The Art Prescription

Beverly Dyer in Chapel Hill, North Carolina is creating The Art Prescription: a daily dose of art and haiku!

Why did you decide to do this project? During December 2010 I found myself experiencing increased life stressors and taking long lonely walks. During these walks I would write a haiku about what I found inspiring. Then I would do a piece of art to go along with the haiku. My daily haiku and art is now so ritualistic that I hold that time sacred. It's been healing for me and since my goal as a nurse/artist has always been to promote the therapeutic benefits of art, the mission behind the Art Prescription fits my philosophy on life. After a stressful day at my nursing job, I am able to turn my mood and brain chemistry around with my daily art prescription!

How has doing a yearlong/daily project affected your life? Creating a haiku and art everyday has become such an integral part of my life that I find the words come to me throughout the day. I go about my day with inquisitive observation on life, nature, and people. These short poems always feel like a gift. Somedays my art is literally on an index card, others I do medium to large paintings. Creating every day has pushed me to explore multiple mediums, like sewing onto my journal pages. I now have about 650 followers and the joy of meeting other creativea across the globe is fabulous and in itself a trigger for ideas. My husband and I enjoy hiking and birdwatching, and he is patient while I often pause on the trail to make a sketch or write a few words. My hope is always to provide a dose of art and haiku to anyone who needs it!!

See all of Beverly's daily work HERE.

Art-Food-Wine-365 Follow-up

Katerina AKA Plateresca in Madrid, Spain spend every day of 2015 creating her Art-Food-Wine-365 project...

What are the biggest lessons/skills you learned from doing your project? 2015 was a difficult year for me. I finally had to accept the changes I had been trying to ignore for a long time, and that was painful. In those difficult circumstances, I managed to do two things on a daily basis: draw and write. This made me realize these two activities were not just something I did for fun, but rather something that I needed to do constantly. This has influenced my life and work decisions a lot, so, in a way, my own blog became my compass.

The other lesson I’ve learnt from creating this blog is that minor things matter. When I had seemingly absolutely nothing to write about, I could find something beautiful and art-food-wine-related in my own apartment or in my neighbourhood in less than an hour. It made me think a lot about how beautiful my life is, and enjoy it more, even when my worries made it difficult.

In what ways did the project change your life? As much as I tried not to write about myself, my personality was present in every post, and at some point I couldn’t hide it from myself anymore that I was a) making art, b) gaining my main income with it, i. e., that I finally became what I had dreaded so much becoming: an artist. I had spent years shying away from this idea, but when the results of what I did lined up in a series of daily posts, it was impossible to keep ignoring them. The impact of this is huge; and, well, I do hope that the following years will prove that this was a good thing.

Now what?  I hope to be able to keep my drawing daily, but I’d like to be quieter about what I do, showing only the best images, recipes and texts once in a while. And I definitely will do my best to keep enjoying Madrid, and sharing its special atmosphere with my readers. 

Read Katerina's original 365 interview HERE.
See all of Katerina's project HERE. 

 

365 Days of Art

Martin AKA Jig5aw in London, UK created 365 Days of Art. 

Why did you decide to do this project? Art and photography have always been two of my main interests, but with a growing family and ever challenging work commitments I found myself spending less and less time on these activities which I love. The decision to start a 365 days or art project with a new piece of art produced each day was potentially a drunken one, but now that I am 316 days into the project it was one of my better decisions whilst under the influence of alcohol. 

 

How has doing a yearlong/daily project affected your life? The regularity of producing a new idea each day has forced me into testing really how much I love art and the processes that come with it and I’ve been pleasantly surprised. Some family holidays, serious hangovers, technology issues two young children and unplanned work scenarios have all tested me to the limit, but somewhat surprisingly I have managed to stick to it. I wouldn’t say the project has affected my life other than through the generation of 316 days worth of materials and clutter in our home, but it feels like it has enhanced it. I have built up a pretty impressive ability to survive on a limited amount of sleep, but as the days have passed I have learnt to be more focused and efficient in my art creation so the hours I spend in bed are increasing when the kids allow it!

See all of Martin's days HERE. 

ArtFoodWine365

Katerina AKA Plateresca in Madrid, Spain is creating ArtFoodWine365...

