Lucretia's Letters

Maaike Klarenbeek & Jo Tunderman aka Lucretia LaLune in Dordrecht, The Netherlands are working together on a project they call Lucretia's Letters (in Dutch, English version is HERE). They explain, "In Lucretia’s letters we follow the life of socially somewhat awkward Lucretia LaLune in words and pictures. Lucretia’s thoughts and behavior are recognizable in a funny, sometimes little embarrassing way, but also shows us that our personal idiosyncrasies are not that awful… Maaike writes Lucretia's love letters to Amadeu, who is the man Lucretia sees on metro rides and is in love with. Jo's illustrations complement the letters and bring them to life."
 

Why did you decide to do this project?  We both wanted to challenge our creativity in a 365 project. First we thought of doing our own projects separately, but it seemed so much more fun and inspiring to combine our strengths in this project. We wanted to create something (or someone) that is recognizable to a lot of people, but at the same time is such a caricature, that most people feel relieved that they're not THAT bad. Lucretia puts thoughts that every person might have, into word. It's fun to be able to say anything you want and hide behind an alter ego. ;-)

How has doing a yearlong/daily project affected your life? For now is hasn't really effected our lives yet. It might though. It's going to be a real challenge to commit to this every day, while jobs, social life and other activities also require a lot of time and energy... :-)

Follow Lucretia's correspondence HERE in Dutch and HERE in English.

Librarian's Daughter

Michele L. Mehlhorn, "but almost everyone now calls me Rey," in Richmond, VA is doing a project she calls, Librarian's Daughter (Book-a-Day). She explains, "I'd like to say this is a book illustration a day, but most of these projects aren't the traditional kind of illustration you'd actually put IN a book. There will be some paintings and drawings, because that's what I spend much of my time doing, but there are also a lot of more three-dimensional creations that still reflect characters or themes in books. Also, each post is an excuse to ramble on about a book that's inspired me and gained my love. Finding 365 books to fit that is really no problem, at all."...

Why did you decide to do this project? I've tried doing sketch/drawing-a-day before, and never kept it up more than a month, but I've dabbled in just about every art form there is and the prompts in the 365 book pushes multimedia projects. I'm an eclectic, short-attention-span person and this project seems to embrace that. Some projects can be very involved but others don't take much time, and fit days when I just have too much to do and no time to sit down and draw something. Also my friend Heidi of Puppet-a-Day was very encouraging, and since she got me the book, signed and all, I felt pressured to honor that.

How has doing a yearlong/daily project affected your life? I'm still on week 1, but I've been enjoying it. I'm a real perfectionist in my drawing, but I've found myself able to let go of that on these projects, thinking of them as more experimental. I'm currently unemployed, and that's stressful, so these projects give me something to work toward each day, and also are fun and relaxing. I'm not sure how the project will change when I do get a day job again (when, not if, I hope...), but this feels like something I can stick with and I admit I'm kind of hoping it gets a little bit of notice and helps me make some new connections. If it leads toward a job that involves art, that would be absolutely amazing.

See all of Rey's book interpretations HERE.

The Daily Dave

Jennifer Angus and Ivan Phillips from Las Vegas, Nevada, USA and Southend-on-Sea, England are documenting a monkey around the world in The Daily Dave...

Why did you decide to do this project? Jennifer really wanted to do the MailArt 365 project, but since we travel all the time it wouldn't be feasible.  Jennifer saw the 365 : Make Something Every Day and Change Your Life! site and was inspired to do a 365 project.  Jennifer came up with taking a daily picture of Dave the monkey during our travels.  It's very convenient since Dave has just started getting interested in modeling.  He's available for modeling gigs through his Facebook page.

How has doing a yearlong/daily project affected your life? It has made us more creative because every day we must come up with an interesting place to make a cool photo.  We love to use props and costumes to make the picture unique.  We're lucky that we travel so much which allows us to take awesome photos.

See all of Dave's monkey business HERE.

365Handicaped

Audrey in Alaska is taking photos every day from the perspective of her home, doctor's office, and her regular travels between the two, she calls it 365Handicaped...

