Check in #6 2014 Creative Every Day

Mostly Daily Photos again...

2014 Creative Every Day Check-In Week #5

Week 5 was mostly just daily photos again...

Creative Everyday Week #4 Check-In

Still mostly taking daily pictures and cooking over here. I'm hoping to amp up my writing soon.

Creative Every Day Week #3 Check In

Pretty much just daily photos again this week...

Creative Every Day Week #2 Check-In

The second week of 2014 was a bit less productive. I did work on some art quilt stuff early in the week but then I overdid it with too many hand embroidery hours in a row and then a three day migraine so I've been taking a break. I should be back to that next week at some point.

I have been cooking and have done a little bit of writing.
I also continue to do the daily photo thing.

This week's collage of photos...


You can see the individual photos here on Tumblr...

Is This Winter?

I still don't have the tree up, but I did move the printer off the table where the tree will go, so there has been some progress.

I took this picture outside on the porch the other day.
Not sure when, I only got it off the camera tonight.



We got a tiny bit of snow mixed with rain the other night.
It's still not really looking or feeling much like winter in New England right now. Sure it's a bit on the cold side but not that cold. Not really.

I don't mind. Winter isn't exactly my favorite season.
Though I do like the excuse it gives me to stay in and make soup and bake cookies.
Not that I've been doing those things but I plan to. Soon.

I've been working on an art quilt and they take so much time and it's been a while since I've worked on one. It's a gift for the holidays so I can't say much about it.
I am enjoying the work. Which is nice since I haven't been inspired to do this sort of thing for a while. 

The Return of Daily Photos

I've been doing daily photos again after neglecting the practice for too long. Around trick or treat I when I was taking pictures of my daughter and husband on their way out I noticed how out of practice I was.

 It felt weird trying to get the right focus and settings when before it had been almost second nature. My hand wasn't as steady at it anymore either.

It was then that I realized how important that daily practice was, even when I was taking pictures of silly things around the apartment and was seemingly so pointless at the time.

So I'm seven days in with the daily photo thing again. And I'm still out of practice and I'm inside much of the time and my photos have been mostly less than interesting but that's okay. It's all part of the process.

I've been posting them to tumblr but I'm not sure that's the right place for them so maybe I'll try to revive this blog. After all I have some other things I've been up to that I might want to talk about here as well.

I've been writing again. Doing NaNoWriMo. November is so fun. But I'll post about that later.
 For now here are the seven photos I've taken for the daily photo thing...

Day #1
 
Day #2
 
Day #3
 
Day #4
 
 Day #5
 
Day #6
 
Day #7
 

A Return of Sorts

I've been trying out wordpress.com for a bit and keeping a bit of a writing journal over there but there are a lot of things I just don't like about it there.

So, I'm giving this thing a try here again. I added the few writing posts I made over there to this blog. All backdated and everything. Maybe I can do an all around writing, art and photography blog here.

Lately I've been posting the few photos I've been taken over at Tumblr. I'm going to try and get back to taking more pictures, maybe even daily again and posting some  here too.

Doing the Work

I’ve been writing. Slowly but I’ve been doing it. I haven’t really been feeling it but I’m making myself get the words out anyway. I’m a little over 7k words at this point on the story. I keep wanting to give up and work on something else though and I’m not sure if the POV is working and I need to try and just get it out and know that later I can fix it all. If I still care.
That’s the problem though, I usually don’t care enough later. Okay, really I don’t usually finish. Sure I’ve done NaNoWriMo many times now and have hit that sweet spot of 50k most of them but only a couple of times did I actually finish the story I was writing. And both of those were fic of some type or other and I wrote them just to write them.
The original stuff I’ve tried my hand on? I hit the 50k, maybe go a little over and then get bored. November is over and I tell myself I’m just going to take a little break for the holidays and then get back to the book and by then I don’t care anymore.
I get bored too easily and that has always been the problem. Or one of the many problems.
Which is why I question me doing this writing thing as it is. Why do it? What’s the point? It was an old dream I had a long time ago when I was younger and still believed in having dreams, so why bother now?
I’m not sure what the answer is. I need to try I guess. I need to see if this is still something I want or not. Life is short and I’m not getting any younger.
I want to keep doing the work. Keep writing and actually finish some things and then around my next birthday I can see where I stand. I can then ask myself if I want to be doing this or if I need something else.
I haven’t made an art quilt in ages. I haven’t played with paints in a while either. Earlier in the year I was taking photos obsessively on a daily basis and now I can barely bring myself to pick up the camera.
I’m not sure what is going on beyond the usual depression/anxiety happy fun combo. I need to do the work though, even if it seems pointless. Maybe even if it is pointless.

