Grandmother Artist

I'm adopting a new persona as Grandmother Artist: Loving-wise-woman-creator-guardian-and-guide. This naming is internal, to give me a better framework for my daily interactions, and for choosing projects. So, when I plan my time with my grandsons I will think, "What would Grandma Artist do?", and when I decide to start new projects I'll think - "What would Grandma Artist make?"

Agenda:

1. Read "The Creativity Book"

2. Parameters for Grandma Art

3. Do the smallest thing

1. Read the Creativity Book:

A few years ago I started but didn't finish this book by Eric Maisel (one of my favorite writers). The subtitle is "A Year's Worth of Inspiration and Guidance." Who doesn't want that? 

I'm on to Week 16: Reinvent the Wheel. 

"Creative people make use of what's known but also feel compelled to reinvent the wheel, partly because they're skeptical about what they've been taught and partly because they find it thrilling to discover truths for themselves." 

Maisel goes on to say that knowledge is not a finished enterprise - "On a regular basis an everyday creative person must start from the very beginning, from ground zero, because what passes for the best knowledge, even though vouched for by all the experts, is entirely inaccurate."

If my art work is languishing for no apparent reason, Maisel councils to go back to the beginning, to my original vision, and reconnect. How can I revitalize my process, my practice, my career? Sometimes a fresh start is the only answer.

2. Parameters for Grandma Art:

Last week I talked about my summer art goal to use watercolor and collage to create abstract pieces on the theme: Good Fortune for Nature. When I ask myself what Grandmother Artist would make, I think she would definitely paint about nature; but she might also sew a quilt about nature, and she would also make nature crafts with kids and others.

My art theme this month is Good Fortune for Forests, and today I am brainstorming to expand that theme into three other areas - kid art projects, sewing, and craftivism:

1. Kid art projects: I'll focus on trees and forests this month - collecting and painting pine cones; make a pinecone mobile; creating mini forest tableaus; painting with green, and gluing sticks to make pictures...
2. Sewing: I really want to start sewing some small appliqué pictures for gifts - I'll start with trees.
3. Craftivism: Some kind of educational tag to hang from a pine cone?

3. Do the smallest thing:

This month I set an intention to work with attention and tenacity on many creative projects and to finish things I start.

Doing the smallest thing helps me to succeed - I make a list of small things I need to do for my current projects, print it, and assign one or two per day.

Some of my small tasks:

• Sun collage: Apply a patchwork of papers.
• Sun collage: Seal and add more paint.
• Visualize the essence of "forest".
• Paint underpainting for Good Fortune for Forests collage.
• Collect, iron scrap fabrics for trees and background.
• Cut and arrange background pieces for Forest appliqué.
• Cut trees and start to sew.
• Collect sticks and pinecones with grandsons.
• Paint some pinecones for a mobile.
• Gather beads, yarn, sticks, pinecones for making mobile.
• Collect fortunes, images and papers for Forests.
• Write craftivism tag for forests.