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.

A Door A Day

Natalie Farr in Bristol, England is creating A Door A Day...

Why did you decide to do this project? I was experiencing a lot of sorrow in my life and had lost track of happiness. I had friends who had done 365 Projects, but I had always said that I didn't have time. I was surprised to find that engaging with this project gave me a new source of happiness, and I made more time for myself everyday.

How has doing a yearlong/daily project affected your life? It gave me the courage to try new things and learn new skills. It changed my values on art: This was something just for me and I would be the only judge.

It also gave me the chance to show my creativity to others: where some people see mundanity in a door, I see a potential gateway to other realms, realities, opportunities, life and death.

See all of Natalie's doors HERE.

Inspired By The Sea

Michelle Harrington in Ellicott City, Maryland is spending a year creating Inspired By the Sea:

Why did you decide to do this project? My colleague undertook a 365 Days challenge and created a dress a day and was telling me about her experience. She knows that I am a person who enjoys crafting and she encouraged me to take the challenge on myself.



How has doing a yearlong/daily project affected your life?  I still have about 5 months left, but I didn't even think I would last this long. I have learned that it is all about just convincing myself to do something each and every day. Some projects have pushed my creative boundaries, and I have fallen in love with some of the things that I have made. Others have just been to make something, not always something that I am overly thrilled with. Regardless, I post my project every day which for me has been a challenge, as I am not really comfortable sharing projects that I am not 100% happy with the outcome. Putting myself out there can be a bit intimidating.

See all of Michelle's creations HERE.

Kathleen's Daily Collage

Kathleen Loomis in Louisville, Kentucky is creating Daily Collage...

Kathleen was featured HERE last year for her daily hand-stitching art project.  At the end of the year, she stitched the four-inch squares together into panels, three months each, arranged like a calendar, with Sunday at the left and Saturday at the right.

This year she is doing a daily collage.  The supports are old cards from library card catalogs (she scored a lifetime supply when two local libraries replaced their old-fashioned paper cards with online catalogs).

Why did you decide to do this project?  What I said last year is still true:  I've done some kind of daily art every year but one since 2001.  I like the structure and discipline of daily art, but since each installment is relatively small it gives me plenty of freedom to experiment and be frivolous within the larger, more serious framework of a year-long commitment.  Each year I choose a new set of rules.

How has doing a daily project affected your life?  Last year’s hand-stitching project made me realize how much I love embroidery, a skill I learned from my grandmothers as a child but had neglected for many years.  As I stitched a small piece every day I also worked on several much larger pieces.

This year I chose to do collage because it is a genre that has always fascinated me, but that I had never felt very confident about.  I decided that in a 3x5” area you couldn’t go very far wrong, and I think the small format has been an important element in helping me become more comfortable and fluent.  I am loving the project, learning what kinds of images work best for collage and trying to develop my own voice.   I think I’ll do collage again next year for my daily art, maybe moving up to 4x6”.

See all of Kathy’s collage work HERE.

A Year in Benefit Bowls

Frank Goryl of Moscow Clayworks in Moscow, Pennsylvania made A Year in Benefit Bowls...
  

Why did you decide to do this project? Attended a Lackawanna County Arts breakfast where Noah was featured speaker. In the spirit of artist Noah Scalin’s Skull-A-Day project, a benefit bowl was created for each day of 2012. A different clay body and glaze was used each month. MCW’s began creating benefit bowls for our Inaugural Spring 2010 exhibit to benefit the earthquake victims in Haiti. Over the past few years we have raised several thousand dollars for local and global projects. Proceeds of the $15 for each bowl: 1. North Pocono Cultural Society’s Art Scholarships  2. MCW’s Haitian Project 3. The Pathway to Peace High School Meditation Project.

How has doing a yearlong/daily project affected your life? This project brought some closure to four years of making Benefit Bowls.

Find out more on the Moscow Clayworks site.

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.

365 Landscapes

Tarragon Kingston in Bristol, England is creating 365 Landscapes...
 

Why did you decide to do this project? I tried to do a much harder 365 were i made a video a day but this was a very difficult brief that didn't allow me much social or working life and was difficult to juggle. So i started a fresh and I'm now on day 81.

I have always had an affinity with the land be it all natural or a cityscape this project allows me to share my love for the beauty in this world with everyone. I have been having so much fun thinking of a brief for each day and have created some amazing images already.