Why did you decide to do this project? The funny thing is, I decided to get into a large and time-consuming project because I was overworked. I knew that such a project would make me find that ever-eluding time to spend with my art and writing, and when my husband gave me 365: A Daily Creativity Journal as a Christmas present, I plunged into it that very evening, and by New Year we had my website up and ready for the first 'real' post and the first prompt!

How has doing a yearlong/daily project affected your life? I have only been doing the project for less than two months now and I hope that you ask me again in a year and I can boast some significant career changes owing to this project... But right now I can tell you that it is true that if you can stick to one habit, it makes it easier to go on with all the others. I was trying to draw daily last year, but missed several days almost every month. Since I've started my ArtFoodWine project, I haven't missed a day of drawing, though my blog doesn't always require me to draw something for it!

I do hope to find new friends via this project.

I think that daily blogging teaches us humbleness, too, because you have to share something even if you don't really think it's great, and it's not a bad side effect.

And I just like doing it, I feel more whole when it is my daily task to create and share something. Starting this blog was like coming back home for me!

See all of Katerina's posts HERE.

Today's Artist

Estelle Ballot in Paris, France is writing every weekday on her site Today's Artist, an artist to (re)discover each day. She explains, "Today's Artist aims at presenting a contemporary artist each day with a short post and artworks pictures. The idea is to get to know a bit more about art, while providing a bit of inspiration for my readers to happily start their day."

Why did you decide to do this project? I'm the happy and proud Mum of a 4 months old beautiful angel. I took a year off work to spend as much time as I can with her. But as much as I love playing with her and seeing her growing up, I needed some more adult minded project to get me going. And then I realized that, like a lot of people, I love art but I don't know much about it. Writing a blog about art seemed to be a great way to get to know more and to share it with whoever would be interested.

How has doing a yearlong/daily project affected your life? It's quite funny how such a project can take an important part of your life. Of course, my baby girl is my very top priority, but anytime she has a nap, I rush to my computer to get some infos about the next artist to be featured. I usually write and edit posts at night, when she is asleep. This means that each going out night needs to be planned, so that I can prepare a post it in advance. Basically, Today's Artist is getting me very organized...
A surprising thing that I didn't foresee, is that writing about artists is actually giving me the opportunity to meet and/or exchange with gallerists and artists, like Noah. This is very rewarding and it definitely gives me the motivation to keep writing on those nights when I'm tired and really want to go to bed.

See all of Estelle's artists HERE.

1000 Pieces of Free Art Update

Noah Zark in Israel recently completed his project to create 1000 pieces of free art in 2013!

Why did you decide to do this project? I decided to do the project for a few reasons but more than anything I just wanted to share the feeling of finding art out on the street that you can take home. I first experienced that at a "My Dog Sighs" show after finding 2 of his pieces in the street after the gallery show.

How has doing a yearlong/daily project affected your life? I have learned what my limits are and I pushed passed them in several ways. I learned many new techniques and was flooded with ideas. It forced me to be productive in my art when normally I can get sidetracked with the minutia of every day life.

Now what? As far as what comes next I cannot get into the specifics of it but I will be doing another free art project. It is not a year long and there is no set number but as of right now I am thinking of doing 3-4 unique spots worldwide to do a mass free art drop.  I am also attempting to break out of my box a bit and do some more 3D work and more glass work in 2014.

Read Noah's original 365 interview HERE.

See all of Noah's art HERE.

(My) Artplay at 60 ~ Using the Daily News as Inspiration

Rebecca Grace Jones in Shepherdstown, West Virginia has returned with a new month long daily project (My) Artplay at 60 ~ Using the Daily News as Inspiration

She explains the project as, "Using the cover photo and story of the Washington Post newspaper for inspiration to create a piece of artwork, in image and word, every day in the month of December 2013 and present the results as a show in January 2014"

Why did I decide to do this project and how has doing a daily project affected my life?

As an artist I have two needs ~ 1) the challenge of creating something and
2) someone to show it to.

This means that in the sixty years I’ve been walking around on this earth I’ve not evolved much from the child who would bound out of bed in the morning eager to see what I could scribble together with my crayons and then run to show it to my mother.

As a small child I was able to come up with my own inspiration for crayon scribbles. When I started attending school I learned that it was possible to make things from the suggestions of others. It was also quite satisfying, because then they would acknowledge my accomplishment in the form of a rating system called a “grade”.  This was different from my mother’s reaction in that it might not always be favorable, but the recognition fed me nonetheless.

