Rebecca's A-Robot-A-Day

Rebecca Jackson in Lawrence, Kansas is creating A-Robot-A-Day...

Why did you decide to do this project? Due to a mild obsession with robots and a generous stockpile of recycled bits, I’ve been making recycled robots for almost three years now.  I saw Noah’s book and became inspired to try to make something robot-related every day.  I thought it would be a great way to explore new mediums and force myself to actually create every day (not just daydream).   As a mother of four young boys, I’m a professional procrastinator when it comes to doing the things I actually want to do.  This project has given me an “excuse” to do something fun and also allows the boys to join in if they want.





How has doing a yearlong/daily project affected your life? I am terrible about follow-through.  If I’m lucky, I get something 90-95% done, but then end up going on to something else.  So embarking on a daily project has forced me to actually complete my endeavors and, thereby, experience some measure of satisfaction—you know, instead of enduring the guilt-ridden “I-really-need-to-finish-that” mantra of my pre-365-Day life.

I’ve also found that instead of running out of ideas, I seem to be overflowing with new ones.  Finding the time/energy to make them materialize is another matter, but it’s nice to know my creative spark didn’t get entirely doused by the monotony of adult life. 



See all of Rebecca's robots HERE.

Robot-A-Day Follow-Up

I've decided to periodically check back in with some folks who have completed their 365 projects...



Chris Zeliff made a Robot-A-Day from June 5, 2010 through June 4, 2011...

What are the biggest lessons/skills you learned from doing your project? I think the biggest lesson I've learned is to be comfortable with what I make. I had always been critical of myself in music and art, when someone would ask to hear me play or see my work I'd be saying "oh, it's not so great" or "I only play a little". This really sells me short and tends to prejudice people before hand. I know not everything I create will be to everyone's fancy but I've learned that one person's 'Meh' is another's 'Woo!' so I just make what I feel like making and I'll continue to play guitar like nobody is listening.

I have picked up some skills in using different mediums and also to manage my time a bit better, setting time aside for projects or fun stuff, even if it is only a few minutes.

In what ways did the project change your life? Like I mentioned previously, I am much less critical of myself and what I create. I have embraced the process and not just the end result, a zen-ish journey rather than the destination. I also enjoy being creative again, when I first met my wife we moved from Oregon to Houston and didn't have much money so we just did inexpensive crafts for fun (this was 1995 so there wasn't much of an internet to distract us yet!), mostly we'd get a bunch of stuff from hobby places and just make things. I feel that joy of just making stuff and being crafty has returned.

Now what? We just bought a house (#3 and hopefully the last one for a while) and it has a massive bonus room that is now our craft studio with desks for my wife and I and room to lay things out, I've already started some projects in there and my last few robots were done using that room. I have carved some shop space out of our garage; I plan to buy Oxy/Acetylene bottles and get back to welding sculptures. I will keep making robots, there are some more involved ideas I had that I just could not do in a single day so I will be making infrequent but more detailed robots. I also look to expand on some different skills and maybe take some community education classes to improve my painting and drawing. I really have to thank you (Noah) for the inspiration, I enjoyed the journey and your continuing skull adventures, it was a key motivator for me to do a 365 project and to see it through to the end. I also need to thank my wife Paloma for her support and enthusiasm for the project.

See Chris's original 365 interview HERE.
And see all of Chris's robots HERE.

Have you finished your own 365 project? I'd love to hear from you!

iRobot365

And a bonus post today!

Sean Smith, whose skull3sixfive project I just posted, started another project the day after he finished that one! This time it's a daily comic strip "based on the exploits of a little alien robot that gets mistakenly abandoned on earth." called iRobot365...

Why did you decide to do this project? About ¾ through my last 365 project I started to think about what to for 2011. I wanted to pick a theme but in a style that would challenge me. Creating a comic strip daily will certainly stretch my creativity both with story and art!

How has doing a yearlong/daily project affected your life? Well the first one went up today – felt good to be doing something different! We will see where it goes to!

Follow Sean's Robot hi-jinks on Flickr HERE.

Robot-A-Day II

Another great thing about daily projects is that even when the subject is the same the outcome is completely unique. Chris Zeliff was inspired by Skull-A-Day to make his own Robot-A-Day...

See all of Chris's robots on his site HERE.

365 Inspiration: Robot a Day

What I love about 365 projects is that they can be adjusted as you go. While Erin Wilk originally set out to make a robot a day for a year a few things got in the way of that plan (not the least of which was having a baby!) so instead the project shifted to once-a-week and then once-a-whenever! Now she's even doing a challenge with another artist where they both work on a similar theme. The important part is she's continuing to create amazing pieces when she can and by keeping track numerically she'll still make her way to robot #365 eventually...

See all of Erin's amazing work at Robot a Day. 

Look for an exclusive interview with Erin in my new book 365: A Daily Creativity Journal which is being released on December 15th, but can be pre-ordered now at your favorite local independent bookstore  and at all major online book retailers.

p.s. Erin is not the only daily robot maker out there, so expect to see more on this topic soon!