The January Challenge

Weird Auto-Collage of The January Challenge images

In my 'end of year' blog post I wrote about the Instagram challenges I'd taken on and how I'd found it a good way of keeping up with a regular creative practice. With this in mind I decided that I'd do 64 Million Artists 'The January Challenge' to kick off 2018. The basic premise is that everybody is creative (something I believe very strongly) and the challenge gives you a prompt/small task everyday to get you thinking and creating. I'm also trying to keep up my daily drawing (so far, so good) so I was hoping that the two might tie in together quite nicely. 

Day 25: Potion
Solar Dye Jar

Day 28: No Place like Home

The challenges were not at all like I expected, I had been expecting more of an artistic challenge but many of the challenges were much more along the creative/try something new line. This is not a bad thing, it just wasn't quite what I expected. Some of the challenges I really didn't enjoy; mainly the ones to do with dancing and noise but what I did like is that all of them made me think. I've enjoyed having a 'focus' each day as often it's been something I wouldn't have come up with myself. I didn't share all of the challenges but I did do them all, even the ones I didn't like. Doing the challenge is definitely good for mindfulness and I think there are a lot of things I've seen and learnt from this challenge that I'll continue to think about and maybe develop going forward. 

Day 10: Paper

Day 14: Sink or Swim
Boat made from baking parchment and yarn

Day 24: Quote

Not surprisingly the challenges I enjoyed most were the drawing and making challenges. I particularly enjoyed Day 19: Over my Shoulder challenge which was to draw with your non-dominant hand what you could see over your right shoulder. I really liked this as it made me draw things I wouldn't normally and pushed my drawing practice. I also really liked Day 10 which was to create something from a sheet of paper. I twisted and wrapped a piece of A4 paper to make a little bird, something I've been meaning to experiment with for a while but not got around to so it was nice to have that incentive.

Day 19: Over my Shoulder

Day 2: Five faces in five minutes
Five 'blind' self portraits

Day 20: Advert

I also surprised myself by really enjoying the writing challenges. I like writing and spend quite a lot of time doing it but I rarely do any 'creative' writing. I often write things in my head but I never get them onto paper so I enjoyed the challenges as it gave me a chance to do this. I really enjoyed the challenges involving poetry, as I created 'accidental' poetry and I really love the random, unpredictable nature of the process. For instance, for Day 12 I created a poem using lines from the books by my bed. I chose a line from page 64 (for 64 million artists) and then pages 12,1,20 and 18 to make up the date. The resulting poem was mostly nonsensical but I enjoyed it! 

Day 12: Our Poem

Abominable is described,
Wearing a pretty painful glove
And over every living thing
Dare to suggest
The most important rule

Day 23: Blackout Poetry
Page from a gardening magazine

One of the things that I have enjoyed most about the challenge is seeing how other people have approached things. Part of the aim of the challenge is to share what you do and I've been really inspired by seeing how differently people approach things and I've enjoyed being part of the community, sharing ideas and inspiration and quite a lot of humour. I've enjoyed taking part in this challenge but I must admit that I'm pleased it's finished! I'm looking forward to keeping up with making a little creative time for myself each day but I'm also looking forward to focusing more on my drawing again.

Day 26: Spirit Animal

Day 16: Story

The light fades fast, the sunset unseen behind dense banks of cloud drifting at speed across the wide sky. Still she sits, waiting patiently, a solid still point in a spinning world.

Darkness gathers but street lights and headlamps keep it at bay. Waiting still, the world slows a little as curtains close and doors shut.

Then the turn of the key in the lock, the sound she has been waiting for. Slowly, carefully, she gets up and stretches out, ready to greet him. They have stories to share and the world keeps turning.

Interconnectedness

Goose, 2015

Recently I gave a talk for the Appleby Textile Group, I entitled my talk 'The Fundamental Interconnectdness of Things' partly because I thought it sounded good and partly because the more I progress through my life the more I realise that everything is connected and that the different parts of my life all impact on one another. I haven't done many talks and it's not something I feel very confident in doing so I was nervous beforehand but I think it's good to challenge yourself sometimes and do things that are a bit scary.