Why did you decide to do this project? I love taking pictures and miss being in the great outdoors here in Alaska, Hiking and mountain climbing and taking great pictures.

How has doing a yearlong/daily project affected your life? It helps keep me focused and gives me something to think about other than the pain...

 

See all of Audrey's photo's HERE. 

365 Days of Naps

Kathleen Ruiz in Long Island, New York is documenting 365 Days of Naps. She says, "I  was looking through my library of pictures of the two most important people in my life. I began to notice a pattern. I have an awful lot of images of each of them sleeping, sometimes together. So I decided to document a year in their lives, a year of naps. The book is dedicated to John and John and the quality time they spend together sleeping."...

Why did you decide to do this project? I decided to do 365 Days of Naps because I thought it was a humorous idea and a great way to capture such a peaceful moment. They love to sleep together and the craziness of being 2 melts away and he becomes an angel.

How has doing a yearlong/daily project affected your life? Doing this project has helped me realize I can continue to be creative even when I am a stay at home mom of a toddler. I might not be in the great studio in DUMBO that I gave up, but I can still be creative and teach my son to be creative as well.

Geekhearts A Day

Rebekah Lock in the UK is creating Geekhearts A Day for a year. She explains, "I’ve decided to create a heart each day based on something that inspires me that day. By this I means that if I have an idea already that I want to do – I can only do that if I combine it with a daily inspiration…for example this could be a decaying fruit, a new artist I discover or resource I find online. Alternatively I may  be instantly inspired by something I see or new media I wasn’t to experiment with."

Why did you decide to do this project? I wanted to make sure I give myself some ‘me time’ everyday and allow time to grow, learn and indulge in my passion to be creative. I get caught-up in the ‘perfections’ of my profession and I suppose this is me breaking free from the grid and playing with my inner-creative-child!

How has doing a yearlong/daily project affected your life? I started seeing hearts everywhere a couple of weeks in, it felt almost obsessive but now quite natural. I’m often up late working right-up to the last few minutes in the day. I get excited about creating the ‘heart art’ every day. My greatest achievement so far is inspiring people (family, friends, people I’ve never met-just connected with online) to create hearts and send them to me…which led me to set up the ‘heart donors page’ on the blog. I’ve produced other artwork through newly discovered techniques-which I wouldn’t have done before.   

See all of Rebekah's hearts HERE.

Called to Create

Suzanne L. Vinson in Richmond, VA spent 2010 doing a creative act a day and now in 2011 she's documenting "glimpses of the sacred (in daily living)"...

Why did you decide to do this project? as an artist and minister i experience the power of naming: naming truths, grief, experience. sharing life stories, sacred stories.  in the midst of living a creative life and sharing creativity with others as a way to encounter healing, i wanted to visually demonstrate what it means to name "creativity".  so many who attend my creativity circles and retreats say, "oh, but i'm not creative." and of course, I say, "oh, but, you are!"  so in 2010 i wanted to flesh out what i see and live as creativity: taking notice, sharing, opening up to a new experience, tasting a new food, making something using your hands.

the practice was so delightful, creating a new mindfulness in each day that i knew i wanted to continue the practice in this year. much of what i do is to combine my spiritual expressions with creativity.  i see the sacred in dirt.  i see the sacred while sweeping the floors.  creativity is a sacred act. so, the natural movement became "glimpses of the sacred in the every day".  art meets spirit.  it's fitting, the groups and gatherings are aptly named art+spirit groups.

How has doing a yearlong/daily project affected your life? each year affects the next.  each experience holds value.  by becoming more in tune with the sacred in the every day, i become more present, more centered, and find a new awareness in each day.  it's a good practice and i love the rhythm of my own internal practice, then articulating the practice the following day (or sometimes the actual day) to others who have joined the journey.  the connections met through the blog have been really lovely.  it's a sacred space, indeed.

See all of Suzanne's daily glimpses of the sacred HERE.

