2009, wow. I like that number better than 2008. I like odd numbers better for some reason.
I guess everyone's off doing new year resolution / organizing / goals / type things today.
I am too, sort of. Bills are paid, a few stacks of 'stuff' have been sorted and the Christmas decorations are all completely put away. That felt really good.
This time last year I was doing my yarn ACEOs, one a day. That was fun, but I figured out pretty quick that I'm not a "painting a day" person. It was good discipline, as far as I went with it. Doing yarn is OK too, but I'm kind of over it. (Although I do really like doing just black yarn, like the piece above, and could see doing bigger pieces like this.)
Last year I really meandered around with my work, and although I scratched a lot of itches (or just chased after a lot of shiny objects ~ lots of euphemisms apply!), I didn't get a whole lot done. Lots of pieces and bits and starts of things, but not a lot of really satisfying, whole, finished, or financially lucrative conclusions to my artistic wanderings.
So this year my one goal is to pick a few things and see them through.
There are a couple of book dummies that I've had half started for a while now, and they are front and center on my "to do" list.
I also have a really fabulous idea for a series of paintings. You know how you daydream an idea, and visualize it completed? Well, I see this series hanging in a museum ~ not just a gallery mind you, the Legion of Honor, specifically. I even know which room. I KNOW! Who am I? But I think its better to think big, take a big leap, and you'll go farther (there's a famous quote along those lines, but I can't remember what it is or who said it.) So I will work on that, and see where that goes.
I'm also still very enamored with the idea of doing licensing, in some form. Whether its a line of greeting cards, or designs for products, or puzzles, or something else, I'm not sure.
And I would still like to do some paintings/drawings to sell directly through my blog or on etsy or something. Maybe one a week. I'd like to develop some small series, maybe a dozen or so of one thing, then move on to something else.
And my knitting. I have my etsy shop and lots of pieces started that need finishing. There are also some more 'arty' knitting ideas I'd like to explore, like knitted canvases.
So there I go again~ too many things!
This time last year it was really stormy, and I was dealing with a blown-down fence. It seemed to be a portent for the year ahead, and as it turned out, the year in fact was a bit difficult.
Today is dry and cold and very very quiet and still. Not sure what that might mean, but at least its not as dramatic as a storm! Let's hope its a sign of a better year ahead. For everyone.
(If I knew who created this image I'd give them credit...)
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Blog: Drawing a Fine Line (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
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Blog: PaperTigers (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
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As Renee Ting recently pointed out at Shen’s List blog, Annie Donwerth Chikamatsu’s blog Here and There Japan, while not a book, is an wonderfully multicultural literary experience for kids. Her charming posts, with photographs and simply-worded information about various aspects of Japanese culture, are much visited by kids and adults of all ages. A former teacher now raising a multicultural family, Annie, who calls herself “just a mom with a camera,” captures in her blog a quality of presence and gentleness that clearly still imbues Japanese culture.
As an old Japan hand myself, I love her tidbits of new news, like those parking lot devices, which weren’t around when I was there, and old favorites, like the carrots cut into the shape of maple leaves, now available even in instant soup.
Annie was our very first commenter when our blog went live! Papertigers is honored to be on her list of links.
Utterly cute Moo Year card Paula!
Best wishes for 2009.
I love the Moo Year card. I am going to have to send a friend a link. She is into cows.
Today, as I Blog-Hop, I am noticing nearly everyone is posting goals and resolutions. I feel I should too, but, well, that means actually organizing my thoughts, and well, I am feeling rather lazy this morning.
You have some excellent goals.
By-the-by, I do enjoy your wool drawings.
I think later I will organize my thought. I want to do a series on musicians I personally know, a series on cats (I don't do cats, yet), and a series of local landmarks in my town. Oh, and I want to start doing still life. I have not done still life since high school.
Okay, I am going to leave now and do something productive.
Keep up the excellent work.
Aim for the Moon. Even if you miss you'll land among the stars.
Shepard Fairey is the Obama Hope poster artist.
http://obeygiant.com/post/obama
Nice year-beginnings comparisons.
And if you want to read more about Shepard Fairey's poster (and how it got hijacked so early on) you can see here: http://www.mediabistro.com/unbeige/branding_identity/shepard_fairey_talks_about_obama_poster_image_theft_93192.asp