Crow, 2016

The group were very friendly and welcoming and put me at ease, I found I actually enjoyed giving my talk and answering the questions the group put to me, it was an interesting opportunity to present my work to new people and see how they reacted and to get different opinions and view points. My talk was about my art practice and my participatory arts practice and how the two collide! Preparing for the talk was a good opportunity for me to reflect on my work as a whole and see connections that weren't at first obvious.

Tatted Sleeve, 2007

Pink, like the inside of things... 2007

Nests, 2014

One thing that really struck me is how reflective my work is of how I felt at the time I made it. From the wrappings and restrictive sleeve pieces I made for my degree show to the current pieces I'm making with feathers exploring transcendence I can track both my artistic and emotional progress.

Feather Collar sample, 2016

Feather Collar sample, 2016

Memento, 2016

I'm really excited about my own work at the moment, for the first time in a long while I feel confident in my work and have lots of ideas I want to explore. I've been working on letting go a bit and not worrying so much about getting everything right and this is paying off, I'm more open to just trying things which then lead onto other things rather than getting stuck trying to get it 'right' first time.

Three small feathers, 2016

Magpie Feather, 2016

My biggest challenge is finding time for my personal practice. Participatory arts is incredibly rewarding and enjoyable but requires a lot of time, thought, and emotional investment. This can mean that I don't have either the time or energy for my own practice which leads to me becoming very grumpy and frustrated. For everyone the big challenge is getting the balance right.

The Lace Space, participatory installation 2011

An important lesson I've learnt about the two strands to my work (personal practice and participatory work) is that they are interconnected and that this can be a really positive thing. When I first started working in participatory arts I saw it as quite separate to my own art practice but as I've gone on I've found that the two strands inspire and feed each other, leading to opportunities and ideas that would not have otherwise developed. Many of the sessions I've run have led to me finding something new that works in my personal practice and equally using elements of my personal practice to develop my participatory work has been very effective.

Getting out and about with Mr. Stitches

On holiday

Getting out and about with Mr. Stitches

As I said at the beginning of the post it is all the elements of my life that affect each other, not just my work. As I've found my way more in my personal life I've become happier and more confident and this has allowed my work to develop in a more positive way. The people I engage with, the place I live, the things I do all combine to make a whole life and all these different elements need time and attention, to be balanced and appreciated.

A day in the studio

Mixed media drawing

I got a rare opportunity this week, a chance to spend a day in my studio doing my own art work rather than getting organised and doing prep for workshops and projects. I am very lucky to be doing the job I do and I really love it. I get to work with so many great people, get involved in exciting projects, have the chance to make a difference to peoples lives and I get to work in lots of different settings but I do sometimes find that I don't have time for my own art which is important to me too.

Work in progress

Work in progress

Work in progress

As with most things in life it can be hard to get the balance right; I need and want to do the workshops and projects because that's how I pay the bills and I find it very inspiring. However, I sometimes feel I'm so busy I don't get much chance to make my own work and that my personal practice is slipping a little. So, it was great to have some time to just work on some ideas and have a bit of a play. I went to Bombay Stores at the weekend with  three artist friends and I was really inspired by one of them in particular to just get on and make some work. So, I worked really hard to get all my workshops prepared so that I could have a day to devote to my work.

I decided the crow was too small (A2) so I started an A1 size magpie

I did a bit of writing, getting all the bits of ideas that are bouncing round my head onto paper and then I did a couple of collaged drawings. I'm not especially enamoured of the finished drawings but they're a really good starting point for some textile pieces that I want to make. I'm a big believer in Ruskin's 'head, heart, hand' mantra (basically, good art should involve thought, feeling and bear the mark of the artist/maker) and I often find that the hardest bit is getting started; once I'm working different possibilities and ideas present themselves and help me move the work forwards.

I added a background, but didn't like it so I cut the magpie out

I also started on a small piece of work for an open submission; more on that if I get it finished in time! Overall, I had a great day. I feel enthused and excited about my work again and keen to keep going. Hopefully I can continue to make time for my own work and strike towards getting that elusive balance right.

Cut out mixed media magpie

Detail

Detail