In my haste to finally finish before the week takes off again, I forgotto put the lessons learned. So many, it's hard to put it down to just 3, but here we go. First of all, THANK YOU, PEYTON for getting this idea out there and setting up the site and managing it and cheering us all on - I'm hoping to look at everybody's stuff for a little bit tonight, FINALLY!
Lesson one - I'd been thinking for a while now, maybe I can find a way to just spend a little time some nights during the work week, doing a LITTLE something artwise, instead of always waiting till the weekend. I was hoping that this art challenge would get me to do that at least sometimes. It did, but it also made me frustrated and just reaffirmed how much I want to retire so I can have more time to "make stuff." Not in the cards at present, but I did manage to actually do a few things or at least get ideas down and/or sketches and sometimes a little coloring stuff during the work week. Painting needs the weekend, because just the setting up takes a while, and the idea of having a whole bunch of hours spread out before you, not to mention an eager to go fresh brain, is such a different animal than trying to cram stuff during the work week, but drawing and colored pencils and markers are doable at least sometimes.
Lesson #2 - I want to get back to draw more. I used to do a lot of drawing as a kid - women in gowns, horses, all kinds of stuff. Took a few courses years ago, took a few courses in college, did a few exercises from "Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain." I'm going to pick that book up again and see if I can get further. And I'll also be doing more exercises from Peyton's wonderful idea book, "Your Spirit Will Soar!" Maybe even some during the work week...
Lesson #3 - The more you do, the more you want to do, the more ideas just jump into your head/heart/brain. This was the biggest revelation for me - the first thing, was no surprise, the second was a bit, but this one was just THERE. The prompts would generate an idea, and then others would sprout off of that - like a reverse onion or something. There were nights I'd wake up to pee and then couldn't go back to sleep because ideas were dropping in after seeing the next prompt, or another version of one of the prompts already there. It really was like my brain was going nuts, but in a good way.
So many thanks to Peyton for this wonderful experience. It really brought some color and hope and joy to a really hard time period, and hopefully some of that will flow out into the world. I cant WAIT to go look at everybody's stuff now.
P.S. Attaching a last image in case I counted wrong on the challenges. Looking forward to the Zoom meeting on Saturday. Love and hugs!
