Tell me what's the difference if I go back to normal again?
From Merriam-Webster:
Renaissance
2 often capitalized : a movement or period of vigorous artistic and intellectual activity
It needed a name, a label, some sort of signifier. It's a big deal.
A little over a month ago, my ex-boyfriend (with whom I'm basically on politely-saying-hi-every-six-months terms) sent me a message asking whether I'm working on anything exciting at the moment. Thinking back to my college days, I talked the talk, but I was never really working on anything fun outside of the rare design project I actually enjoyed, or the rare song I'd write and then never share with anyone at all. I had felt so empty for so long, partially as a result of my stunning lack of creative energy (where in high school I had been art crazy). I am happy to report that I had a few good answers to his question. I felt this happiness not in a "damn right I'm awesome" sense (well, mostly) so much as "wow, I really must be in a good place in life right now." Hooray for that.
Today, while planning out my evening, I made a list. Just exactly how many projects have I assigned myself in recent months?
SIXTEEN! And vacations, of course. This isn't counting the three or four projects I've already finished this year.
My level of personal productivity has always been directly in line with my overall well-being. This particular frenzy started nearly a year ago, but really picked up once winter started. After I gave Charlie away to his amazing new family (with two kids!) in a nice neighborhood here in town, I finally had time to focus on my art again, and decided that was the deal... if I was going to admit my big mistake in getting a dog, I was really going to make the most of my newfound free time. All these projects are also helping me prove to myself that I do, in fact, have a strong work ethic, and could likely maintain creative self-employment (I might even have a few 'careers' to choose from), as is the goal someday, without going batshit crazy. It's made me so happy to remember that feeling of being busy, but with exactly what I want to be doing. It's nice to have plans and goals, too. There was a period of a couple years where I felt like I was just spinning my wheels in terms of personal creativity, but now I'm back... to let you know... that I can really shake 'em down. Or something.
The ladies and I went to see "Coraline" Friday night at the dollar theater. If you haven't seen it yet, I strongly suggest you make the effort to find a theater in which it's still playing. The animation is amazing, the story is exciting, and the entire movie has a really unique visual presence. I fell in love with Coraline's doppelgänger doll and decided to try my hand at sewing one, or six, or seven. Last time I sewed anything was in seventh grade-a skirt for my Cadette Girl Scout uniform, and that was a massive fail. After struggling with hand-sewing an arm and a leg, Beth kindly volunteered her sewing machine, and now I have a pile of arms and legs sewn. Tonight, I'll be sewing torso/head pieces. I have one doll sewn and stuffed, with facial features and hair, but missing arms and a dress. I did this while watching "Donnie Darko," which has a similar aesthetic. Dolly looks pretty cool so far. I might slim down the arms on the others I make, so they're a little more like Coraline's doll. We'll see. I love the face I embroidered (with button eyes, naturally). Can't decide whether/how to make the dolls look a little grungy like the one in the movie. Brown eyeshadow? I don't want to make a mess... Anyway, I'm making a doll for each of the girl friends I saw this weekend. So much fun. Can't wait to show you guys the finished products.
Here's today's list; I want to do everything in the world.
WHAT IT IS, WHAT IT IS
Sewing dolls for my friends, and if I continue loving it, starting an Etsy store
Redesigning my portfolio website/expanding it to include a blog and illustration/comic section
A commission of sorts for Jason... his badass space girl who isn't meant to look like me! :P
Articles and design for my beauty/health/personal development site, http://www.yourdailybest.com, which has nothing posted yet
Two or three websites for Beth: portfolio, Clarity Glassworks store, poss. MFA show site
Re-teaching myself CSS (whether I mean the coding language, the band, or that I got tired of being sexy in Portuguese, I'll leave you to decide)
Learning more advanced HTML and some PHP coding from Beth
Website for Zachary David Palmer's excellent writings
Applying for several freelance illustration projects
Learning how to create HDR (high dynamic range) images from my Conservatory photos
Creating mash-ups from some vocal tracks I've downloaded (might need different software)
Learning my dad's song on the keyboards, pretty much by ear
Getting my guitaring and singing to where I can play entire songs without floundering
Writing songs to play without floundering
Spring cleaning/massive file-and-paper dump
Super-secret plan that sounds really silly typed out/spoken aloud, but will be huge and awesome
Three to five upcoming out-of-state trips (Ann Arbor w/Lindsey 4/24, Chicago w/Jason 5/15-18, East Coast w/Bri in the fall)
All of that, and there's still time for bike rides.
