January Creation Challenge | Week 1

Each new year comes with loss and new beginnings. Another year gone. Another page turned. Another chapter closed. But sometimes these turning pages come with hope for the future too.

This year I decided to begin with a creation challenge.

Through January, I plan to create a new image every day (I started on the 3rd). I've done these challenges in the past, and each time I've grown in my art/creativity, built new skills, and come to a new understanding of my creative process.

This comes after taking a fairly long break from compositing and a year of far fewer finished pieces than normal. As long as I complete this challenge, I'll have more finished pieces in the first month of this year than in the entirety of 2021.

It's only the first week of 2022, and yet it feels as though so much has already happened.

Creation months always feel that way for me though. During my last one in June-July 2020 my husband and I were looking at houses, ended up beginning the process of purchasing our condo, and I came face to face with some deep wounds and baggage from childhood I hadn't been aware I was carrying.

Maybe there's something about the creation process that's grounding or helps me stay more present. Maybe it's that creating forces me to connect with myself and my subconscious emotions in a different way. Maybe it's that creating every day like this gives me a more solid anchor point to remember the days.

I accept the call to be more observant of the little things around me.

I'm not sure what the future holds or where exactly my creative journey will take me.

Last year I neglected this blog even more than usual. This year I want to write more and will probably take it in a more personal art blogging direction. I'm not really sure yet. But if you've been reading, thank you for following along on my journey.