Lori's Daily Personal Art Blog

Lori Weitzel in Winter Park, Florida is doing what she calls, Orlando Illustrator: Lori Weitzel A Daily Personal Art Blog. She explains, "using the format of paint color chips and daily inspiration boards I visually journal what I am working on or thinking about. I sometimes use others photography or images (I credit them), to support the art and feeling that I create that day."...

Why did you decide to do this project? Like  writers who need to stop reading and start writing daily, I felt a need to force myself to stop surfing and do illustrations each day to help me hone in and develop a recognizable look and style to my art. At first it was a private art journal,  but once I got discovered I decided to use it as self promo. I  just moved to Orlando and wanted to get some exposure to obtain freelance editorial illustration work. I question whether its the best way to promote my work, since not all of this is my finest hour.

How has doing a yearlong/daily project affected your life? It has been therapeutic and rewarding to complete work so fast. Logistically, besides paid work that must come first, it has been tough because I want to get the illustration done before the boys come home from school. Often I have not lived enough of the day to have inspiration yet, so I end up working on it at night when I should be having family time. I am getting faster and my goal is to be able to produce the post earlier in the day.

See all of Lori's art HERE.

365 Jars

Kirsty Hall in Bristol, England is spending a year making 365 Jars. She explains, "Every day during 2011, I’m going for a walk where I release an art jar into the wild for people to find. The jars are documented on the blog, usually daily. To my great delight, people have enthusiastically entered into the spirit of the project by reporting their finds and some have even been repositioning the jars for others to find."

Why did you decide to do this project? The original impetus came from a desire to do more walking. I knew that if I made walking into an art project, I would actually do it! I considered many ideas for combining art with walking before deciding that I would place art in the wild for people to find.

I’d also been feeling that my art was being pushed out by other things and I wanted to make it more central to my life. I’d done a daily project in 2007 called The Diary Project and I knew that daily making really gets things moving creatively.

I decided to use jars because I knew it would provide a coherent thematic framework for what could otherwise be quite disparate pieces of art. On a practical level, the jars also provide much-needed protection, which allows me to use a wider range of materials, even fragile ones like paper.

How has doing a yearlong/daily project affected your life? It’s completely taken over!

This is an epic project. It takes a bare minimum of 2 hours every single day and it’s usually much more. I knew it would be a big commitment but when I was estimating how much time it would take, I foolishly didn’t count all the admin and documentation that surrounds it. Fortunately I’m a full time artist, so I’m able to give it the attention it needs but it has been a strain at times and I’m looking at ways to make the project more sustainable throughout the year.

I am enjoying it though and I’ve got lots of rabid jar fans who cheer me on, which helps immensely.

See all of Kirsty's jars HERE.

Grapefruitoons

Chellie Buzzeo from Arizona is making daily grapefruit illustrations called Grapefruitoons....

Why did you decide to do this project? I decided to start eating healthy and forcing my self to eat grapefruit everyday. At Halloween I got inspired to do something with the leftovers and create a character each day. I started the blog in November and I am now on day 108.

How has doing a yearlong/daily project affected your life? I love being able to do something creative quickly and have no guilt about throwing it away. That is freeing and makes me laugh everyday. And it keeps me eating grapefruit... Which I used to HATE!

See all of Chellie's grapefruits HERE.

Project Paw Prints

Corie Keicher in Nashua, New Hampshire is making things with and into dog paw shapes in Project Paw Prints...

Why did you decide to do this project? Since I had been laid off for a while, finding new things to do with my time while also searching for a job, was a struggle for me intially. I was very excited then when my mom purchased this book for me a few months ago after briefing me a little bit on what it was. I FELL ABSOLUTELY IN LOVE WITH THE IDEAS PEOPLE HAD!! I thought to myself, "I can do this, or at least I'll try it out!" Making a decision on what to do actually came easy to me. I'm IN LOVE with my 2 year old yellow labrador retriever "Jax", so I use him as my inspiration! :)

How has doing a yearlong/daily project affected your life? I'm gaining some of my creativity back that I haven't been using much since I've been out of work for so long!  Some days it is VERY hard to get motivated to do it at all and also some of the stuff I decide to do, I struggle to like, but reading/following other people's projects has helped to boost my confidence & pushes me forward to want to finish the project! 0:)

See all of Corie's paw prints HERE.

