Dearest reader,

I have not had this blog going for more then a week before I already mess up. I was hoping I could be more disciplined then this, but I guess that is what I am working towards.

I missed making art yesterday.

Its true, I admit it. I was a bad person and went to the UW Husky game instead. Was it worth it? Aw yeah! Go dawgs! 17-13 against Stanford! Woo!

*ahem*

...Back to the art. Or the lack thereof.

In order to make up for the lapse, I made two pieces today, dearest reader. Not my best, but then again nothing is. The first is a picture entirely drawn with highlighters, expo pens, colored pens, etc. All in my favorite color temperature. The second was a bit of an experimental piece- I used my moms water soluble oil pastels to make a picture of my new iphone 4s in different colors. Cool stuff, but kinda finicky.

Unfortunately, I am not going to be able to post for the next two days- I am headed on a trip to a mountain hideaway. But, I promise to make a piece for each day I am gone.

I trust you will make me keep to my promise!

Yours, the artist

The view from my desk/window

The candy coated iphone

Dearest reader,

I write to you now yawning my head off. Today has been a busy day, filled with errands and laundry and all sorts of sundries and such. I did manage to get something done today, but I am unfortunately not up for a long post about it.

I made a sunset.

With paper, watercolor crayons, and some super sparkly paints I found in my moms workroom/studio. Better pictures to be had on the morrow.

Forgive my short and sweet post, dearest reader!

Yours, the artist

Dearest reader,

In the pursuit of artistic opportunities, there can be many avenues. Different media, different concepts, and different methods of putting those two together. Artists across the globe have defined processes and creative outlets that they use to astound, dismay, and offend.

And then there is me.

Being the kind of person I am, I like to observe things. I watch people, I count birds, I pick up thing from the ground that most people walk right on by (like nuts and bolts. No one picks those up, but I do!). I try to find interest or beauty or humor in anything I see, and it has served me well so far. Observing in such a way has indeed led to interesting art projects and funny sketches.

Which brings me to this morning.
In the shower.
With a bunch of hair.

Everyone knows the experience- well, females with longish hair mostly- your washing your hair, you rinse, you come away with a bunch of hair strands in your hand from wherever the heck they were hiding on your scalp.

If you are me, you stick it on the shower wall until you are done, then roll it up into a 'hair bug' (my mothers term) and toss it.

Not today!

Today, I realized I had an opportunity to play around with this hair. Everyone has done that before, right? Swirling hair all over the walls to see how it moves and comes into lines that can be so easily disrupted by a stray splash of water, right? Right?

Well, maybe its just me, dearest reader.

In any case, I took some time playing with the hair schmeared (not a word, but one I say) over my showers tile wall and came up with a bit of a portrait. I am not very good at portraits, so I think you will agree that it is not pretty. I added some things here and there, but I still think it is not going to get into the Modern any time soon...

Maybe in a retrospective after my death? ;)

Yours, the artist

Dearest reader,

So, on the first day of my grand effort to kickstart my creativity and reclaim my identity as an artist, what do I do? Why, errands of course. None of which had to do with art in any way (unless you count getting new glasses an art form) and took me an hour or so.

So, no art during the day.

Then, before I could will myself into being the creative person I hope I am, I had to go to work. Admittedly, I work at a frame store where I get to be creative with other peoples art, but its not really the same as putting your hot little hands all over something and then being able to say 'yeah, thats mine."

So, no art during the evening.

Disgusted with myself for being a lazybones about my promise to myself and to you, dearest reader, I arrived home determined to do something before day one was up. I then proceeded to bang out the quickest, ugliest sketch of the road at night I have ever seen, and called it good.

So, crummy art at around 10 o' clock.

I really can't even call it art! A sketch is a brain fart on paper- quick, dirty, and easily glossed over with bigger and better things. But, in my mind, its something to get me going, and really thats all I want.

And you, dearest reader, to kick me in the butt when I lapse!

Yours, the artist

The quick and dirty inspiration...

The quick and dirty sketch. 

Dearest reader,

I have a mother who has a fabric studio I was always allowed to steal from. My sister has a dremel tool I was able to borrow. My dad has power tools and screwdrivers I could use to take apart and put things back together again. I went to workshops, kids classes, hung out in the art classroom after hours at my high school.

I went to college for art. I took ceramics classes, drawing classes, jewelry classes. I attended guest lectures and went on field trips to museums. I hung out at the art building all hours and even made waffles there at 3 am....

But I don't feel like an artist yet.

Having been out of college for several months now (and with a bachelors of fine arts degree to prove I made it) I now feel less like an artist then I ever have in my life. I have always thought of myself as an artist, but I never had to quantify it. I was creative, therefore, I was an artist. I feel like now I have lost that confidence to say, 'yes i am an artist!'

So, in order to help myself feel more like I did when I was a kid, I am devising a project. I will create work every single day in whatever medium I want for at least a year. Drawing, sculpture, vast mixed media or sound installation, I will try as much as I can and not look back.

My bedroom will be my studio. My garage will be my workshop. And my parents....they'll be unwilling guinea pigs every now and then.

I hope this helps me jumpstart my creativity. I hope this helps me feel like an artist again. I hope this makes me feel like less of a fraud.

Keep me on my toes!

Yours, the artist