January Moon Paintings

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January Moon Paintings

As I mentioned earlier this month, I am replacing my 2022 year-long project with a flurry of creative projects this year—including a couple of different online classes and programs. One of those programs is Effy Wild’s Moonshine 2023 program—and these are my first two moon paintings!

The full moon was January 6th and I had barely begun the program for the full moon so this painting was entirely off the cuff. Simply a figure traveling by the light of the full moon

A few weeks later for the new moon on January 21st, I began

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What happens when I can't choose

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What happens when I can't choose

All creative work depends on making choices, but for me like this week, choice can be a dangerous trigger.

It goes like this: I want to create—something, but I don’t know what. And because I enjoy many kinds of art and many kinds of media, I start to feel overwhelmed with options. And then, once overwhelmed, I suddenly find myself on the witness stand of my own mind being interrogated by my internal prosecutor.

“What will you make?”

“I don’t know!

“You don’t know? Well, why not? You should know, wouldn’t you agree? Why can’t you choose? Do you have an imagination problem…?”

I could stay stuck right here, trembling in self-doubt, but that would be really unproductive—and since this is not an unfamiliar pattern, I thought I’d share what I think this trigger actually is—and how to get out of it.

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A Fresh Start

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A Fresh Start

During the collective pause while we burrowed into the longest nights of the year over the Winter Solstice (in the northern hemisphere), I did my share of reflecting and planning for the new year.

As did everyone else, it seems, on the interwebs.

I didn’t want to make resolutions or goals, as both dissolve and fade in the light of real life. And after completing a year-long, weekly project I didn’t want to box myself in with another one. But I thought I could using a guiding intention for my art practice. A navigational beacon for 2023 that would keep me sailing in a direction I want to go.

And the direction I want to head next is to experiment more, play with new materials in new combinations and generally wander outside my comfort zone.

I mean this as both a matter of spirit and craft. Through more intentional experimentation and play, I am as eager to learn more about my Self as a creative being as I am to improve my art skills.

I didn’t know where to start at first

So I began by

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That's a wrap! My 52 Cards Project 2022

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That's a wrap! My 52 Cards Project 2022

If you’ve been following along on this particular art journey, thank you for reading each week and going along for the ride! I’ve had some lovely responses to this project and I especially appreciate all of you who shared your thoughts and gave me encouragement. It really helped me keep going.

If you’re just finding me now, welcome! This 52 Cards Project has been a personal project for 2022 where each week I assigned a theme to whatever I experienced that week and illustrated it on a 4X6” card, and then I shared each card and some thoughts in a weekly post.

I’ve had some questions about how the project went for me, what I learned—and what I’m going to do next—so here goes:

First of all, Why did I initiate a project that would run for an entire year?

I have no idea.

I literally thought,

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