January Flying By

January is almost over and it feels like I have not been doing much in the way of studio work. I decided to take a look at what I have actually done this month .....

I finished four teddy bears and sent one to a new home in Canada. 

I started 2 online courses - Carla Sonheim's Year of the FairyTale

I am drawing frogs and looking for my inner princess

I have also been participating in Misty Mawn's Full Circle course and finished one piece last week. The prompt was to make a mandala. I started off with that in mind and found it a bit tricky to work in a circle. Especially since I always end up adding a figure....

I was really glad I did this on a panel instead of paper! I am, of course falling behind, but I know the prompts are there when I need some inspiration. 

I have written and submitted an article for Somerset Studio's May issue - look for it in the Melange section. 

I submitted some drawings for the Art-Is-You - Coloring Book Project

After the holiday break from painting, I find it difficult to get back into my groove, so I paint over old paintings. This is one of my favorite January projects.  I figure there is nothing to loose and I already have some elements that I like so this is what happened with 2 of my paintings:

Before:

After:

Before:

After:

You can see I kept what I liked and got rid of what I did not like. I really recommend trying to re-invent some of your older pieces. It is quick and very gratifying. I have one more in progress and will share when I am done. 

This month I also applied to teach at several retreats, one art show and cleaned, painted and re-arranged my studio (photos are coming - it is a bit of a mess right now!)

The point of this entry is that my perception of what I had completed was way off. We rarely give ourselves credit for what we accomplish - maybe not even realizing all that we have done. Take a moment and really look at the small things you do over time. I may not have completed a large painting, but all the small things add up and are "practice" and inspiration for the larger works.

Stay Curious, and Breathe!