{Art} A Year of Creative Habits

“Creativity is contagious, pass it on” – Albert Einstein

I'd pretty much sworn off yearlong challenges ages ago. The pressure is too much for me. The disappointment I feel when I miss a day wasn't worth anything I "might" get from the process. And mostly, I'd get bored with the project after a month or so. So, when I stumbled onto A Year of Creative Habits community, I was surprised that I had any interest in the project.

Basically — if you accept the challenge — you do something (anything) creative each day for a year. But they don't tell you what to do or how to do it ... that's all up to you. It can be as big or as little as you like. Not having strict parameters might be what sold me on the idea. Just about anything could count and it was more about the process and less about the outcome.

I picked watercolors to be my medium because they're portable. I have no real background in watercolors, aside from a few online courses and a couple of short, in-person group classes. What really prompted me what being in Idaho without art supplies in December. At my parents' ranch in Idaho, there is a lot of disconnecting going on. We rest. We walk outside. We talk on the porch. So, after a little bit of time up there, I was a little bored. When we went to town one day, I bought a cheap set of watercolors and a pad of paper. That was all I needed (of course, I've collected more supplies since then, but you really don't need more than that to get started).

In a perfect world, I could pack my encaustic supplies in a tote and take them with me where ever I go, but that's not happening. I travel enough with work and personal fun travel that I need to have something portable if I'm going to do it every day. So far this year, I've painted at home; in a Phoenix hotel room; in a Santa Monica AirBnB; on an airplane ... all sorts of fun places.

And guess what? I'm loving it. Like seriously loving it. I read somewhere that creativity breeds creativity. The more you create, the more ideas you have. I know that in the past I've struggled with this idea ... I've been worried to try things or create what's in my head in fear that I'd run out of ideas. Totally not the case. I've been flooded with ideas and never seem to be at a loss for something new to try. It's intoxicating and what's propelling me forward (hopefully I'll feel the same way at day 256!).

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If you want to follow along with my Year of Creative Habits, head on over to my Instagram. I'm tagging all my creations with #kimberlyscreativehabit.