Day 25

Challenge: Work with nature.  Go to your yard or nearby park and collect materials to work with.

Today's challenge is right up my alley!  I looked around my place for inspiration and found a small green bowl.  Aha, I could make a little terrarium!  I've seen some really cute ones in a shop made by a local artist and on a few other blogs and really wanted to try my hand at one.

So I gathered some grass and a few clippings of old growth from a pine tree outside my apartment.  I put a small chunk of cotton batting in the bottom of the bowl to make a higher surface to work with, glued in some of the grass and pine chunks, a Lego wookie, and here's the result:

Some of the cotton batting is still visible, but I wasn't super concerned about craftsmanship and presentation for my first terrarium.  And you know what?  I don't think it's a true terrarium since it doesn't have a glass enclosure, but I still wanted to share my inspiration and line of thought.  Here's a closer view:

Can you find the wookie in this picture?

Hey, guess what?  There's a wiki out there called Wookieepedia!  I discovered it a few years ago when I was trying to find a specific Star Wars quote.  I love how totally whiny Luke Skywalker is when he delivers the line.

Also, my sister/roommate found some Legos, so I am totally gonna try to work them into a project this week.  Huzzah!  

Twofer

I had a busy weekend, and I completed my challenges for today and yesterday on time but didn't have time to post yesterday, so this will be a two-challenge post.  Are you ready?!?!

Challenge for Day 18: Work with the things you find in your car (or a friend's car if you don't have one).

I was in my car a lot yesterday, but the things in my car aren't very exciting or inspiring.  Instead, I took a picture of something I have in my car, dangling from the rearview mirror:

A time turner keychain I bought as a souvenir from The Wizarding World of Harry Potter last fall.  And it was such a beautiful day, I snapped a few photos and a short video of the outdoors.  I think my little camera does a good job taking pictures while in a moving vehicle.  Look at this blue sky!

Visited some family nearby.  This is what the drive looks like from where I live back to my hometown:

I realize I didn't really make anything yesterday, but I felt like it was more important to honor the beauty I saw than to try to cook something up just to stick to the rules of the day's challenge.

Day 19 Challenge: Create something that floats on water (it doesn't have to be a boat).

But what if I want to make a boat?  A quick assessment of my materials, and that's where my mind went:

I wove together some regular curling ribbon and taped along the edges, made a tiny sail out of a snipped piece of paper taped to a toothpick, and I had a little floating raft.  I think it's pretty cute.

I saw a cool advertisement for a book today called Drawing Nature: A Journal by Jill Bliss.  I think that her illustrations are really beautiful.

Intro

I have decided today that I will start my 365 day creativity challenge, inspired by Noah Scalin.  I first heard about his skull project a little over a year ago, then found out a couple months ago about his book, 365: A Daily Creativity Journal: Make Something Every Day and Change Your Life!


Inspired by the 365 idea and frustrated at my "artist's block" since completing a BFA in Sculpture in 2007, I became interested in the challenge.  Knowing about my interest and desire to get back into making visual art works, my boyfriend bought the book for me as a birthday present in February.  I finally feel ready to take the challenge.


Even though I have an interest in skulls, I want to put my own spin on the challenges.  I feel like the overall theme of Nature as subject matter will never get old for me, so my projects will relate to that general theme.  For me, the most important thing is to make something everyday and to be objective about it, making a conscious effort not to judge whether or not a piece is good, bad, or anything in between.  It is my hope that I will be inspired to cook up my own meaningful ideas again, making work from my own inspired thoughts on a regular basis.