Daily Devotions

I've been on a list for artists called Daily Devotions for a while, but with the New Year I've finally made the commitment to follow up on it. Basically it is just a commitment to create every day for a year. It doesn't matter what you create as long as you do something to further yourself. I'm hoping that two things will come of this. One, that the need to create something EVERY day will push me to do more art than I am currently doing. And two, that it will cause a shift in my perception and I will recognize creativity while it's happening, especially when I'm not doing something "artistic". Creativity happens all the time, not just when I'm painting or drawing, but I sometimes forget that. I get so caught up in "life" that I don't notice the magic, the creativity, going on around me. So, here's my post for day one of my Year of Art. I did this last night while the kids were pulling another all nighter. It's a crayon batik but I haven't ironed it yet, so it's still in a rather crumpled stage. I'm not terribly happy with this one. I did another one before it that I liked much better. The colors were much more vibrant and the paint more bold, but the paper I used completely dissolved while I was washing it. That's what I get for using cheap paper. Oh well, live and learn. I did this one on watercolor paper, but I don't like the look as much as I do with thinner paper. Maybe I need to get some thinner watercolor paper and try that. Anyway, this one tore in a couple of places, so I'll probably find that areas that I like and crop them into ATCs. I saved the first one as well and put the pieces that were left onto a flexible cutting board (my all-purpose art mats) to dry. It actually looks pretty cool - like a fractured rainbow. I want to add those pieces to a future painting.