This past month, we celebrated my turning 26 at my family’s annual “Dead Man Dinner” (basically a normal dinner arranged in the shape of a dead man). We also ate caramel apples and carved pumpkins, which the deer promptly devoured.
I thought I'd rapid-fire share twenty-five discoveries/experiences that are interesting to me, but don’t necessarily deserve a dedicated blog-post. I hope they’re useful, relatable and interesting to you too.
This year I dove headfirst into selling at outdoor markets. I sold at four markets total and came to the conclusion that having short conversations with strangers all day is seriously hard work. The longest stretch I spent in my tent was ten hours straight, and the hottest market day was 110 degrees Fahrenheit.
Along those lines, I learned that audience is everything. Some days I barely sold three prints. Others, prints seemed to fly off my duct-taped shelves. The difference between those days was clear; audience.
I learned that painting a mural isn’t nearly the logistical hassle I thought it was. Though displaying your art on a generator-powered projector, tracing your design on the wall and returning the next day to spend almost nine hours painting sounds like a lot of work, it was surprisingly effortless. While painting a mural at The Canyons Ski Resort, I barely took my eyes off my painting until I realized at the end of the day I hadn’t eaten or used the bathroom. There’s nothing more satisfying than finishing a big project in a single day.
The worst they can say is “no.” I got many opportunities this year simply because I asked for them. A few months ago I took my portfolio door to door down Park City Main Street and asked the shop owners if they needed any stickers, art prints, or greeting cards. All of them said yes, and I now display art on Park City’s Main Street!
I’m all for shrinking aspirational projects down to a manageable size, but lately I’ve been really craving a huge picture book project. I recently finished a dummy book for the first time since grad school and found the process really satisfying.
In order to make said dummy book actually happen, I had to set myself a hard deadline for completion. I signed up for an SCBWI conference where I planned to exhibit the dummy as part of my portfolio. I don’t know if I would have finished it without that deadline. Though we rail and complain against them, deadlines are secretly our friend.
I learned that cruises are the worst vacation in the world (unless you like vacationing in a floating communist society, trapped and forced to lay around eating all day).
I realized that I make many artistic discoveries while drawing in public, which is a lot harder to do the the states. In the UK I could sit on the church steps and easily draw people, animals, and architecture for hours. In the states I sit by the road and draw cars and houses. Where are all the people?
I discovered and fawned over the playfulness of Stepan Zavrel’s artwork at The Bologna Book Fair.
I learned how to change the brakes and rotors in my car. It’s surprisingly easy and feels like a skill everyone should learn.
I learned that my husband is pretty good at wrangling cows.
I decided that Instagram doesn’t deserve any more than my leftover time and effort. Professionally I find much more satisfaction sharing long-form videos, blogposts, and newsletters. An Instagram post doesn’t do it for me anymore.
I learned that I really struggle to be on vacation longer than a week. While exploring new cities and relaxing is fun, I need to work on something.
While helping a local artist with a mural, I learned about typography and the process of transferring type onto walls. I’ve always been interested in type, and am always trying to slip hand-lettering into my children’s book projects.
I got full-body chills at the Minerva Teichart art exhibit at the LDS Church History Museum in Salt Lake City. Her life was even more inspiring than her artwork. Minerva was one of the first women ever to get an MFA. After her studies, she married her husband and together started a cattle ranch in Idaho. She would nail huge canvases to the walls and work on them in-between helping with farm chores and raising five kids. Sometimes she let them paint sections of her artwork. If I could be her, I would. But I can’t, so I stand in front of her paintings and cry.
I experienced a creative slump in August, mainly due to the lack of motivation that accompanies sickness. I learned that if I don’t feel one-hundred percent physically, everything else slips.
I learned on a horse pack trip that three-year-old colts are not to be underestimated.
I learned that without a project, I feel lost. Sitting down and painting “whatever I want” is terrifying to me. If you’re like me, doing art challenges is a good cure. Though I’ve never actually completed “Inktober” or the “100 Day Drawing Challenge,” they’re a great starting-point for people staring down a blank page.
I actually really enjoy going to Regional SCBWI Conferences (Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators). Illustration is a very solitary career, and it’s nice to be reminded there are others around.
I realized that I actually kind of miss living out of a suitcase (I know). Mostly I miss regularly using everything I own. In the UK I wore more creative outfits, used every single sketchbook, and ruthlessly rejected unnecessary purchases. Basically I miss minimalism.
While we’re talking about it, I realized I really miss grad-school. There’s nothing like having a structured environment that spurs quick creative progress. I struggle to maintain that level of work without the accountability of professors and classmates. Ugh, I love school so much.
I discovered Mindy Pelz’s book, Fast Like a Girl. This is the health book I wish I’d had as a teenager going through the whiplash mood-swings of puberty. I wish every mother, sister, father, and brother had this book to understand the unique physiology women are born with. Because of Fast Like a Girl, I now honor my monthly hormone fluctuations with my diet and lifestyle.
Every week in my Sunday church-meetings I do observational drawings depicting the people around me. This year I started sharing my doodles with the people I capture and enjoy watching them laugh at themselves.
I started buying (hoarding) children’s books this year. Of all the stories on my shelf, my current favorite is easily The First Cat In Space Ate Pizza. Written by Mac Barnett and his childhood best friend Shawn Harris, it is possibly the only graphic novel funnier than the Calvin and Hobbes comics. The First Cat In Space Ate Pizza is now required reading for my future kids.
Overall I learned that the ups and downs of creation is the adventure of a lifetime. Sew that dress you’ve been wanting. Write that manuscript you’ve been stewing over. Make an edible self-portrait out of cheese and crackers. There’s nothing more rewarding than creating a project/relationship/life you’re proud of.
Thanks for reading!
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