Successful Completion of Creative Every Day in 2010!!

Phew!!! I made it! 

For 2010, I choose the word "CREATE" for my Word of the Year and then shortly thereafter I came across Leah's Creative Every Day Challenge. I thought - "what a great way to ensure I follow through on my desire to create" and I promptly joined. I have a tendency to take things a bit too literally and so I took a blank book I had and started to create something in it every day. The first few months I stuck closely to the themes and then when they no longer remained inspirational, I switched to just creating something. 

I filled four books and some of a fifth. I did an image for every single day of the year in 2010. There were days I did 2 and days I did none but those were relatively few. Travelling was the major challenge (and I do travel so I experienced that first hand) and so were holidays. Some nights I was up much later than I wanted trying to finish a creation! 

I experimented. I tried pens, zen doodles, coloured pencils, watercolour pencils and crayons, a few kind of pastels, several kinds of paint, pencil and charcoal.

I surprised myself with the ideas I came up with and with what I created!!

Here are the last few:

Monday:

Tuesday: Inspired by my Nutcracker collection "Herr Drosselmeyer"...

:

Wednesday:

Thursday:

Friday:

I never thought I'd complete the full year. But the more I did, the more I felt I had to continue and finish 2010. Will I do the same in 2011? Not the same, no.

I joined CED2011 but I won't have books of daily creations and I might not do things daily. I discovered I wanted to work on bigger projects and these little ones left no time in my already busy schedule for that. And the big projects can't be completed in a day. But I also found that I like creating and I want to continue and expand on it.

Most of all I discovered wonderful artists in the blogosphere and made new friends. What an amazing community you are!! The news is filled with negativity but I am in awe of all the warmth and positive forces that exist in this creative group. Thank you all for your comments and encouragement.

I look forward to seeing what you will all create in 2011!!!

P.S. I will write about my new Word of the Year for 2011 soon but I am focusing on finishing up the remaining SBP pages for the Sketchbook Project - due soon!

P.P.S. Do you choose a Word of the Year?

P.P.P.S. HAPPY NEW YEAR to you!!! May it be a happy, healthy, prosperous and creative 2011 for you!!!

Love

EVA

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!

I hope you had a fabulous Christmas Day and managed to celebrate with those you love in the way you wanted!

Personally I have a love/hate relationship with Christmas. I love it. I love the decorations, the music, the stories, the sentiments. But there are things I hate: the commercialism, the shopping and it is sooooooooooooo much work. (Much of which I put on myself, of course.) I (unfortunately) tend to be a last minute person and am always crazy busy leading up to Christmas, then working all day to make a nice dinner and then spend Boxing Day on all the necessary but postponed things that should have been done but weren't (like laundry) and are now urgent (no clean underwear left for some members of the family). Then Boxing Week becomes more relaxed. Sigh. Do you ever feel like like this?

Blogging and art suffered. I did all my daily creations though I will admit some of them were a day or two late. But they did get done! And here they are:

Monday:

Tuesday:

 

Wednesday: A skunk? At Christmas? I have no idea why, he just called to be drawn...

Thursday: Carols and Christmas songs on my mind....

Friday/Christmas Eve:

Saturday/MERRY CHRISTMAS!!: Christmas Dinner. I tried this yummy pumpkin cornbread dressing/stuffing that Leah had mentioned. Delicious!!

Sunday: A new toy for Yuri for Christmas!! He is like a kitten again!

My goal for this week is to relax, work around the house, finish up my sketchbook project and CED2010, catch up on some of your blog posts I've missed, do a puzzle and think/write about 2010 and 2011. I hope to post my sketchbook pages as I finish them and take and post photos of my extensive nutcracker collection/ Christmas decorations, so please drop by later! 

I hope you have a relaxing and creative week!

Christmas and the Creating Becomes Challenging

A crazy busy week with another one to come! Are you going too crazy to be creative? Or are you creative in a different way? Shopping for the perfect gift is creative. Decorating your home for Christmas is creative. Juggling everything involves creativity. Or so I like to tell myself....but I do think it's true.

I did complete my pages for this week but it was a challenge. I had hoped to do more sketchbook pages and participate in some of the fun weekly challenges but time did not permit.

