and complete. A self is always becoming.”
Madeleine L'Engle, A Circle of Quiet

 

I've been hearing that “self” has been a hard prompt for many people (so if you thought this you are not alone!) but I've also been seeing all the wonderful and unique pieces everyone has been making for it soo sorry not sorry! lol :) I'm proud of you for going outside your comfort zone and pushing yourself--it's the challenging moments and the way we navigate them that helps us grow and take our creative practices to new and unexpected places! Here are some of the beautiful and different ways “self” is being interpreted.

"I worked outside of my sketchbook for this prompt because I had just salvaged some fun corrugated cardboard from a Chewy cat food delivery box!

 

I cut the cardboard in two and used one piece for my self portrait. Basically acrylic paint on cardboard, some metallics gold and brown make up the bulk of it, although I did try a tiny bit of black caran d'ache crayon which was hard to use on the ridged surface so I went over it with black and blue paint.

 

Coincidentally, or maybe because the internet reads my mind, I saw soon after,  some posts about an artist who works on cardboard and he also makes his frames out of cardboard for his pieces so I thought I would maybe try some of that. I'm thinking about that now for this piece!" - Claudia

“One of the self-portrait photos shows the other half of cardboard where I'm trying to do a giraffe. It started out as just abstract tissue paper and paint but when I looked at it in a photo it looked like a giraffe to me so I'm going to add some horns and ears and markings to see if I can make that happen! And then I'll hang it in the little area I have where my granddaughter sleeps when she's here!” - Claudia I wanted to share both these pieces Claudia created--the choice of materials is so innovative and love the urban feel of both!

Archna created a lovely video collage for her self portrait. Below is a screenshot of part of it so please click here to watch the entire short video and to hear her sing!! I love that she incorporated her love of music by using a cover of A Fine Frenzy's Come On, Come Out that she sang as the audio for this video.

“I almost decided not to send this image. What in the world does it have to do with my SELF? I’m sure at some point I was going to build on it, but here it is and it’s a puzzle to me. Is it the neighborhood where I grew up? Does it honor my love of black & white art? Do the splatters represent how I feel lately with too many things to do and little time to do it? Did I avoid using red on purpose? It may not be much of a reflection of who I am in general, but here is what I felt at that moment in time." - Jane

“'Self' as a prompt really threw me for a loop! It is totally out of my comfort zone (probably due to self doubt in art school many many years ago), but I wanted to try anyways. This year I am pushing myself to try things that are uncomfortable so what the heck, here’s a quick self portrait.” - Richelle

“This is definitely the hardest prompt yet. My sense of self redefines everyday with every thought and action, every choice I make. I don't have a block inside me I call self. I am more than my face and what I see when I look at the mirror. Being is complex, life is multifaceted and multilayered and I would like to think I am too. And the best way to express that (since my art skill can only do some much) is by scrapbooking all these little things that make myself me. The depression, Ptsd and anxiety inside me also have shaped me as much as Happiness and good memories have. I've embraced all this aspects of myself in order to work through the bad, to keep redefining g myself and my view of the world." - SleepyChaotic

I have an idea in my mind for my self portrait, I just haven't had a chance to work on it yet! 😅 But I'm planning on working on it this week and see if I can figure it out and get it down on paper!

 

This Friday I'll be sending out a wrap up email for the un-slump so keep on sending/tagging me in your pieces as I'll be updating all our photo albums before we go on a summer break! We'll pick things back up again in September and resume our 2 prompt per month schedule for the rest of the year (2023 is flying by)!

 

Here's to continually learning about and expressing ourselves

and embracing the journey it takes us on.

 

Have a great week and talk to you soon!