bit earlier than we anticipated. He's using his collection of pencil-top erasers (like I did with my journals) and calls this piece "Boss Meeting":

Water, Wherefore Art Thou?

Day #10 - Use water as your inspiration or medium.

If you are being particularly observant just this moment, you may notice that there is no post for yesterday's date. On the eve of Day 9, I conceived a plan for my Day 10 artwork but could not set to work on it immediately (and would not have anyway since I'm trying to keep the creation of each piece within the timeframe of a single day. The piece I envisioned was predicated on the fact that it was, at that time, raining.

By the time I arose on Day 10, there was no rain and very few clouds.

Therefore, in keeping with the spirit of going with my initial inspiration for each day's art, I'll describe my plan then return to this post on a later date if/when I am able to capture it.

I plan to fill a glass from my workplace's cafeteria with water and place it on the windowsill of our office's picture window that looks out over our beautiful grounds. The idea was to photograph the glass and the window while there was rain spatter on the window then title the shot "Aspirations". Without the rain spatter (or even some heavy rain cloud cover), it simply wouldn't make sense.

Learning for the day: Even the best laid plans must sometimes be put aside for very practical reasons and there's no sense in being bothered by it when it's simply "what is".

Morning Offering

Day #9 – Make something with your breakfast before you eat it.

At some level, all of the art I create, no matter the form, becomes a meditation for me. The largest piece I ever crocheted was a meditation on forgiveness and letting go of anger and meant as an instrument of healing for its recipient. Last night, at my friends’ home, I was given the opportunity to borrow a lovely, well-used deck of meditation cards called The Power Deck written by Lynn Andrews and illustrated by Rob Schouten. As I often do with similar decks, I began looking through the images without reading any of the text. The one that so thoroughly caught my eye that I ceased thumbing through the deck was #4 – Offering. When I went to the artist’s site, I found that the painting is called “Oblation”, which is defined as a charitable gift given, often within a religious or spiritual context, without any self-serving motivation.

Borrowed with gratitude: "Oblation" by Rob Schouten



Therefore, my art “offering” for today is a prayer nestled along with a bit of my breakfast. It’s a symbolic sharing of my morning meal with anyone on this Earthly plane who has a pure hunger, whether it be a need for actual food, the basic comforts of life, or simply unconditional love.

Found

Day #8 - Take an old book and change it, cut it up, glue it together.

My initial instinct was to do this literally - and I've seen some beautiful creations that have come about through that method - but I let the idea marinate for a while and came up with a different plan, partly because I didn't feel like I'd have enough time and partly because I didn't actually want to hunt for a book I felt okay destroying.

Instead, I recalled a technique I'd utilized in college: found poetry. So I went to Project Gutenberg online and found a book entitled How to Analyze People on Sight by Elsie Lincoln Benedict and Ralph Paine Benedict, originally published in 1921 and now in the public domain. I pulled out and reorganized phrases directly from the text, making very few amendments, which are noted in brackets ([ ]). Even the title of the poem is a section heading.

Enjoy!

Not Feeling It

Day #7 - Today's prompt was to make and use a stencil in a work of art. I wasn't connecting with that idea at all. Sure, I could've cut a stencil with my Cricut then... I don't know. It just didn't feel right.

What I was "feeling" like was trying some acrylics on canvas. I've been accumulating the materials for a couple weeks and felt like it was finally time. Got everything out, lightly drew out what I wanted to paint, set to work, got halfway finished and... Not feeling it. Not one bit.


Still... I tried out something new and got a sense of what else I might be able to do with this medium in the future. I feel good about what I learned and I feel just fine about not finishing - Two solid lessons for me!



Started out alright...



Meh.



Noodle Doodle #2

Noah's weekly offering is a little bracelet made out of store-bought foam beads. I'm sure there was a reason why he chose this (in fact, I'm positive there was). Unfortunately, no one seems to recall the genesis of the concept. The sweet part was that he made it for his little brother. The photo below shows the aforementioned little brother modeling his new jewelry.

Banana Hammock

Day 6: Take a fruit or vegetable from your kitchen as inspiration.

This was a no-brainer because it made me giggle: a literal interpretation of a "banana hammock". Doesn't the little guy look happy?

Story of My Life

Day 5: The prompt for day suggested you work with a collection. Okay. Sounds easy enough. I dug out all my creative writing journals and here's what I found.

Announcing Itty Bitty Bogeys

Day 4: Take a 5 minute walk, make something from what you find there and leave it for someone else to find after you document it.

My interpretation: Walk around my house and find something to make that will surprise my son.

Enter the idea for Itty Bitty Bogeys! My plan is to tuck these into his lunchbox with a little note or treat inside (the top is open)... Look out for more of these mini monsters - they're fun to make!

Noodle Doodle #1

My little man is joining the endeavor with his own weekly artwork! Here's his take on the "make something that fits in the palm of your hand" - a tiny chair made from just two of his brother's Lego Duplos:

Knot-A-Scarf

Day 3 Idea: Make something with a piece of paper without using scissors, glue, tape or drawing implements (paraphrased).

So... I asked myself how this translates to crochet... How do you take a raw material and make something from it without the regular "tools" (like a crochet hook)? Well, I did still use scissors...

Here's my interpretation - leftover yarns knotted to make a lovely scarf!

MROW

Day 2 Prompt: Use your favorite animal to inspire creativity.

This was interesting to me because it forced me to acknowledge that I don't, in fact, have a favorite animal, per se. However, I've shared a goodly part of my life communing with cats so they're certainly the animal with which I feel a definite affinity.

Mrow.

Because kittehs are kool.

Palm of My Hand

Day 1 Challenge - Create something that fits in the palm of your hand using only materials you have in your immediate surroundings.

Fits in the pam of my hand, alright!

I've decided to use it to carry around my myriad little gadget wires.

Our 365 Adventure

This is our new blog and the start of a new adventure for our family. We're setting out to create a work of art each day using prompts from the book 365: A Daily Creativity Journal. My goals are to expand my skills in primary artistic mode - crochet - as well as explore methods that are new to me. My eldest son is joining me and there may just be some cameos from my husband and younger son. We all love to create so why not share our various pieces? For me, having a simple, visual record will help remind me that even the small steps toward a goal have precious, incalcuable meaning. For my son, I hope he grows in his sense that art and creativity have an important role in this life and that creative expression can help you get through (and even thrive) in most any situation!

Thank you for joining us - feel free to leave positive encouragement and suggestions for new projects if you feel so inclined.