The challenge of creating something from a presented idea became a puzzle to solve, an activity upon which I thrived. This made me a good art student through graduate school and a decent free-lance illustrator early in my career.

The audience has changed over the years from mother, to teacher, to art director, and now to you, the public. It’s been necessary to evolve, at least to a degree, in order to accept the levels of acknowledgement I receive and continue to produce my art regardless. As a child it’s possible that, if my mother hadn’t gushed over everything I showed her, I might not have pursued the life of an artist. Now, I find I’m able to, well, actually, I need to create things whether you, my audience, like them or not, though, of course, it’s nice when you do. I don’t think I could continue if what I created was being completely ignored, but I am able to find the motivation I need to keep working in even a limited amount of attention.

Having spent 2012 completing the 365 projects from Noah Scalin’s book, 365: A Daily Creativity Journal, where I was given ideas, I find now, that in order to keep up the daily practice of creating, I am in a position of having to make up my own assignments. That’s where this latest project comes in ~ Using the cover photo and story from the Washington Post for inspiration, I find something to draw or collage and write about, either as a synopsis of the story or a poem in haiku form. I enjoy writing, particularly constructing the haiku in its 5-7-5 syllable structure, because of the puzzle-solving element involved.

This project, the working title of which is (My) Artplay at 60 ~ Using the Daily News as Inspiration, gives me the structure of being there every day and presenting me with a challenge of finding something inspiring enough to be creative. When I post the artwork (or artplay) and word-thing on my blog, www.wordkeepers.blogspot.com, I get to see if it has any effect on anyone.

The incentive for this project was an invitation to have a show at the Fire House Gallery in Charles Town, WV for the month of January 2014, during which I will turn 60. It made me want to do something fresh and interesting.

How has this changed my life? It is the difference between getting up in the morning and being presented with a blur of things to do, and bounding out of bed to get the newspaper to see what today’s assignment is, and then to my computer to see if you got, or didn’t get, what I did yesterday. It’s what I need to do.

See all of Rebecca's project HERE.

The Me Project

Jamie Kerr Weinstein in Richmond, Virginia is creating daily in The Me Project...

Why did you decide to do this project? I was inspired by the Skull-A-Day project around 4 years ago. I put it on a mental “To Do” list and two years later started doing a 30 minute drawing a day. Then life got in the way and I quit. I then found myself in a retail job selling Noah Scalin’s cardboard skulls and thought, “This is all wrong. I should be creating.” I quit my job and am pursuing more suitable opportunities. My website and blog are part of the journey.

How has doing a yearlong/daily project affected your life? Doing the daily project has affected my life because it gives me a venue to display my voice. I am a very visual and sensory sensitive person. I don’t know where my blog and website are leading me but I have a newly found confidence, that I lost after focusing on being a mom of two boys under 4. Now, if I need a “pick me up”, I can look online and see a tangible, cohesive set of thoughts, paintings and projects that are mine, all mine! Despite the fact that I love playing the piano, drawing and writing, I don’t like to perform. Making this website gives me a chance to voice my opinions, tell stories about my family and interact with the world while still maintaining some solitude. 

See all of Jamie's work HERE.

Art and Song

Kim Lopas in Mayville, Wisconsin is creating daily Art and Song...

Why did you decide to do this project? Art has always been a huge part of my life, but my artistic abilities tend to lie in the realm of music.  While I don't consider myself a fantastic visual artist, making art is something I enjoy immensely.  I'm not doing this project with the goal of selling my work or gaining fame, I'm doing it purely for me.  I'm hoping to gain some insight into what I'm good at and hopefully I'll gain some skills in the process! 

How has doing a yearlong/daily project affected your life? I decided to try to follow the Daily Creativity Journal closely as I could, because it forced me to think out of the box and try things that I normally wouldn't.  I've also gotten my roommate to try it with me which is fun, we get to brainstorm ideas and work together.  I love some of my output, and I don't really like some of it, but I think that is part of the joy of doing a project like this. 