How has doing a yearlong/daily project affected your life? After failing to create 365 videos i new it was possible i just needed to be a little less ambitious. Since starting my landscape project I've gotten a decent job and have found it easy to balance my creativity with my life having a brief to direct my creativity means I'm able to do something artistic every day choosing whether to something huge or something tiny. Its been so much fun so far experimenting with techniques studying art history to inspire me and playing with so many things i dare dream of doing like using a fork on day 68 to paint with strange but it came out really cool. My favorite so far was when i used stamps to create a beach scene on day 48 it came out really well and the pasterns on the stamps allowed me to build up depth on the card.

See all of Tarragon's landscapes HERE.

Project Dare to create 365 +

Sisters Barbara Keresztesi and Judith Keresztesi in Budapest, Hungary are making Project Dare to create 365 +. Barbara explains, "We make a mini art or DIY show every day. I use any kind of materials I find around me, food, fabric, recycled materials, paint. I set just one standing rule in the beginning: I must create something original once a week, on the other six days I rethink or remake ideas other artists already figured out. My sister Judit joined my project, she writes an introduction to my daily creation, and she writes a mini-novel weekly."

Why did you Decide to do this project? I decided to start this project, because I was stuck on many levels, but mostly on my creative level. On the 30th of March, we moved in our new apartment, and I felt awesome. The different place created a different mindset, I was full of go, and I didn’t want to lose it. That time my sister was watching the movie Julie and Julia all the time. I had absolutely no idea why she was doing that and she didn’t know it either. After a while she moved further and started searching for more information about Julie Powel and the way she blogged and cooked her way through one year of her life. I wasn’t particularly happy about the idea of committing myself to doing something compulsory every day, but a little later she presented Lawrence Dai Julie/Julia Project and I found the concept witty. She went on looking and eventually came across your site "make something 365, and get unstuck." That was on the 20th of March and we started the program on the 1st of April. I'm a Hungarian gal, I’m blogging in Hungarian. This is my day 109.

How has doing a yearlong / daily project Affected Your Life? I am not even halfway done yet, but I think I wouldn’t recognize the person I was a hundred days ago. Immanuel Kant said: "Happiness is like palaces in fairy tales those whose gates are guarded by dragons: we must fight in order to conquer it." In the past three months I became a conqueror I think.  I always thought I had detailed plans I just somehow couldn’t accomplish them due to circumstances beyond my control.  The 365 day experiment taught me that I didn’t know anything about time. I had no idea that in one day there were only 24 hours. In my professional life I work with digital information, but I always knew I had something to do with three dimensional art, and so I was piling up thing like paint, empty bottles, old newspapers, canvas, fabric, buttons etc. and stored them in endless rows of boxes for years. Without this program I wouldn’t have been able to learn how actually I can create something real.
I work with my sister Judit. We were always close, we thought working together would be easy. But we didn’t know that the kind of physical and social nearness this project required could have turned out to be a disaster. It hasn’t so far. We fought a lot during the first 40 days, mostly because I was too impulsive and she was too controlling. Finally I admitted I needed to have a closer look at project management charts, and Gantt-diagrams, had to learn how to make a plan properly.  At the same time she accepted, she couldn’t possibly control everything and probably sometimes we survived a situation despite the fact she kept everything under control. So we started negotiating, became much more emphatic, honest and polite to each other. We’ve developed a sound cooperation system for our daily mini-show . Around the 50th day, my brother-in-law Fis joined the game too. Now there are three of us playing, and we call ourselves the production team. I do not know what is waiting for us at the end of the Dare to create 365 + project, but I must say, it is beginning to look a lot like the best thing ever happened to me so far.

See all of their creations HERE (in Hungarian) and HERE (Calendar with English Titles)

Projet 365 Collimaginours

Marie Tremblay in Québec city, Québec, Canada is documenting her teddy bear daily in "Projet 365 Collimaginours"...

Why did you decide to do this project? I had been wanting to do a project life for some time, but I thought I would not be able to see it through. Then, I saw Project 365 and wanted to try it too, but thought I wouldn't be able too either....

Some time later, on a road trip for Christmas, I had a brainstorming with myself... and my husband listening :) That's how Collimaginours was born!