Shadow Thoughts

I'm starting to think I should have had that 12 Seeds Project that I seem to have abandoned be a photography project or at least had a photo plus poetry option.

I think that may have worked better for me. I don't know what is up with me and art these last few years but I really haven't been feeling it in the same way.

I'd rather play with words and photos. Those were two early loves to be honest. Maybe that is where my focus should be right now.

I love the camera. I love taking pictures. It really centers me, where painting often stresses me out.

Writing is touch and go. Sometimes I'm angsty about it and sometimes it has me flying so high it's hard to come down.

Photography is like meditation but better.
<3

Up To

 I seem to be letting art slide lately. I just haven't been feeling it (again). I'm focusing on my writing and my photography at the moment. I love taking pictures. It's the one constant in my creative life. I love my camera. I also love tea!

Looks Like Spring

Very warm and sunny this afternoon. Not like winter at all. Also the the snow is all gone from the backyard now...

The squirrels have been going crazy the last couple days and digging all around the place...

Creative Every Day Check-In

I've been taking pictures daily and keeping up with this year's round of self-portrait Sunday.

I've also been working on being more creative with my cooking. I also finished the art journal page that I started last week.

 I've done some writing. Most of this was of the non-fiction variety but I've also dipped a little into the fiction pool.

All in all I think that it has been a pretty creative week.

Still Melting

Creative Every Day Check In #1 Plus More Photos

Mostly this week I've been taking daily photographs. Other than that I've done a little baking, a bit of playing around in an art journal and a little writing. Not a bad start to the new year. Slow and steady and all that. Here are three new photos that I took today...


 

Winter Photos

Happy 2013!

It's been cold and we have snow and ice here in New England. Much different from the last winter we had. We hardly had any snow all season that time around and it never stuck around very long the few times we did get some. I think this year will be more like the usual kind of winter one associates with this area. So we are now two days into 2013 and I have plans for a creative year here. I signed up for this...

I also have plans for daily photography fun, weekly self-portraits, and a few other art projects on the burner. 2012 was a year of treading water. There was little creativity besides taking pictures, but that's okay. That was what I needed to keep afloat last year but this year I want to make things. I want to do art and I want to string words together.
Beginnings are fun!

Happy New Year everyone!

On the Tree

Our holiday tree is a small three foot fake tree that sits on top of a table. The decorations are mostly handmade. Some I made. Some family members made and some I got in a craft swap several years ago. Here are some pics from the tree...

 





The first one is from a swap, the second is from family and the third is one that I made a few years ago. Sometimes I miss having the room for a big tree but mostly I'm just grateful for what we have.

Scenes From My Desk

my desk isn't a permanent thing. I have to set it up in the living room in front of the couch daily if I want to use it. It isn't ideal but it is better than not having one at all. Of course my daughter likes to leave her things on it as well and the cat thinks it is hers. So I share. Here are a few shots of the space from last night...

Missing

Obviously I haven't been using this blog since this summer. I kind of just dropped out of everything for a while really. I flaked out of the last of the online classes I was taking. I'm not sure what happened really. Maybe what always happens. I just lost interest. I'm going to be making an attempt to revive this place though. I've been taking daily photos again though I haven't been doing much of any art beyond that.

I have been writing though. I did NaNoWriMo this year and finished! Well I reached 50,000 words anyway. I didn't actually finish my novel I think I'm only about half way done. Maybe two thirds. I'm actually trying to focus on writing at this point in time. It was always my first love. I'm going to keep up with the photography too though. I love that and it doesn't have to take a lot of time out of my day. I'm hoping to get back into some art stuff with the new year but I'm not going to push it. I want to focus on writing. It's too easy for me to get derailed and I don't want to do that this time.