Monday: I have an extensive nutcracker collection (which I will post pictures of later this month as I have been loving the photos that some of you have been showing of your Xmas decorations). I tried drawing one for the first time...

Tuesday:

Wednesday: Another nutcracker done in oil pastels...

Thursday:

Friday: Trying to capture a beautiful sunset I saw over water... (Unfortunately my watercolour crayons look totally washed out.) 

Saturday: I finally put my tree up. Lights only. (The blue are actually supposed to be white but white wouldn't show up.)

Sunday: My tree top angel.

I'm getting closer to having the house decorated (though boxes and mess still abound) and have finally even start shopping! I have such a love/hate relationship with this time of year. What about you? All organized and relaxed? Or like me? Hope you have a wonderful Christmas (if you celebrate it) and a Happy Holiday Season!!

On to CED2010 Book#5!!!

Such a busy time of the year! I'm still keeping up with my CED efforts daily though there are SO many distractions! Here is what I've done this week...

Monday: Still playing around with ornaments but this time in crayon.

Tuesday:

Today I finished my fourth blank book. 

CED2010 Book #4

And did the "title page" on the fifth. There aren't enough days left in 2010 to finish this book but I will likely use the rest in 2011 (though not in the daily fashion I have been doing).

CED2010 Book #5

Wednesday: I started blank book #5

Cover tab open

Cover tab closed

Thursday: For some reason I had Dr. Suess on my mind...

Friday: For Inspiration Avenue's Weekly Challenge...

Saturday: One of the things I've done with each of these books is try to imitate the art on the cover. I'm no Rembrandt but here is my attempt. A fitting sketch for the Christmas season.

(Double-clicking makes the pencil sketch clearer. Scanning pencil is such a challenge!)

Sunday: I loved the pencil line drawings I did earlier this year and my green sharpie has been calling to me....

Looking forward to seeing your efforts this week!!

PEACE

This week's Inspiration Avenue challenge is PEACE. Definitely a timely theme with Christmas quickly approaching and songs of Peace on Earth, Good Will Toward Man abounding.

I went with a zen hippy inspired version:

Wishing you a holiday season full of peace and happiness.

Whimsical Wednesday - Girl in Green

I've always think of my "Girls with Funny Hats" as being rather whimsical. Since today is another Whimsical Wednesday at Web of Whimsy, I thought I'd create a new girl. This one is all decked out in the holiday spirit!

Are you feeling whimsical today?

Zen Doodling Christmas Ornaments and Other Inspirations

**Tuesday additional note: After all the weekend excitement I heard about Mr. Toast's Christmas Tea, I dropped by today (Tuesday) and discovered that his theme for Creative Tuesday this week is "Holidays" . My little efforts seemed so appropriate that I signed up! Please drop by Hot Toast and Jam and see all the great efforts!

*now back to my original post before I knew about that theme.....

I'm surprised.  I never thought that I would miss posting and checking-in on everyone everyday after the intense AEDM. I thought I'd be looking forward to the regular weekly check-ins. And I am. But I also find myself missing  the daily aspects too. Not sure why as weekly check-ins seemed so much more sane. 

Here is the rest of my week last week. For me, it's too early to think about Christmas before December but once the calendar turns, it is on my mind and so far, it is inspiring me daily.

Thursday:

 Friday:

Saturday:

Sunday:

I liked this one so much I decided to make it my holiday season header (for now). (Unfortunately I lost part of the image in the shadow of the gutter of my CED2010 book and my editing prowess was insufficient to improve it much.) 

I also worked more on my SBP (aka Sketchbook Project) this week. What about you? Was the rest of your week creative?

  

Once Upon a Time...

... there was a Frog Named Freddie. Freddie was a very talented frog. He could do amazing things with his tongue. Anytime he wanted to venture out into the world (and he loved to go on adventures....) he would stick out his enormous tongue and send the end spinning. In no time he had his own personal froggie-copter to lift him into the air and take him off on an exciting escapade.

This is my little submission to Inspiration Avenue's Weekly Challenge of "Once Upon a Time" and Whimsical Wednesdays. When my daughters were little, their Dad used to start a bedtime story with "Once upon a time, there was a frog named Freddie..." and from there the story would evolve with contributions from his and the girls' imagination. I don't know if that Freddie traveled by tongue-o-copter, but mine does!