Renaissance
2 often capitalized : a movement or period of vigorous artistic and intellectual activity
It needed a name, a label, some sort of signifier. It's a big deal.
A little over a month ago, my ex-boyfriend (with whom I'm basically on politely-saying-hi-every-six-months terms) sent me a message asking whether I'm working on anything exciting at the moment. Thinking back to my college days, I talked the talk, but I was never really working on anything fun outside of the rare design project I actually enjoyed, or the rare song I'd write and then never share with anyone at all. I had felt so empty for so long, partially as a result of my stunning lack of creative energy (where in high school I had been art crazy). I am happy to report that I had a few good answers to his question. I felt this happiness not in a "damn right I'm awesome" sense (well, mostly) so much as "wow, I really must be in a good place in life right now." Hooray for that.
Today, while planning out my evening, I made a list. Just exactly how many projects have I assigned myself in recent months?
SIXTEEN! And vacations, of course. This isn't counting the three or four projects I've already finished this year.
My level of personal productivity has always been directly in line with my overall well-being. This particular frenzy started nearly a year ago, but really picked up once winter started. After I gave Charlie away to his amazing new family (with two kids!) in a nice neighborhood here in town, I finally had time to focus on my art again, and decided that was the deal... if I was going to admit my big mistake in getting a dog, I was really going to make the most of my newfound free time. All these projects are also helping me prove to myself that I do, in fact, have a strong work ethic, and could likely maintain creative self-employment (I might even have a few 'careers' to choose from), as is the goal someday, without going batshit crazy. It's made me so happy to remember that feeling of being busy, but with exactly what I want to be doing. It's nice to have plans and goals, too. There was a period of a couple years where I felt like I was just spinning my wheels in terms of personal creativity, but now I'm back... to let you know... that I can really shake 'em down. Or something.
The ladies and I went to see "Coraline" Friday night at the dollar theater. If you haven't seen it yet, I strongly suggest you make the effort to find a theater in which it's still playing. The animation is amazing, the story is exciting, and the entire movie has a really unique visual presence. I fell in love with Coraline's doppelgänger doll and decided to try my hand at sewing one, or six, or seven. Last time I sewed anything was in seventh grade-a skirt for my Cadette Girl Scout uniform, and that was a massive fail. After struggling with hand-sewing an arm and a leg, Beth kindly volunteered her sewing machine, and now I have a pile of arms and legs sewn. Tonight, I'll be sewing torso/head pieces. I have one doll sewn and stuffed, with facial features and hair, but missing arms and a dress. I did this while watching "Donnie Darko," which has a similar aesthetic. Dolly looks pretty cool so far. I might slim down the arms on the others I make, so they're a little more like Coraline's doll. We'll see. I love the face I embroidered (with button eyes, naturally). Can't decide whether/how to make the dolls look a little grungy like the one in the movie. Brown eyeshadow? I don't want to make a mess... Anyway, I'm making a doll for each of the girl friends I saw this weekend. So much fun. Can't wait to show you guys the finished products.
Here's today's list; I want to do everything in the world.
WHAT IT IS, WHAT IT IS
Sewing dolls for my friends, and if I continue loving it, starting an Etsy store
Redesigning my portfolio website/expanding it to include a blog and illustration/comic section
A commission of sorts for Jason... his badass space girl who isn't meant to look like me! :P
Articles and design for my beauty/health/personal development site, http://www.yourdailybest.com, which has nothing posted yet
Two or three websites for Beth: portfolio, Clarity Glassworks store, poss. MFA show site
Re-teaching myself CSS (whether I mean the coding language, the band, or that I got tired of being sexy in Portuguese, I'll leave you to decide)
Learning more advanced HTML and some PHP coding from Beth
Website for Zachary David Palmer's excellent writings
Applying for several freelance illustration projects
Learning how to create HDR (high dynamic range) images from my Conservatory photos
Creating mash-ups from some vocal tracks I've downloaded (might need different software)
Learning my dad's song on the keyboards, pretty much by ear
Getting my guitaring and singing to where I can play entire songs without floundering
Writing songs to play without floundering
Spring cleaning/massive file-and-paper dump
Super-secret plan that sounds really silly typed out/spoken aloud, but will be huge and awesome
Three to five upcoming out-of-state trips (Ann Arbor w/Lindsey 4/24, Chicago w/Jason 5/15-18, East Coast w/Bri in the fall)
All of that, and there's still time for bike rides.