I started this project in June because, as a teacher, I have quite a bit more time in the summer.  I decided that if I seriously wanted to get the ball rolling on it, I should do it now, so that when school started it would be part of my routine.  That being said, I'm about to go traveling for three weeks, which will put a new spin on the project.  I'm excited to see "where" it takes me! 

See all of Kim's art HERE.

Imelda's Cat A Day

Imelda Hinojosa in Southern California is doing a 365 day look at her drawing table called Cat A Day...

Why did you decide to do this project? Two years ago I did a "CAT A DAY" project, where I drew or presented a cat of some sort, each day. ( drawn, clay, bread, photo, etc) The following year I missed the daily challenge and habit that it had become. I decided to do a "Look into the work space", as a way to encourage myself to face that blank surface each day. And to expose when it is not a blank surface, but instead a cluttered mess, a collection of spills and paper shavings, cat hair and coffee cups molding away...

How has doing a yearlong/daily project affected your life? I find that I look forward to posting, mostly. I find I am more productive and aware of how something can be photographed or used on the blog.  I enjoy the humor of my cat sprawled out on the surface, just as I'm about to start working, or the stillness of seeing the sun pour in the window and lay a pattern on the surface of my table...It keeps me rolling, instead of stalled: " wishing I was doing my art". Setting up my own guidelines; that my posting can be ANYthing, as long as it is in by the magic midnight hour, frees up the imagination. (In comparison to the more specific-CAT A DAY-where, some days I "didn't wanna".)

See all of Imelda's days HERE.

365 Lil' Guy Portraits

Scott Krichau in Albuquerque, New Mexico is creating 365 Lil' Guy Portraits...

 His rules are:
 - Draw a "lil' guy" every day for the next year.
 - Color them when I can.  Ink and travel don't mix well.
 - Write something about each "lil' guy," but not too much.

Why did you decide to do this project? I got to watch Carolyn Curtis work on her last 365 and figured I needed to do this.  I can make the time each day to draw, color, and write.  I awake to a blank paper each morning.  It's a great way to start the day and get the mind working.  Hope we can get the dog to start one of his own next year.

How has doing a yearlong/daily project affected your life? I've been struggling with writing the story of my "lil' guys."  Coming up with characters has always been easy, but naming them and giving them a chance to express something has evaded me.  I really enjoy letting each "lil' guy" become their own character.  First names combined with an observation about life become just enough info to know the "lil' guy.

See all of Scott's Lil' Guys HERE.

Joy's Project 2013

Joy Bender Hadley in Marquette, Michigan is creating daily in her Project 2013...

Why did you decide to do this project? Not exactly sure... I wanted to challenge myself. I am an art teacher and in the past few years I had not completed many works of art myself. I have been attempting to push myself the past two years and figured this would be an ultimate test.

How has doing a yearlong/daily project affected your life? This has been an incredible journey already! I have some weeks that are tough to produce and others that feel easy... But it is always amazing to leave my art studio everyday knowing I've made a mark, an image!

I also post my images online and that has created an environment of communication with other artists, family members and friends. I learn about myself with each image and with comments from others about my work, I learn about them. Such a collaborative feeling!

See all of Joy's art HERE.

365 Days of Pez

R!ch Cihlar in Cleveland, Ohio is making 365 Days of Pez...

Why did you decide to do this project? I started this project based on influence from multiple sources.  I was introduced to the Skull-A-Day project, meanwhile commissioned to create custom Pez pieces for a collector, and positive critiques from other artists with earlier Pez pieces.  I'm not one to usually take on commissions; I feel that they are very stressful and overwhelming.  But I agreed to the commission and instead of making one piece I made 6 of the same image (in different variations).  I found the process fun and set out to do it for 30 days.  After 30 days, i said what the heck lets shoot for a year.  After 30 days I also noticed a lot of traffic and insights from friends and new admires on my social networks (facebook, twitter, and my blog).  Ifelt that i had an audience, minor as it may have been but an audience none the less.  I also work for Baldwin Wallace University (in the art dept) and felt i needed to assist in motivating our students in practice and outside work.



