Category: Art Every Day Month

Art Every Day Month – Days 21-24

Emmett’s antics make great fodder for funny AEDM doodles. It’s either that or stay fuming after cleaning up his mess! Last year his trash can escapades made for some other silly sketches.

On Sunday my dear friend from London, Fiona, stayed over. I was thrilled to get to see her a second time this year (we met up in Seattle earlier this year).

Fiona and me hanging out in Rockridge after enjoying some delicious hot cocoa at Bittersweet.

Just playing with fall colors.

I was thirsty when I sat down to do my doodle for today, so I whipped this up and then refilled my glass of water.

Can’t believe there’s less than a week left of Art Every Day Month!

Art Every Day Month – Days 19-20

Hard to believe I went swimming on Monday! It’s now cold and wet. Poo.

Here’s how I’m feeling today. Moody.

Yesterday I got to see my dear friend Kate for a bit. We met up at Heath Ceramics and then got to hang out at her cozy place in the woods.

More beautiful pieces from Heath Ceramics shot with the Instagram app. I loved the soft neutral colors and textures of these vases.

Art Every Day Month – Days 16-18

It’s hard to believe we’re more than half-way through November and Art Every Day Month! More of my quick sketches from my 3″x3″ journal. I loved the Gwenyth Glee episode this week. Fun!

Had an awesome and uplifting Nurture Huddle with my huddlers last night.

Today I played with color and my water soluble oil pastels (in colors I don’t normally use).

And a Hipstamatic of my little art journal and portable water color set. I love how the pages are warped and covered with markings. Reminds me of my Wreck This Journal days.

Art Every Day Month 2010 – Days 8-12

Anyone else guilty of doing the same thing I do before the housecleaner comes? How can they vacuum the floor or clean the sink if there’s crap in the way?! Okay, yes, I’m OCD. Many of my drawings from last year were related to organizing and tidying the house, too.

I was so tired and jet lagged after my trip to Canada over the weekend.

Fortunately on Tuesday I built in some recovery time including a much needed massage!

Had fun just playing with color.

And I tried to sneak in my Thursday drawing even though it was technically already Friday. 😉

Art Every Day Month 2010 – Days 5-7

I’m getting ready to head back home in just a bit. Yesterday was the ARTpreneur Conference in Cornwall Ontario Canada. We had a great group of creative entrepreneurs participating. There were photographers, musicians, filmmakers, writers, visual artists, designers, and a even super cool 16-year old boy who was a fabulous artist and quite wise beyond his years. Smart mom for bringing her son to expose him to resources like this! I was really impressed by how well the arts are supported here in this area. There was a whole panel on funding and how to apply for grants. And there was a $2000 grant prize awarded at the end of the conference.

I had a blast leading a Right-Brain Business Plan talk in the morning. Here’s a twitpic of me on stage from a cool guy named Joey that I met at the conference. It was inspiring to hear some of the big visions that the participants shared. And I hope I get to see some of their Right-Brain Business Plans.

Unfortunately my bag didn’t make it with me to Ottawa. I’ve been wearing pretty much the same outfit since Friday! Thanks to my lovely hosts here in Cornwall, though, I was able to replace some basics. I still have not gotten a straight answer about where my suitcase is. Fingers crossed that I get it back soon!

And since I don’t have a jacket, I’ve been mostly staying inside. But there are a few nice trees outside my window.

I’ve had a great time here and I’m looking forward to going back home. Gotta run!

Art Every Day Month – Day 4

I’m off to Cornwall, Ontario Canada at the crack of dawn tomorrow to lead a Right-Brain Business Plan talk at the ARTpreneur conference. Looking forward to meeting some great creative folks! Not looking forward to the cold weather (I was spoiled today with a sunny, warm California day). I’m definitely bringing my parka and can’t forget my AEDM little sketch book!

And here’s a colorful Hipstamatic shot from my trip to the art store.

Art Every Day Month 2010 – Day 2-3

Here are my two little sketches for my Art Every Day Month 3″x3″ journal. I had an acupuncture appointment today, hence the human pincushion!

And yesterday I enjoyed a mellow yoga class. Felt good to be on the mat.

I’m lovin’ my mini sketch book. And I’m lovin’ using my iPhone to take pics of my drawings (instead of the laborious scanning like I did last year) and then post processing them a bit in the PS Express iPhone app. Much more streamlined!

And here’s an Instagram pic I took today at a used bike shop near my acupuncturist’s office. In addition to Hipstamatic, I’m loving the Instagram iPhone app, too. You can follow me on Instagram at jennlee. Would love to see more of my creative cohorts there!

Art Every Day Month 2010 – Day 1

It’s November and that means it’s time for Art Every Day Month, hosted by my pal Leah Piken Kolidas. I’ve been participating since 2007. It’s always a blast and I get to connect with cool creative peeps. If you need some extra support and inspiration, check out Leah’s updated Art Every Day Month Survival Guide – it sounds fabulous.

Last year I did daily doodles in a tiny sketch book. I really loved having that small, totally doable structure and will use it again this time around. I also might dabble with the layered lines technique I learned at Squam and with some more photography (Hipstamatic is so addictive!).

Above is a Hipstamtic shot I took on my walk with Emmett.And here’s a sweet one of Jamie and Shannon brunching at Dottie’s True Blue in San Francisco.

It was such a treat to see Jamie and her family during their visit to SF! I had the pleasure of meeting Jamie in person for the first time a couple of years ago when I was visiting the Toronto area. I loved getting to chat with her, her hubby, and her sister Shannon this morning. I’ve definitely had a creatively inspired start to Art Every Day Month 2010!

Art Every Day Month Recap – Big & Small

aedm-big-little

This was my third year doing Art Every Day Month and I have to say that this was the easiest round by far thanks to my itty bitty art journal. In previous years, I had fun experimenting with various mediums from encaustic painting to knitting, from clay to collage, from beads to book arts. This time, I simply focused on filling up my 3″x3″ book with little doodles.

While I’ve been stretching myself and taking up space with my huge intuitive paintings, some of my biggest a-has this month have been from going small during AEDM. It’s been interesting playing with both the wall-sized and palm-sized extremes of the spectrum. To give you a sense of scale, above is a picture of me and my tiny journal in front of one of my big intuitive paintings. Thank you to my intuitive painting classmate and fellow AEDM’er Laura for taking the pictures! (There’s the whole crazy enchilada below and Laura’s sweet dog Ella in the corner).

intuitivepainting-nov

Here are my AEDM 2009 take-aways and reminders:

  • Having limited space to work with was actually liberating. I was free to focus on just creating rather than worrying about form or result.
  • Time and again, I proved to myself that with a small surface area all I need is five minutes or less to make art. So really, there’s no excuse!
  • With the big paintings I challenge myself to take up space and to explore a wide range of emotions and feelings. With the small sketches, I challenge myself to be focused and succinct.
  • The most mundane things can provide the best inspiration. Doing a daily sketch encouraged me to pay attention to the details of my day-to-day life. Adding a humorous twist to otherwise humdrum household matters turned things like dirty dishes or cluttered closets into creative fun.
  • While I do well with accountability and structure, it was helpful to let myself off the hook. I set the intention to make art every day, but I told myself that I didn’t have to stress about posting every day or sharing every single piece. I empowered myself to make the challenge work for me and that made the process more doable and enjoyable.
  • Just like when I painted every day during the first Expressive Arts Teacher Training, doing art every day in November helped me track my experience. I have a visual record of what I was doing, what I was inspired by, or what I was feeling.

Well, I’m off to go sketch in my journal before the night is up!