Oddly this also suits the new December CED theme of "Air" though that was totally subconscious!

AEDM Day 30 Variations on a Tree Theme

For the last day of AEDM, I present you with the last tree in the series I have created this month. I didn't set out to create a series but after the second tree it seems that they have, with much encouragement from many of you, taken on a life of their own!

Thank you all for your wonderful words and nudging to keep going!

Here is the last one:

(excessively dressed up for the holidays!)

and the model. Created to help me with the night version (Day 19) and the collage version (Day 16), I printed and cut out Day 1 and have been using it to try to keep the same basic shape. It was sitting on my desk and everytime I see it, I smile so I thought I'd include it too. 

(My cropping with the scanner makes it look larger than it is.)

And here (if this works in Picasa - well it did, then it didn't so try #2) is the full collage versions of "Variations on a Tree". It has been great to experiment with so many different media to such different effects. The only thing I didn't really try was thick acrylics but I couldn't do that within my CED2010 book. Maybe at some point I will play on a canvas, just to see how it looks.

Well, it's been a very fun month!! So nice to get to know so many new people!! So fabulous to see such amazing art created!! Wow!!!!

I'm looking forward to weekly vs daily check-ins and finishing up CED2010 in 31 days time. Hope to see most of you every Monday until then!

xoxo

EVA

AEDM Day 29

Today I thought I'd do another silly  girl with a funny hat and then finish up my "Variations on a Tree" theme tomorrow with the final version and a collage of all the trees together. It seems like a fitting end to finish up the formal AEDM. I'll still be continuing to create every day in 2010 though I am looking forward to checking-in weekly instead of daily!. I'm almost finished Book 4 and will start Book 5 soon. I'm still amazed at myself that I've made it this far!

Are you continuing in December?

AEDM Day 28

I'm feeling wiped after a busy weekend both of creating, cleaning, organizing, cooking, shopping, cleaning, laundry etc etc etc ...  You know the drill!

My little AEDM/CED2010 sketch reflects this!

AEDM Day 27

An incredibly busy day today cleaning and organizing (all puckered out) but I did take some time out to do a zen doodle for AEDM.

AEDM Day 26

Though I have taken a break from my "Variations on a Tree" theme, I had a few more ideas to come back to later. Today I woke up to a nice little snowfall, so I thought today I'd go with this one!

AEDM Day 25 "Ingenuity"

HAPPY THANKSGIVING to all my American friends and readers. I hope you have a wonderful day and create fabulous meals for your family and friends! Thank you all for visiting out my little blog and for your friendship and encouragement since I started this!

I have been thinking about Inspiration Avenue's weekly challenge of "Ingenuity" since it was announced and also thinking I want to sketch more faces. Then an "Aha" moment! Why don't I sketch the person who most personifies ingenuity to me? Thus my (very amateur) sketch of Thomas Edison with his light bulb...

I have also been thinking about a piece by one of my favourite (living) artists - Marcus Pierson's "The Dreamer" and thought I'd share it with you...

Marcus’s words found on the painting read: “I knew they were laughing. I knew they thought it wouldn’t work. No matter. For by simply daring to make it I had cast myself from their lot. I was a dreamer.”

AEDM Day 24 Whimsical Pilgrim

Thinking of my U.S. friends as your Thanksgiving approaches... a whimsical pilgrim for today's effort and for Dan Haase's new Whimsical Wednesday challenge.

Happy Thanksgiving tomorrow as you all create marvelous meals!!

AEDM Day 23

I'm starting again to have days when I have no idea what I want to create. The blank page haunts and taunts me. Eventually something comes but  it is often a surprise what it will be....

Hope you're having the type of day where the ideas flow in advance of encountering the blank page!

AEDM Day 22

This year I have done a number of zen doodles which start as circles. Are these zen mandalas? Or something else? I don't know as really it's just me playing around. Yesterday I thought I'd do another version of "the tree" using that type of zen doodle but I got distracted with a crayoned landscape (that I'm quite taken with and may turn into a new header...). So here today is what I meant to do then.

It's Monday and back to work, so it will be harder to check in on everyone's AEDM activity... but I will try to sample as I can!