Saturday, June 1, 2013

Ready, Set, Blog.

My Mother's Day Effort
It's blogathon time again, that time of year when I try so hard to blog daily--and I do--I have succeeded three years running, but as soon as it is over? Bam. The wind goes out of my sails.

This year one thing I'm going to do is try to establish a pattern for posting...Theme days, if you will. And I'm expanding the scope, as I started to do a year ago--"Feast with Me" means to enjoy life with me...sample the food, test a new recipe, try a new skill (why, yes, I am still in love with tango), explore something new...

So on day 1, June 1, 2013, I want to ask you: what new thing have you done lately?

I'll go first.

If you were reading a year ago, you know I started painting watercolors. I just love it. I even sold a couple of pieces and have painted some things on request. I am honored to be asked.

Recently, I joined a group of professional artists and other amateurs (although no one as beginner as I am) on Sunday mornings for plein air painting--painting outdoors.

When I first decided to join the crowd (all are welcome), it took me about three weeks before I actually showed up. It took some courage for me to show up. But since the first week, I have missed very few--I like it so much. We spend a few hours painting, then we reconvene and have a critique--a critique from the pros. The first week, my comment was, "They were very kind." They remain kind, but it is so helpful--I feel as if I am getting a masterclass in watercolor for free. The price? Just show up.

It's a challenge, and I've had weeks where I thought my work looked like a kindergartner's work. One week I didn't want to even put my work up, but as one of the organizers said, you come, you show. There are no exceptions. And even that week, when the painting looked like a five-year-old did it, I got helpful critiques.

It's a craft. I'm trying to get better. I've even considered a new blog of "a painting a day" for a year to really see and track my change.

Ha. We'll see. Let me get through June first!

Now it's your turn. What new challenge have you met recently?

3 comments:

Jan said...

Just had to come by and say hi.

Tara said...

Yay, you're back!

One thing I did was lose 22 pounds. And another was gaining 10 back! I may still have some learning to do.

Van Waffle said...

My big new challenge is that I signed up for MagNet2013, Canada's national magazine industry conference taking place this week in Toronto. It's my first professional conference and a little scary for me as an introvert, but I'm looking forward to it.

Another exciting challenge: I have decided to organize a Canadian men's knitting retreat in 2014. Several of these events have been going on in the US for a few years, and I would like to host one in the beautiful north. I've never organized anything like this before, so I'm already beginning to discuss the idea.