How are you connecting with cyclical? What kind of movements are you creating with your hands and tools? What feeling do you want to evoke for this prompt?

 

One of my favorite things is seeing how one prompt can be turned into so many different pieces of unique artwork! It amazes me every time and I find it so inspiring to see a word or theme through many different perspectives. Take a look inside our fellow creatives' minds--below are shared sketchbook pages and at the bottom of this newsletter a project you migh want to try!

"My son gave me a beautiful watercolor set for Christmas and my first creative act this year was swatching them on the box top.

 

I wanted to use them for this prompt "dream" and I did but I wasn't happy with the paper and it's been so long since I've had a continual practice that I felt a bit rusty and tentative and I'm not thrilled with the results. The first picture is just someone lying on a bed having dreams and the second picture are those dream swirls made into individual dream bubbles -- and although I had some ideas about differentiating the bubbles I decided to just leave them as is." - CLAUDIA I enjoy the  way Claudia uses colors and plays with light / dark-- the background of the individual bubbles feels so dream-like! 

“I’ve taken up a new hobby in watercolors. I’ve been enjoying all the great inspiration from those I follow here. Now, thanks to my friend @mitzi.selene , I have the pleasure to work with the amazing @atiliay Olivia and her Creative Spark Newsletter! Our first prompted was Dream and this was my vision.” - KAREN Thank you for the kind words! :) 

"Watercolor, acrylic, embroidery thread
I used big bubble wrap to add "stamps" of metallic silver and gold over most of the page near the end of the process.

Dreams are like collages--a seemingly random assortment of colors, images, symbols, memories, anxieties, and feelings . . . . at least that's how they seem to me. The designs here represent the collage of visuals and impressions from a recent dream I had. Often there is a dark element (ummm . . . recurring teacher anxiety dreams . . .), but also an element of control over my environment, which is hopeful." - MITZI

"Nature is cyclical but not repetitive.

It’s only in our desire for predictability, for a sense of control, for the feeling of safety that we create ruts and then we feel stuck in them.

It’s only in our need for bigger and better that we perceive things as static, missing the nuances.

Even within cycles, no moment is ever the same as another." - MELISSA

I love the process of making a vision board—finding all the different elements and putting them together so I have a visual reminder of my goals and dreams. I added a pocket to keep my words for the year and gold paint felt like a nice addition to reiterate abundance :)

 

I also tried the surrealist technique, decalcomania on the page with the pocket! I think I should've done it before I attached the pocket so I could have more space to work with. I definitely want to try this technique again and see if I can get more interesting patterns, details, and shapes in it. Here's a process video of this page and a post with more details about the items I added.

The 100 Day Project is a free global art project that takes place online. Every year, thousands of people from around the world commit to 100 days of creating. Anyone can participate and you can choose to do anything you'd like! 

 

I have done this project 6 times (once I did not finish!) and I love it because it motivates me to create a little bit everyday. I like the idea of doing something very small and having it all add up so the project idea I have been doing is making just 1 mark a day on the same piece of paper for 100 days. 

 

You can choose to do anything and it can even be outside the realm of art--I've seen decluttering projects, you can do something that has to do with health and wellness, etc. I think the trick is it make the action you take each day to be 10-15 minutes so that it is doable!

 

 The next round of the project was just announced and day 1 begins Feb 18th if you'd like to participate! (You can also start your project at any time!) 

 

If you're interested in learning more, I've written a blog post with 10 tips and you can also visit their Instagram and check out the hashtag. I have made really strong connections and friendships by following other people's projects!

Please continue your explorations on cyclical (I will too :)) and I can't wait to send you our next prompt on Friday! Enjoy your week and see you in the next newsletter!