Tuesday, March 31, 2015

Last Day of my Daily Twinchie Challenge-How it Got My Creative Juices Flowing Again

©2015 Suzanne Urban
This is it! My last day of my self-imposed Twinchie Challenge! I started this challenge on March 6th after reading about artist Crystal Moody's year-long challenge to build better creative habits. It helped her, and I decided to try a challenge for myself.

I am an impatient person, so I knew a year long challenge wouldn't work for me, plus I work in a variety of media as witnessed by my two Etsy shops: SuzanneUrban and SmirkingGoddess. I don't just paint, or draw, I create art dolls, magnets, pinbacks, and more. I like to think of myself as my own small business-cottage industry. I like to see my work in a variety of forms as my images sometimes work best as a doll, or pinback or painting.

I learned the following after starting up this challenge.

• A challenge with real meaning i.e. real goal and one that doesn't overwhelm i.e. drag on to long, or require a huge production works for me.

• My interest can wane with a small challenge but it's because it jumpstarted my creative juices to get back into the studio and get to work! This is a good thing. I finished two small paintings, and finally got myself excited to get started on some other projects as seen below left!

• I found my anxiety over time changed, I wasn't overwhelmed with the "What if I put in all this time and it doesn't come out, meaning and I don't like it?". Instead I became more aware of living in the moment and the natural progression of creating is something that can be enjoyed, especially when listening to music. I'm often anxious about time–an ADD characteristic that absorbs too much of my energy and interferes with getting into the studio early in the day and settling in. I'm not going to wait until I'm in the mood, or start something and when the going gets stuff, move on without fully thinking things through. Too many started projects need to be brought to a finish so I can share them with you all.
©2015 Suzanne Urban

I also was happy to see two other artists join in if not more on this Instagram Challenge: ClothMatters and Easton_Place.
I know that they really enjoyed this challenge too and I think it helped them to loosen up and just have fun too!

I don't know what my next challenge will be, but it again, will have to be something that my "touch of ADD" can handle. I'm learning not to let fear hold me back and to move forward, something some illustrators like myself go through.

1 comment:

  1. This has been fun, Suzanne~ I have enjoyed your intriguing and delightful characters as you discovered/unveiled and finessed them into the world. I hope to see each and every one of them as a painting on the shelf of your Etsy shop ??? Or perhaps, not parting with originals, you will prefer prints and cards~ instead. Best wishes~ !!!

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