Starting with Completed Projects from the past three months:
1. Sarah’s Baby Blanket
2. Taco “Bout a Baby
3. Mother’s Day Gift
4. Hailey’s Baby Blanket
Here is my current list of Ongoing Projects:
1. Composition Studies
2. Color Studies
3. Filet Crochet Series: “Originals”
4. Writing Project: Art Appreciation (a book about people)
5. Still Life Series
Note: I wanted to have most of these projects completed by the end of June. It is now the end of July, and I need to re-evaluate my timeline a bit…
Not last weekend, but the weekend prior, I tried to pull a “five-day sprint” to get caught up on everything I had fallen behind on. I knew that this was an unrealistic goal. I am not disappointed in myself for “failing” to meet my self-imposed deadlines. As I have worked, each of my current projects has taken on a new life. This is not “no progress made.” Good progress has been made. I have just been learning a lot about myself as I have been working. This is all good. By August, however, I do need to be tying the bow on some things… Here’s how that is going to happen:
1. I will set and maintain better priorities.
For the first time ever, really, I am trying to juggle multiple modes of creation all at once. I am doing this in an effort to “launch” various projects in the way most consumers have been conditioned to expect. This is tricky because it requires a really heavy build-up of inventory and lots of long-distance planning. I do think this strategy will work, but I have to learn how to really hold myself to my priorities. If something needs to be done in a week, it needs to be done in a week. I am not at a point where my projects can continually, eternally expand, shift, and change. They need to be finished. Finishing my exploration has to be as much of a priority as planning a future project. This is non-negotiable.
2. I will work more efficiently and play to my strengths when possible.
Some might call this brilliant, even groundbreaking! During my “five-day sprint,” I learned have that my current artistic process is (1) wildly inefficient and (2) fails to implement some of the things that I know are personal strengths. I have always been a really adamant planner. Before the start of this summer, I had never really managed to figure out my studio practice qua project planning. Here is how I plan to “remedy” this ongoing issue:
First and foremost, I am choosing to give myself different titles on different days:
The majority of days, I need to be “The Artist.” “The Artist” is responsible for execution and completion.
Some of the time, I need to be “The Thinker.” “The Thinker” is responsible for idea generation and project development. (This is what I am best at, so it is what I must restrain myself from doing the most.)
Some of the time, I need to be “The Planner.” “The Planner” is responsible for logistics and timelines, announcements, and social media.
3. I will keep a sketchbook.
Before this little “five-day sprint,” I had never really understood how to fit a sketchbook into my studio practice. I understand, now, that a sketchbook is the place to work out all of the kinks of a project prior to the project’s creation. Ideally, if I use my sketchbook well, making a project is just as simple as dedicating the appropriate amount of time to see it through to completion (which should be the bulk of my time). This makes sense, and it plays to my strengths.
I am at work right now, so I am going to leave it at that. I have learned a lot about myself this month. I have to have two pieces finished by Friday, and I think I can meet that deadline. I am feeling the pressure.
EARTH-GIRL 