Lunchbox 365

Joanna in Toronto, Canada is documenting food packed and served in a lunch container and she calls it Lunchbox 365...

Why did you decide to do this project? I was diagnosed several years ago with food allergies and am somewhat restricted in what I can eat, so I became used to packing my own lunch every day. I found that recently, I have gotten into a major rut with what I had been eating, and wanted to push myself to try new things. I find the lunchbox containers perfect for portion control, so I decided to challenge myself to see how many different combinations I could create using my favourite lunchbox set.

How has doing a yearlong/daily project affected your life? It's a bit of a pain, honestly :) The first dozen or so were easy, but I am having to get more creative now. And I have to remember to photograph it and post it. There are a few times I missed the midnight deadline and had to post a make-up pic the next day, and one I missed altogether due to illness, but for the most part, I have been good about getting up the daily pic on time.

See all of Joanna's lunches HERE.

Dear Anne

Hyesu Lee in Brooklyn, NY is spending a year writing illustrated letters to a friend every day in a project called Dear Anne...

Why did you decide to do this project?  Hello I am Hyesu Lee, you can call me Hey! Hyesu. I am from Korea and studying Illustration at School of Visual Arts, since I am an International student, I have found everybody and everything in NY fascinating. So a lot of times I just wanted to talk about these things casually to my friend. So I started this project.

How has doing a yearlong/daily project affected your life? it has affected me in so many different ways. But what I appreciate most is that now I more care about things that I didn't care as much as before, for example banal conversations I would make with people, things I see everyday, people I run into on a subway, etc.

See all of Hyesu's letters to Anne HERE.

Puppet-A-Day

My friend Heidi Rugg here in Richmond, Virginia is creating a Puppet-A-Day...

Why did you decide to do this project? As a creative type looking to always improve my sense of discipline to my, well, discipline, the idea of doing a "365 project" was very attractive. As a full-time puppeteer, puppet-builder, wife, mom, homeschooling parent, family chef, and so many other things, it seemed crazy. But I couldn't get the thought out of my head.

The idea was like a splinter I couldn't get to – I just kept thinking about it, picking at it, trying to find a way to extract it. I thought about all the possible things I could do for a year...I had so many ideas! But the one I kept coming back to was to make a puppet every day, because that's my medium. That's what I do. But every day?

There's no way I could make one of my puppets every day! They took too long to make. They were too complex, too...

Too many excuses.

Ultimately, I realized that being committed to my art form, puppetry, requires (you guessed it!) commitment. So, I am making something every day. They aren't puppets that I use in my shows (for the most part), but they are puppets.

How has doing a yearlong/daily project affected your life? I have strong perfectionist tendencies. To be committed to this project required that I give up a bit of that – it also made me re-think my definition of "puppet." Well, not that I've changed my mind, but I've really had to more fully explore those ideas. I have discovered that I really know a lot about my medium. Some of my posts that have received the highest number of responses have been the ones that are the simplest or have an educational bent (like showing all the ways a puppeteer holds a hand puppet).

It's been fun to do samples of things I can do in workshops -- or illustrate the "innards" of puppets. I love that I've inspired others to goof off with puppet stuff just for fun. I've even been inspired to make some changes in a new show I am developing. While on a trip, I was making some baby robin puppets and a worm in the car with my children. I started thinking about the new show a bit and rewrote one of the springtime scenes to include a robin and a worm -- a really great visual scene that I know will go over well with my audiences and perfectly segues into another scene.

See all of Heidi's puppets HERE.

Owl A Day

Emily Mello in Boulder, Colorado is creating The Daily Owl. She says, "I recently purchased A Daily Creativity Journal - 365 - Make Something Every Day And Change Your Life... I have decided to blog about my attempts at the prompts given in the book, and I have chosen my own theme for another personal daily project.  Owls.  I will make an owl a day, and post a picture and description of it.  I am hoping for some support via the blogging world - It is easier to complete such a huge goal when you have an audience to entertain.  :D."...

