So we made it through March, lets all take a collective cleansing breath!

I found the end of winter to be tough this year. I absolutely love winter, but by the time things start to look grey, sodden, and decomposed is when I’m ready for it to be over. I ran into a creative block combined with an increase in anxiety and that drew me into a complete slump of winter blues! What do you do when you find yourself completely unmotivated?

We cannot always be capable of pouring fourth passionate expressive artwork. There are going to be times for all of us where we reach into the well only to come back out with an empty bucket.

I think the most important thing to remember is that it will end. Spring will come. I’m going to try to remember in these times that my own self care is important. For me, that means spending time outside walking or in gardens or any really places where green things are growing!

Sitting and writing this today, I see a clear path for myself. I have so many exciting projects on the horizon that I’ll be sharing over the next few weeks. In the meantime, I want to issue an invitation. If you’re feeling like me and you are ready to take action and challenge yourself then please join me! I am going to be doing the #the100dayproject which starts on Tuesday April 2nd!! (pssst that’s in TWO DAYS! I did ask you if you were ready for action right?) Checkout the website https://www.the100dayproject.org to connect with the greater community and see the history of the project.

I challenge you to create art with me every day for 100 consecutive days! Mine will be combination of doodles, drawing practice, and watercolor and sketchbook experiments. I will be posting my artwork everyday on Instagram to keep myself accountable and I’d love to have you with me! All you have to do to join me is:

1. Grab some paper and a pen or a pencil. It doesn’t have to be fancy! Computer paper and that pen you stole from the bank is totally fine! If you want to get fancy (because that’s how you roll) then break out ALL the art supplies you want! It can be nice to have a mechanical pencil and a mixed media sketchbook with 50 pages or more so you can capture your collective work in one place, but you absolutely don’t have to spend a dime to join us.
2. Start to think about what inspires you! You don’t have to have a theme or any purpose, if you haven’t created art since grade school you can still do this! You just want to be thinking in a general way of what will prompt you to stop and create every day. Just look around your house and environment and find the things that make you feel something and take note of it. You could go all out and dive into Pinterest and make a mood board and define a theme! I caution you to focus on the journey though, and don’t get to caught up in creating something perfect and ready to trend on social media every day. This is about consistency and going through the daily practice of art, not about making gallery pieces. If you follow the hashtag #the100daychallenge you will be able to see the greater community of people joining this challenge and I guarantee it will be inspirational.
3. Join me in posting daily on Instagram! It would be amazing to connect and create a community around the challenge! So, if you post please use the hashtag #the100daychallengeTEAMSUSIE that way we can find each other easily! You can follow me here @susiepogue

I look forward to seeing not only what inspires you in your artwork, but also the personal growth and art skills development we will all experience through the project! Finally, I wanted to share with you something I wrote as a description for my soon to be released pattern collection named Forest Floor.

Recipe for Self Care

Go out for a bath in the forest. Step into the dappled shade of the trees, feeling the instant restorative nature of the symbiotic life around you. An intricate network of fungus, flora, and fauna weave together to support your body and to embrace you in soft light and pungent smells thick with the wisdom of the earth. Quiet your breath and hear foraging insects, singing birds, and the distant rustle of animals burrowing into leaf piles. The sights and sounds fill you with renewed purpose.

PS. I am very fortunate to be taking a course with Anne LaFollette and she does a weekly Facebook Live session in Anne’s Art Club and releases a blog post every Wednesday where she talks about these kinds of topics and how they specifically relate to art. I highly recommend you checkout her post here on tips for getting through a creative dry spell!