Sun A Day Follow-Up

I'm periodically checking back in with some folks who have completed their 365 projects...

Tara Raymo made a Sun A Day for every day of 2011...

What are the biggest lessons/skills you learned from doing your project? The biggest lesson I learned is that not everything has to be exactly perfect. I realized that when I didn’t care for something that I created, I would then look back on it and actually think it wasn’t that bad. I learned to just enjoy the moment of creating something. Through the project I found that I enjoy carving and need to learn more about the different techniques.

In what ways did the project change your life? I lost touch with my artistic side many years ago, so the biggest change was that I realized how much I had lost. I am starting to feel more myself now that I am getting back into my art. I am a graphic artist for a children’s nonfiction book publisher, and my project has helped me become more creative at work.

Now what? Right now I am taking January to organize my Sun A Day project. I want to start sketching, learning new techniques and I want to start showing off my Digital Designs. I plan to start posting some kind of art or project that I am working on at least once a week, hopefully starting in February.

Read her original 365 interview HERE.

See all of her suns HERE.

Sun Today

Frances Lewis in Adelaide, South Australia is spending a year making Sun Today...     

Why did you decide to do this project? I picked up Noah’s 365: A Daily Creativity Journal while passing through a bookshop on a hot sunny summer’s day at the end of 2011. So I chose sun-inspired projects because Adelaide was having a minor heat-wave at the time, the sun was very much in everyone's thoughts, the bookshop was a cool place to escape from the heat. Also the sun would be an easy way to go – basically a circle therefore easily represented, dressed-up or kept simple depending on how I feel on the day or the time available I liked that Noah and others in his book recommended keeping the initial idea simple because I’m doing this project for fun and to try different ways of working around a basic idea. As a bonus it’s been a really great introduction to other people’s work through their 365 projects, getting inspired, having moments of empathy and having a laugh. In particular I’ve been enjoying Graeme McNee’s Minimal Comics, Anja Brunt’s 365 Faces, Gertie Jaquet’s A Stamp a Day and of course Tara Raymo’s 2011 Sun a Day.

How has doing a yearlong/daily project affected your life? This project’s giving me an opportunity to explore digital graphic media which is like making new friends – so far Illustrator and ArtRage, they’ve been very interesting and entertaining but sometimes not going how I’d expect. Illustrator seems to want to quantify everything whereas ArtRage seems to be more for merrily splashing colours about. I’ve dug out some old techniques and materials which is like visiting old friends – origami, hand-cut rubber stamps, i-cord knits. I’m enjoying that a simple design can be conceived as an idea, the materials being something already around the house or office, chopped up and/or assembled, photographed, dismantled and/or eaten and the design posted on the blog, sometimes all in under half an hour with no clutter remaining. Other projects have taken a week or two to complete and being part of the sun-inspired 365 project has helped them to get finished instead of being set aside while I cast-on something fabulously new. My friends have liked the sun-inspired items they've received. As someone who usually prefers reds and blues the sun-inspired project has brought more yellow and orange into my projects, though some of the suns are red, blue and/or green. I felt a bit shy about blogging which I’ve not done before - but hopefully some of my creations will entertain or inspire someone else along the way.

See all of Frances's suns HERE.

Sun A Day

Tara Raymo in Florida is making the appropriately named Sun A Day...

Why did you decide to do this project? I got inspired to do a Sun A Day everyday for a year, by the Skull A Day Project and The Make Something 365 Journal. My goal with this project is to push myself creatively and I am such a procrastinator that I want to push my way through and say I finished something. In school I had always taken art classes, and really enjoyed it. I was then introduced to the computer and learning page layout my junior year of high school. Once I learned the computer side of things I put the making art by hand to the side. I think I let life take over and got complacent and let go of my art side. I am now a graphic artist at a small children's nonfiction book publisher and I love what I do. I started feeling like I was struggling creatively and I needed to push myself. So I started taking some drawing classes. Then I saw the Skull A Day project and bought the Make Something 365 Journal and decided to do my own project. At first I would have loved to have done Skulls, as I have skulls all over my house, but I looked around and I have just as many Suns! So that is how I started this project.

How has doing a yearlong/daily project affected your life? Well I have just passed the halfway point of this project and I feel wonderful. I have to admit that there are some days I am just tired and don't want to do anything, but I have pushed myself through those tough days. On those days sometimes I feel like I just put something together to say I made a Sun. When I am done I don't always like the outcome at that moment. I then will go back through and look at all the images and those Suns I didn't like to begin with, and I really like them now. I feel like my confidence is growing as an artist. I also feel like I am finding an inner peace, like something was always missing, that I should have been doing art all those years I put it aside. I have also noticed that at work I am not struggling for ideas as much. I actually have ideas for a new project for next year, most likely not a daily project, but looking into doing a weekly project. Thank you Noah so much for all the inspiration!

See all of Tara's Suns HERE.