Why did you decide to do this project? I have always been one of those people who will set out these spectacular goals for myself, but I am never able to follow through with them, for whatever reasons arise.  I have my mind set on this.  I found this book and all of the blogs related to it, and not I am too inspired to stay quiet.  I want to complete the book AND make an owl a day.  Maybe I can spice up my life a little.  Shake things up.

How has doing a yearlong/daily project affected your life? Well, I literally JUST started this project today.  I couldn't say that it has had any more affect than inspiration at this point, but I anticipate much growth and dedication.  Please, tell your friends.  :D.  I don' t want to do this by myself! I would love for some feedback! <3

See all of Emily's Owls HERE.

Create A Day 365

Anna Grace Smith in Knoxville, Tennessee is doing a project she calls Create A Day 365. She explains, "I am doing one creative thing a day for a year and sharing it on my blog. These creative projects can be arts, crafts, culinary, literary and everything else in between! As long as it takes some creativity to do it, I'm open to it! This project started on my 23rd birthday, February 2, 2011."...

 

Why did you decide to do this project? I was diagnosed with Rheumatoid Arthritis in October of 2009. Since then, I noticed a lack of motivation in every facet of my life. I had no drive to do anything, and it was affecting my health, my grades in school and my overall well being. This worsened last semester because I was just taking my general education requirements and didn't have the creative outlet of my Interior Design studios anymore. I realized that I had to have some sort of creative outlet to remain sane! I also come from an extremely musical family (My Grandfather was a minister of music and Tenor, Grandmother a Soprano, Aunts and Uncle both voice majors, my mother teachers Horn at a university, and my sister is getting her masters in Horn Performance) and have played the oboe since seventh grade, but since starting college in Fall 2006, I haven't had as much time for it, and now with my Rheumatoid Arthritis, it's really hard for me to play. (It's a lot of weight for my thumb joints and hard to push down keys, not to mention how tight the muscles around your jaw have to be.) I've really missed music in my life, so I needed some way to bring it back, without killing my joints. So I decided why not do a 365 project? It's something I've contemplated for awhile, but not had the time or energy for, but I'm at a point in my life where I'm willing to make time for it. It's also a goal for myself and something for me to push for. Mostly, I just want to prove to myself that I can do it!

How has doing a yearlong/daily project affected your life? I just started this project February 2, but I can honestly say that it's already made a huge difference in my life! I can tell that because of this, I have much more focus and drive in every aspect of my daily life than I did before. It has also connected me back to music. My mother even bought me two nice recorders (alto and soprano) that have helped me immensely, and are light and easy on my RA. I'll admit that there are some days when I've been at work all day or whatever that I think, "Ugh, do I have to do a project today?" but every time I pushed through and done something, and each time I find myself really enjoying it in the process and glad that I did it! It's also been a lot of fun coming up with new and creative ideas! I'm so happy that I've started this, and I hope that I can continue to push and reach my year goal!

To see all of Anna's creations visit her site HERE.

Rae by Day

Rachael Smith in Cincinnati, Ohio is doing a project she calls, Rae by Day. She explains, "I plan to photograph, make, sew, build, construct, or mold something every day for the next year. In most cases I will use the kickstart ideas in A Daily Creative Journal 365: Make something every day and change your life to come up with projects, but not in the order they appear in the book."...

Why did you decide to do this project? I've wanted to take the time to do something creative on a daily basis for a while now. It's been hard with my long commute to work, one hour there and one hour back, but I finally found the motivation when I stumbled upon this book, 365: A Daily Creative Journal: Make Something Every Day and Change your life!. It was just the push I needed. I came home that night, February 20, 2011 and started with my first project.

How has doing a yearlong/daily project affected your life? It's really helped me open up my mind to new ideas and I feel inspired on a regular basis. It's been great, before I started this project I felt like I was in a big creative rut. Now I have all sorts of ideas going though my head on a daily basis. I am constantly trying to come up with ideas for new projects and feel really productive and accomplished. It's a great feeling.

See all of Rae's creations HERE.