The First 31 Days of 2015 #creativedeed365

In the last post [Murphy in the Art Space] I mentioned taking-on a daily art practice called CreativeDeed365 spearheaded by non other than the awesome Gretchen Miller. Well, it is now a few days into February and I will report that (much to my own surprise) I'm still very much in this game.

I wanted to commemorate the first 31 days (January) with a reflective post and maybe even 1x per month for the rest of 2015 (but who knows what the future will bring -- hopefully more ART!).

My Plan (in review) for #creativedeed365

After a month of daily art making I am happy to report that I have done & stuck to what I said I would do. It worked! Here's a breakdown:

Stick to a small format - playing card or ATC sized

January cards were 2.5x3.5 ATC cards I had made for another project were now gathering dust & cluttering my art space. Mentally and physically they needed to be given a new purpose -- a new home.

Use older pieces of art first/ re-purposed whenever possible

See above. I also raided my travel art pouch from the summer. Since it already contained small items I brought those into my current "daily-art" kit.

Create a 'batch' once or twice a month of 'blanks' which I can easily alter each day

Yep using ATCs which already had some color and texture or stains made it easier to incorporate a creative deed per day into my already super crazy schedule.

Document the final image or/and where it was left

After a month I found out it works best for me to photograph the piece as I finish it versus where I leave it. Because the muse of creative gifting doesn't always give me a heads-up and several times I realized I left something, dropped it off, or slipped it under a door without ever taking a picture! SO now, I photograph first.

Remember-2-KIT - keep it simple!!! (I tend to forget this one often)

I think the small sizes I'm choosing to work with are helping me KIT and telling myself to work with whats easily available around me.

All in all, working on these has been as much about me and what I need as it is an act of goodness for much as something for "the other". As I'm noticing that as I compose a card I gravitate towards the images, phrases, words and colors that I seem to be needing to hear that day/moment. It is becoming that "art" I was soo craving and not getting to do because of so many other demands on my time. So, documenting the daily creative deeds will be an important part of the entire journey for me and my self-care endeavors.