The 30 Day Art Challenge

The month of February has been set in motion, and all the January boxes have been properly ticked. 

You see, tucked well beneath the belt now is the 30 Day Art Challenge, a January undertaking to produce art every. single. day. for the first of the year.

Conceived by artists Zoe Tantrum and Elizabeth Lain, this exercise was an effort to get stagnant art out of the headspace, and into the hands of the artists.

It was a free for all, anything goes endeavor, and no one defined your art for you. 

The rules were simple. 

Create something every day

As it turns out a multitude of creators accepted the challenge, much artyness ensued, and the month skated right past.

How little I knew that I was to tap into a deep place in my art heart.

Please allow me to highlight a handful of pocket-sized slices from projects that took place throughout the month.

Day 2

The finished product from Operation Winemaker, a 2012 endeavor, complete with my very own custom-designed, label yielding a deep, dense and dramatic Chilean Malbec made by human hands. 

My human hands.

On Day 5, 

I took to practicing the art of cheese making, and made this here scrumpet of a homemade, rosemary-basil Queso Blanco from scratchity-scratch.

which naturally led to Day 7,
 in which I spent the latter part of evening reaping the rewards of wine and cheese making as an art, by practicing the art of musicianship. 

I spent days on end mastering a new arrangement of a classic Pixies anthem, which I believe translates remarkably on the pianokeys.

On Day 9, I paid a visit to some long lost, dear friends of mine, Mr. Pencil and Ms. Paper

It had been many moons since I had taken to any sketching, penciling, or drawing of the sort. A warm and fuzzy feeling came over me overwhelmingly in the heart parts, as though I had just swallowed the darlingest kitten. 

The nostalgia was palpable.

Day 10 

provided the opportunity to have a go at a watercolor painting at a local Art Walk. Not being a painter by definition, and having an audience made this experience a wee bit of a nail-biter.

A talented friend and Artistic Jedimaster, made the suggestion that I continue to draw on a daily basis, which I did for several days ensuingly.

Day 14

Day 17

Day 24

Well-sprinkled throughout the project, I found myself taking to endeavors I'd never before ventured. 

Such as creating this here birthday comic strip for a Comic Strip Artist friend of mine on Day 19.

And vexing challenges such as launching the maiden voyage of my short-lived, filmmaking career 

on Days 11 and 12:

 I have greatly struggled with in my feeble attempts here to go live with this miniature cinematic debut. I'm certain this is quite likely due to that fact that everything I learned about programming, scripting, and coding, I learned from MySpace! MyApologies!

I even took a crack at my very first Vlog (video blog), in which I attempted to play Metallica's ballad, "One", via African thumb piano in a noble effort to impress my teenager who is quite the fan of the prolific, metal scene pioneers.

Kiddo art was abound at around Day 23 where the young nephling and I proceeded to paint his wooden racecarmobile.

And of course, there was much artistic cheese plating throughout!

I remained committed to my standard art of scribing the belles-lettres, for the duration of the challenge to include my beloved poetry and nonsensicals. 

This left me with the inspiration to submit some of my compositions for publication in literary periodicals. As it stands, there's a stipend when I write about food, yet I never gave much consideration to pitching any of my more imaginative works.

In the end, I was joined by over 450 fellow artists, which I presume lent to 900 supportive shoulders, and a colossal number of votes of confidence along the way.

Witnessing this compilation of remarkable artistic talent offered by fellow participants throughout the month was equivalent to opening a magic treasure box with bright and shiny, new surprises each day.

Turns out there's an astonishing amount of camaraderie amongst the artists, and I wouldn't ever want to envision a day without the creators and magicmakers, the very folks who shape the planet.

So without further adieu, (and hopefully without sounding terribly like the finale of a Molly Ringwald teen movie), I can honestly say in the end I discovered...

That I'm a writer,

and

a painter,
a videographer,
an editor,
a winemaker,
a bellydancer,
a cheesemaker,
a musician,
a jeweler,
a doodler,
a fire dancer,
a teacher,
a student,
a Vlogger,
an african thumb piano composer,

and a damn proud artist.

 Creative expression can present itself in a myriad of remarkable ways.

 I'd like to leave you with these final words from Jake Nickell of Threadless, the e-commerce website stuffed with an ingenuity of creative virtuosos.

 

To the makers and the creators for all that you do,
and for all the innovation that we've yet to lay our sights on.

A deep and far-reaching thank you.

x