Art in October

This October, I am going to focus on cultivating an art practice by drawing, painting, sketching, or working on printmaking on a daily basis.

Why I chose this objective?

Since I was a small child, I’ve had an affinity for all things artistic. I loved what’s often referred to as crafting most of all. There was an Ikea cabinet and rainbow-colored plastic shelves that my mom kept stocked full of supplies. One purple plastic pencil case was stuffed with Sharpies, another with a pink lid and embossed with stars held crafting scissors just the right size for a child’s fingers, a verdant tin held crayons. There were sequins, ribbons, stampers, papers of all colors and varying thickness, palettes of Crayola watercolor paints, beads, wooden dowels, yarn and Elmer’s glue in caked shut bottles and purple gobbed sticks. On days when there was nothing to do, I would venture down into the basement and ruffle through the doodads until I had an idea for what to make. I could spend hours folding and stamping colored construction paper into greeting cards or painting landscapes with a wet brush and crinkling paper.

When I entered elementary school, however, I lost some of my glitter and sparkle. As I looked around me during art class, I began to feel that I wasn’t so very good after all. I’m ashamed to admit that even at the young age of seven I was discouraged when comparing myself to others. I still enjoyed “arts and crafts” in my own private free time at home with my trove of materials, but I told myself that being artistic or an artist wasn’t my path. In essence, I convinced myself out of even trying.

More recently, I have been lost in the maze of life and exhausted running on the wheel of work, school, homework, repeat, that I have removed the time for artistic pursuits in my life. In a way, all of the busyness may have been a distraction from confronting my own dissatisfaction, an escape from feeling as if I’m not doing enough of what I really love.

So, after letting go of my job to focus wholeheartedly on my Master’s degree, I also am making time for more of the things I enjoy.

What will I do?

This month I am going to make one sketch, drawing, watercolor, card, or any artistic creation every day in an attempt to not only reconnect with my love of art but also to let go of my inner critic and perfectionist and just allow myself to enjoy the creative process.

A wise pairing

I also often enjoy pairing a practical or tactile pursuit with a more intellectual one, so I will endeavor to learn more about art history and the artists that shaped our conception of art today. I’m doing this through exploring the readings of MIT’s Introduction to Art History course which is available for free through MIT’s OpenCourseware