How has doing a yearlong/daily project affected your life? At the beginning, it was difficult to remember to take a picture every day, but now, it's like a second nature. I have so many different pictures ideas every day, it's difficult to choose :) 

Having something that comes back every day, like my teddy bear, helps me, I think.  Everywhere I go, Collimaginours come with me, and I'm not shy to make him do anything.

The best part of it is that I include my children and friends in the project. Sometimes, the picture comes from the other side of the country, or even the world, when somebody puts a picture on Facebook :)

So in conclusion, I'm making a Project Life 365 because my bear is there everyday and he tells the story of my life. I am now printing the pictures, and writing the text that goes with it, in my new scrapbook album Project life. 

I love doing that and now I know I can actually do it.  If I can, then I'm sure anybody can.

See all of Collimaginours adventures on Marie's blog HERE or on Facebook.

An Ordinary Life

Susan Korrel in Brisbane, Australia is creating “An Ordinary Life”. She explains "I am following the Creativity Journal, although not creating something every day because life, work, study, family all have a habit of interrupting. My themes are: words and/or fabric, and must not create clutter. Some days I use both themes in two separate items; some days they are combined and some days the “must not create clutter” is the only theme I adhere to. My catch phrase is “my creativity, my rules”. As a recovering perfectionist I try very hard not to let the journal become a unwieldy law book."...

Why did you decide to do this project? I am a creative being, as I believe we all are. It is very easy; however, for the other priorities of life to overtake and chew up all my time. When that happens I end up stressed and edgy. Although I am not 100% committed to physically creating something every single day, I am committed to eventually finishing all 365 days (only on Day 10 at the moment).

How has doing a yearlong/daily project affected your life? I try to read the journal idea for the next day so I can sleep on it. I find myself looking at the world and my daily routine through a different lense when I’m conscious of the challenge for the day. Instead of seeing just ordinary objects I’m constantly thinking “Can I use that? Can I manipulate it? Is it relevant?” Even on days when I have no tangible creativity to record or blog about, I am actively being more creative, simply by viewing my world differently.

In blogging about my activities I am also trying to look at the challenge a little deeper than just the creative output. One of my themes is words. Although not a writer, I am an editor and I am concerned with not just the readability of words (what words are chosen and how they are ordered) but also with the legibility of words (the look and structure and physicality). My creative efforts are often focused on the legibility – how can I use words as an art form. In many ways, my blog is an opportunity to develop the former - what can I write about the theme today? For example, Day 10 was work with or be inspired by water. The link between water and poverty has been a pet topic for me for a long time. Although that topic was only linked to my creative efforts by the ‘water’, that’s what I blogged about.

See all of Susan's projects HERE.

My Arm: the Comic

Patrick Yurick in San Diego California is creating My Arm: the Comic He explained that it was, "conceived after buying a $50 Groupon for a tattoo and agonizing over commitment until the idea of creating a blank comic template came to mind. 5 months later, and a lot of teasing from artistic friends, the template was done and on July 1st "My Arm: the Comic" was launched with the goal of embracing daily creativity without the hustle and bustle that a graphically demanding comic project would entail."

Why did you decide to do this project? I am working on a 2 year long project called "American BOOM!" and it is really time intensive and requires a lot of patience. I sometimes work on a page 20 hours with my business partner, Alonso Nunez, and it is exhausting to do. While, at the same time, I am running a business: Little Fish Comic Book Studio Because of these two projects I found myself not drawing as much as I would like to.



When I got the groupon and brainstormed for the tattoo - it came up as a natural idea to get a blank comic section on my arm to fill in, and then it was a natural movement to make a goal of doing daily work with it. This is my relaxation project. I am encouraging my friends and fans to write me strips to do every day. It already is becoming a really fun conversation starter and I have really enjoyed the positive praise since beginning.

How has doing a yearlong/daily project affected your life? I have been only doing this a week. I think the biggest ways it has affected my life is that people love to talk to me about it. It is so easy to understand as a concept that people just love to come up to me and discuss the comic in a way that they never really did with my more serious projects "Hipster Picnic" & "American BOOOM!". So that is fun.

Follow Patrick's arm HERE.

Daily Creative Action

Bethany Jordan in Hempstead, Texas is creating a Daily Creative Action. She explains it as an, "Artistic venture in Steampunk - that can be posted in some way to the blog. As I say on my site, any medium is fair game. I have done woodwork, painting, drawing, computer art, jewelry, vehicles, essays, and photography so far, and I am always considering new ideas."...

