challenges and a New Year!

I just completed another challenge.  I did a 1/2 hour watercolor sketch of my St. Francis statue.  I wouldn’t say it’s my best work nor will it be a greeting card someday but it is something on paper that I completed!  It’s practice.  It’s discipline.  It’s a New Year and a time for new habits to be formed…one of which is creative challenges!

I’ve always created little challenges for myself.  A way to motivate me.  Or maybe I’ve got ADD and I’ve figured out that making up little games helps me stay focused!  I think everyone has ADD these days…our technology driven world seems to encourage ADD thinking as we jump from one website to the next, one facebook post to the next, not to mention the mental gymnastics it takes to read twitter (I just can NOT get into reading those short tweets).

It’s also 2013 and for the first time since 2006, I don’t have a calendar to hang on my wall.  That makes me sad.  I tried to work with my printer last year to see if we could figure out costs for a calendar but my printer is in San Francisco and we could not get the pricing to pencil out for me to wholesale to retailers.  I did meet a calendar publisher last May at the NYC Stationery Show.  They are located in Indianapolis, of all things.   Initially when contacting them was told that though my work was “nice” they really didn’t need another inspirational, watercolor artist.  This past October I flew home (Indiana) for my nephew’s wedding.  I contacted the publisher and asked if I could just pop in and meet face to face with them explaining I was flying in for a wedding.  “Sure”, the reply.  I knew if I wanted to have ANY chance of licensing for another calendar that I’d have to come up with a unique proposition.  On the plane from Houston to Indianapolis I opened my notebook and started brainstorming with myself (I love doing that).  What poured forth was this idea for taking my penchant for creating challenges and creating an entire year of challenges!  Challenges that will allow others to stretch, grow, develop and well, challenge themselves!  The person I met with loved the idea too and asked for me to write up a proposal. I did so and am happy to report that I made it through the first cut of new product titles for 2015!  More to follow as I learn more about the opportunity!  In the meantime, I’m going to keep challenging myself!

I also had fun creating my “vision” for 2013 the other night as I “played” with my markers and thoughts!!  Admittedly, today I was a bit overwhelmed at my obvious enthusiasm for a BIG Leap of a Year!  One foot in front of the other…that’s what it will take.

Happy NEW YEAR!!

It’s a NEW YEAR holding all sorts of promises!

creative challenge for the day complete!