2011 One Goal

Happy New Year! My first post for the year and my newly intended goal of posting weekly for my blog has begun:) Woohoo! This is kind of a big deal for me since the usual posting frequency has been monthly (barely). I decided I need to TRY to post on a regular basis and monthly was not working. I'm hoping that making the process more frequent will help me to develop this into a habit. Sundays seem like a good choice to but at this point any day will do.

I also wanted to share how my final project in my Photoshop class turned out. There's still some minor tweeking I'd like to do but for now I'm pretty happy with the final outcome. My instructor, Brain Sauriol, introduced me to this style of illustrating with Photoshop (gaussian blur the most, layer mask the least). I plan to try this technique on other images in the future.



Now that the hubbub of the holidays has subsided and things are starting to settling down, I want to make sure I keep creating artwork. It's going to be a bit of a challenge this winter as I am again enrolled in classes full-time. But I am excited for this semester since one of my classes will be a digital photography course. Oh, the possibilities for image making:) I'm also gearing up for Artfest 2011. This will be my tenth year attending. I'm currently working on trades (which include 1-inch buttons, hand-carved image ATCs, recycled fabric bird stuffies, metal bird "nest" charms, inspiration hangings) AND at least two pieces to sell in the attendee gallery. I'm fortunate to be taking classes again with Misty Mawn and Carla Sonheim. I will also be taking a class with Mary Beth Shaw, whose work I recently discovered. I cannot say enough about the quality of instruction and inspiration that comes from this fantastic art retreat. I have learned so much from all of the instructors and from other attendees. So much creativity and energy all bundled in a beautiful scenic setting. I can't imagine not having this yearly experience in my life:) Thank you Teesha!!!

I hope this year brings new insight into my work. Recently, I found a book at Borders that spoke to this interest. It's called A Daily Creativity Journal: 365 Make Something Everyday And Change Your Life!.



The basic premise is to take a theme or medium and make something everyday around that subject. Kind of an in-depth exploration of one topic, variations of a theme. I was rolling this idea around a few years back but never took it to heart. The book itself is in a great format, fun to look at and hopefully fun to actually use as a journal.

Wishing everyone a happy new year and continued artmaking in 2011!