Why did you decide to do this project? I am still articulating this but will try. I do a lot of types of artistic and creative work, but I lack focus and frequently do not finish things. I have lived a lot of places and traveled quite a bit, this influences my work, my art, my views, my focus, and my style. Over time, I have rarely sold pieces, though I have had some very good offers. My mother spent years working to get me to focus on my artistic skills and make a living with them. A major point was I rarely share my art with anyone and I often do not finish. When she died recently I was already beginning work focusing on a motorcycle business and working from home. I decided the day after my first wedding anniversary was a perfect day to act on what mom pushed me to do my whole life. I am going to finish something every day and show anyone that wants to look. I want input, comments, ideas, and simply an audience. I have not followed the book exactly, though I use it for ideas and a focus, I record my work and ideas in it also. I know I will use it more as I progress. I am for the first time opening my art, my work, and myself to the world and intend to share this journey with as many people as possible.

How has doing a yearlong/daily project affected your life?

1. Technology. I have learned to work a blog, as mom tried to get me to teach her for several years. I am also learning new programs and styles.
2. Insomnia. Lack of sleep is high on my list of problems with having a job, working at home, and doing a project every day but it is nice to have an accomplishment at the end of the day. 
3. Relationship. My husband is both supportive and suggests sleep, but he has been a huge help and I think this will prove good for us. He also frequently has ideas on how to turn something into a smaller size or staged project to meet my deadline. One suggestion was the mini canvases at Hobby Lobby.
4. Evaluation. A requirement to finish a project each day requires constant rethinking of my concepts on the subject, my art, what fits, how to do something, why to do something, and what I think about.
5. Meditation, focus, creative development – very connected things in this project. Years ago, I meditated regularly and actively worked on my focus. I have moved a very long distance several times in the last year and was feeling very loose and unstable. This gives me a combination of things to help that: a focus, a constant sense of accomplishment, a steady cord, visible development. My art tends to change significantly when I move and having moved quite a lot, I was feeling displaced and am needing a chance to develop my identity, style, strengths, ideas, and courage as an artist.
6. Learning. I am developing a deeper understanding and relationship to my topic: Steampunk. I am a researcher at heart and am learning art forms, history, materials, culture, people, and more. I have been a great subject of study for myself.
7. Stress. Life is very stressful right now and the ability to turn away from that and have something guaranteed to be there and to have an accomplishment means a lot; even when it leaves me tired and irritated with the piece.
8. Acceptance. Learning to accept things not going as planned and how to deal with overestimating what I could get done is good for me. I am still working on this, but see a difference already. (The corner shelf painting image is an example, I vastly overestimated the time I needed and the time I had, I was not able to finish and had to decide how to deal with that.)
9. Input. Outside input and comments are hard for me to accept on my art. There tends to be a lot of me in my work and a comment that feels negative I do not respond well and considering at the time how to respond does not happen. Should I be accepting, open, angry, questioning, cautious  defensive, disregard, consider, evaluate, or respond? I am having to learn this now.

See all of Bethany's actions HERE.

365 Days of Candy

Dana is a 20 year old from Israel who is using the Kindle version of my book to create 365 Days of Candy!...

Why did you decide to do this project? I was looking for something to reboost my creativity and inspiration to create (which was dead for a few months). I started reading, and decided to start my own project - 365 days of candy, aka A Candy a Day project. So far, I've been following the ideas in your book but I'm planning on collaborating with other artsie friends and also kids (my younger brother, who is 11, already asked to help).

How has doing a yearlong/daily project affected your life? I've only started 3 days ago, and already I feel a change - suddenly I have new ideas, and I get so excited planning things out and making them. I already started to experience with new techniques and it really does boot both my spirit and creative inspiration.

Follow Dana's progress on Tumblr and Facebook.

Drink

Alex in Richmond, VA challenged himself to record every beer he drank across Europe "with as many awesome places in the background as possible." The result is Drink...

Why did you decide to do this project? Watched the Move, Eat, Learn videos of 3 guys traveling across Europe and thought they were pretty awesome. Decided to put my own twist on it and video every beer I had in our month long trip to Europe (or at least 1 per location).

How has doing a yearlong/daily project affected your life? Well, going to Europe was awesome! I'd say it made me step out of my comfort zone. I wanted to get unique shots so I ended up taking some awkward videos in odd public places (like in an airport). It was a cool experience.