Sense Diary ~ A Closer Look.

I am so thankful to have had such amazing art teachers when I was in college and there is a specific teacher (I will be sharing a blog entry featuring her work in the very near future) who inspired me to stretch my imagination and allow myself to draw outside the lines. It's about 13 years since I was going to community college and this year I felt the desire to return to jotting down ideas/inspirations/challenges into an artist journal, but not just an artist journal -  a sense diary.

Keeping a sense diary involves taking the concept of the artist journal a step further, where the artist not only sketches ideas that are milling around in their head, it's a record of making more intentional observations of mundane, everyday things... to always be seeing something different, and taking a closer look to see what makes up an object, or how things change from day to day.

Every week I will be sharing different artist journals/sense diaries from my own diary, other sources online and will be posting a challenge each week that will require keeping your own sense diary that you can write in, draw in, paste magazine clippings, pressed flowers, etc. but there will always be an underlying theme for the week.  I think keeping these diaries will stretch your imagination and help you create with a much larger revelation of everything that surrounds you.

I started my first entry by going through some magazines and finding textures and colors that intrigued me.  I love Anthropologie and was drawn to this gorgeous display so I pulled out parts that my eyes were particularly drawn to and wrote down thoughts of those things.  I also attached a little drawing I had intended to use for a locket, but it didn't work how I wanted it.   I like being able to keep a record of some things that don't work because they may work again some other time when working on a different project, or they may spark an entirely new idea.

This Week's Challenge - Sense Diary for 4/25-5/2:

Pick an ordinary object from your house and place it somewhere where it won't be disturbed.  Each day, observe and write down all that you notice about the object.  Think of everything and don't leave out things you might think are silly.  The small things matter just as much as the larger things.

So go purchase a brand new and fairly large sketchbook (which brings about good excuse to go out and buy one of those, right?) and have fun!  See you all next week! 

Hitting Resistance and Overcoming It

Running Love, hand painted necklace by TuckooandMooCow

Working myself through a funk is a long and winding process. It seems so easy to be inspired when I'm in a peppy go-go-go attitude, but when I hit the wall and slump, I really slump.

The past month has been a bit of a study in this. Hitting resistance comes with the territory of being in a creative line of work. We thrive on bursts of energy which can last for hours or even years, but eventually we all hit the wall of resistance. Why do you think the phrase "writers block" is such a common one? We've all encountered it.

A few weeks ago, I decided I was going to make some big changes in my life first and let them work outwards. I'd noticed for almost a year the growing stagnation inside myself. It crept like a swelling river flooding over the banks of my veins and drowning me with its soul-sucking power. By the time my husband left to begin his career in the Air Force, it was all too easy to let it consume me.

After a little over a week accomplishing nothing I decided enough was enough and I sat down to take a serious look at my life. I realized that I'd been dragging my feet on things for a long time. I'd been gradually becoming more sedentary and becoming less peppy. I started to think, "I'm not sure I know me like this." I realized immediately that my body needed to move. Just like a puppy needs to be walked and run, so did I, so out I went.

For Love of Running, hand painted necklace by TuckooandMooCow

I ran and ran through the neighborhood until I was so tired I thought I might collapse. I kept it up for days...then that become a week... then more, and finally here I am four weeks later. As I ran each day I started realizing something: when my body moved, so did my mind. It was like I could physically push myself through that wall that resistance had built up in front of me! This gave me even more strength and courage to keep it up!

Resistance is a rough thing. Until reading through the book for our AAG Book Club, "The War of Art," I hadn't really put a name to that invisible barrier that was stopping me from doing what I needed to. I kept thinking that so long as I was functioning and capable that was enough. But it really isn't.

Are you stuck in a rut? I seriously encourage you to find some way to get your body moving whether that's running, dance, yoga, pilates, or jump roping! Your mind craves the energy your body provides. Don't ignore those puppy-like urges to play! As creative people we should be playing everyday to hold on to that child-like sense of wonderment and to keep the beast of resistance at bay.