How has doing a yearlong/daily project affected your life? My project started with stenciling/spray painting my work on skateboards and i had a constant flow of free broken skateboards.  But with Cleveland weather getting colder, less "free" canvas' came in and my supply ran out or is running very thin.  I also paint outside in a garage.  Spray paint has a hard time drying and curing properly in colder weather.  So i moved my materials around.  I've done a few acrylic transfer pieces, contour drawings, and plan on implementing other supplies i haven't used up or used in a long time.  This project has really strengthens my color choices or pallets.  It's also made my hands and head work faster and more efficiently.   It's funny to think you also get some "credit" in art/gallery scene.  I have friends go, DUDE! i'm following you and you're work is really nice.  Or people i don't know come up to me and say "Hey, you're the Pez guy."  It's fun and reassuring that what you think is a good thing, is interpreted by others as a good thing.  I hope that i spawn other artists/people to try something new daily or for a set time.  I really have enjoyed my project, and i don't think i'll jump into another 365 project right away, but i will continue to create projects in time lines (perhaps a project in a weeks time) or 52 pieces in a year.  One specific thing i realized in my project was that the first few pieces i did i tried to limit my stencil use.  I only cut 5 stencils (or 5 colors to my piece).  After 250 days in i recut that same image and it had 12 stencils.  I really started to make the works more elaborate or challenging.  There's an ongoing feeling that you have to one up your past works, and in hindsight that's kind of the goal, right?  An artist wants to be more creative, a leader in their field, and wants to perpetuate the creative juices indefinitely.  The coolest/unusual thing  that has happend so far in my project is that i've been giving my works away or mailing them to celebrities.  I mailed 3 original pieces to one of my favorite artists/internationally known with a letter that basically said "thanks for what you do, you've inspired my work, and my techniques".  A month or two after i mailed him the work, he mailed me 3 works back.  It was hands down the coolest thing about this project.  

See all of R!ch's Pez HERE.

Down The Rabbit Hole

Megan Carrell in Muncie, Indiana is going Down the Rabbit Hole...

She explains, "My starting inspiration is Alice in Wonderland. It's a subject that is easy for me to elaborate on and obsess over, for sure! However, I wanted to make this project flexible instead of stressful, so the subject is welcome to interpretation and deviation. I use both 2-D and 3-D mediums; all of them are then posted on the photo site Flickr."

Why did you decide to do this project? Well, you would think being a full-time graphic design student is enough art for one person. Apparently not.  After getting 365: A Daily Creativity Journal for Christmas a few years ago, I was inspired to try a year-long project. This is actually my third official project attempt (and my eighth unofficial one), but I'm hoping that with more experience and more publicity I'll be able to stick to it this time around!




How has doing a yearlong/daily project affected your life? I'm definitely still figuring out how to balance my time and priorities. This project is teaching me how to better my time management and, much more importantly, how to better myself as an artist. I've also learned a lot about myself. One of my biggest discoveries is that I LOVE to play with my food! Also, my non-dominant hand is surprisingly ambidextrous.

See all of Megan's creations HERE.

1000 Free Pieces of Art

Noah Zark in Israel is making 1000 Free Pieces of Art in 2013!...

Why did you decide to do this project? I had been doing free art for many years now but never really thought much of it... I never even signed my name. I had recently started selling artwork online with the idea of selling original artwork (not prints) at an affordable price. I went to an event at a gallery for the artist "My Dog Sighs" who inspired me to take this concept of free art a bit more seriously. On the way out of the show I happened upon 2 pieces of free art by "My Dog Sighs" and the feeling that it gave me to find it was awesome. I knew I wanted to be a part of making people feel that as well.

Over the next few weeks I dropped a few pieces here and there. On New Year's Eve I had an idea of challenging myself to do an entire year of spreading free art. I settled on a nice round number of 1000 pieces figuring that it would round off to about 20 pieces a week. It is a huge undertaking but I must say that I am very excited and cannot wait to see what 2013 brings us all. :)

How has doing a yearlong/daily project affected your life? Well so far I have only been doing this for 2 days but I must say that the response has been uncanny. I have met people in town and online that are very happy with the concept and I am just happy to be spreading art and hopefully a bit of joy :)

See all of Noah's art HERE.

[BONUS] 180 Days of Art

I recently gave the keynote address at the Virginia Arts Education Association's annual conference and afterwards was given this lovely limited edition book by Roderick Rhodes...

Roderick, an elementary school art teacher, spent the 2003-2004 school year creating a daily art project. For 180 days he created small squares of art in six-piece panels, based on his experiences each week working with over 700 students!