Continuing a week of looking back, I thought I'd share my favorite non-scrapbook and non-art journal projects from 2011:
January 2011:
It's one of my favorite projects because I love the face -- very different from what I was doing at the time. And I love the way I created a sort of placard on the front and back of the bag.
February 2011:
It's one of my favorite projects because it represents (a) several artistic experiments, and (b) was one of the first just-for-me projects I made when I decided to leave the whole design team thing behind.
March 2011:
It's one of my favorite projects because I love the background and the message.
It's one of my favorite projects because it tells a story without any words. Something I struggle with.
May 2011:
It's one of my favorite projects because it's a little outside of what I normally do (or it was at the time) and I love the way it turned out. The image, the colors, the meaning.
June 2011:
It's one of my favorite projects because it turned out way better than I could have imagined! I love this card so much that I can't bring myself to write a note inside and give it away!
It's one of my favorite projects because I believe in the message and just love the colors, layers, and the whole design (notice how it was inspired by the "Be Unique" canvas from March?)
July 2011:
It's one of my favorite projects because I couldn't be prouder of this dress! I still don't have any "real" photos of it. But it was a labor of love that took me days and days and I poured all of my creativity into it. Some day, when I have lots more room, I hope to make a whole bunch of mixed media dresses!
September 2011:
It's one of my favorite projects because it reminds me to be true to myself. This is the way that I like to paint and shade a face. It's not my teacher's way and it's not for everyone, but I *love* it!
It's one of my favorite projects because I wear this pair of super light weight earrings all the time and get tons and tons of compliments on them. The colors really glow in real life and they're so great for travel because you barely feel them!
October 2011:
It's one of my favorite projects because for a girl who always felt like she couldn't draw realistically, this drawing makes me proud. I've got a long ways to go, but I'm headed in the right direction!
November 2011:
It's one of my favorite projects because this set of stamps needs to exist. And now that they do, I can't stop putting them on everything (which is so sad because I think banners are "over" as a trend).
It's one of my favorite projects because I discovered a whole new concept for carving/printing stamps. New discoveries are the best!
It's one of my favorite projects because I adore the background and it represents a big mental shift for me. Now that I know that I can draw realistically, I don't feel like I have to.
December 2011:
It's one of my favorite projects because I love how the face turned out. She's a great mix between the imaginary girls I like to draw and a drawing made from a real human being.
It's one of my favorite projects because I love turning nothing into something! Amazing what you can do with a white pen and a steady hand.
This one is still in progress. It's my take it on the airplane craft. But It's one of my favorite projects because I'm not a comfortable embroiderer and it was been wonderful to explore my own natural stitch choices and just play with texture and what feels right.
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One of the things that I love about this process of wrapping up is the sense of accomplishment. A year is such a very short and very long period of time all at once. I don't feel like I'm improving. In fact, I often feel like I'm treading water. But with this colleciton of art, I can see how I've changed and improved. I can see how small ideas bloomed and how I let go of others along the way. I'm really proud of how much better at painting faces I am today than I was a year ago. And I'm pleased to see that most of the projects on this page were experiments that went really well! That's always a great encouragement to keep trying new things!
No doubt about it, I am on an ongoing artistic adventure and I can't wait to see where 2012 takes me!
Thanks for stopping by!
