Goodbye March, Hello April

What I learned, What Inspired Me, and What I'm bringing with Me into April

Creative Possibilities/Issue #14

It’s hard to believe another month of 2024 has already flown by. In today’s newsletter I’m taking a look back at my creative life in March. I’d love to hear your own reflections in the comments.

What's one thing I’ve learned this month about the creative process?
I’ve learned that when I don’t give up, I usually find a way through.

I hit plenty of walls this month with both my writing and my visual art. For one, this newsletter has been a bit of a bear to wrestle with. The words have been slow to show up and even then I’ve struggled to decide if I’m on the right track.

In March, I took a two week class on Urban Landscape Sketching. Taking that class was a roller coaster of ups and downs. One day I wasn’t happy with anything I did, the next day I felt like I was making huge strides. The only thing that really worked when I got stuck was to take a break (sometimes for an hour, sometimes for a day) and then to keep going. As I put the finishing touches on several sketches for the class I felt like I ruined a few of my favorites. In reality, I was learning from every pen mark and brush stroke, even the ones I didn’t like.

Here’s one of the landscapes that I felt satisfied with by the end.

Based on a photo that my oldest daughter took while on a trip to Venice last year

The transformation of this self-portrait collage is another example of what can happen when I don’t give up.

I was initially pleased with several elements in this collage. In fact, I kept thinking about making those two bird portraits into real art for my walls. But it didn’t feel—done.

Looking at the work of Anne Marie Grgich, a guest artist in the year-long class that I’m taking, reminded me there could be more visual interest in the background. So I cut everything out and grabbed a piece of a cereal box that I’d prepped and painted for another project but had never used. Cutting up the original collage allowed me to change the composition and the background until I was satisfied.

Giving a piece every possible chance to succeed has worked for writing this month as well. I’ve often heard “the only way out is through” and that’s a pretty good summary of my creative life in March.

What about you? What did you learn about your creative process in March?

What inspired me this month?
My daughter has inspired me this month. Just look at these cats she’s been working on in her spare time based on her own cat, Chirp.

In addition to being a full-time nurse, she’s working constantly on her art business.

A few days ago she sat down with me to look through my art and offer me suggestions on what would work well for prints, stickers, tote bags, and more.

I’ve also been inspired by the work of artist Ben Shahn. I love his bold lines, unexpected line choices and quirky subject matter. I loosely copied a few of his sketches to get a better sense of his work.

Though you may not be able to see the connections, my copying session led me to translate a family photo into these bold lines and colors. It also influenced some aspects of the design of my visual journal for the month of April.

What about you? What inspired your creative life this month?

What's one thing I’m bringing into April?
In February I started a visual journaling project meant to capture the month with one small picture or word per day.

In March I continued the practice, adjusting the grid based on what I’d learned from previous one. I decided the grid needed more cohesive colors so I set up the two-page spread at the beginning of the month with color blocks of blue, green, and yellow. Great colors for the start of Spring!

Finished Visual Journal Page for March

When April arrived it was time to decide if I wanted to continue this idea for another month. I’ll be honest, I had trouble deciding whether I was pressuring myself to keep going or whether the project still felt like an invitation.

A few nights ago when I sat down to prepare my April page I really didn’t have a plan. Then I got an idea— I could ditch the grid, add some background color, and continue the daily drawings and words throughout the month. Without the grid, I would be free to skip some days because it wouldn’t leave any blank boxes.

The plan renewed my excitement for working on the page over the next month.

What about you? What's one thing from your creative life that will continue into February?

I tend to think I’m not getting enough done but when I take the time to look back over the month I’m always surprised, and usually encouraged, by what I find.

I hope you keep making things this month!

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Continue the Journey

In case you missed it—To Play, to Savor, To Learn: A Tour of Why We Make Things

April is National Poetry Month and here’s something I wrote last year after attending a workshop with Pádraig Ó Tuama entitled, Why Poems.

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Blessings from the Guest Nest,

Aimee

P.S.—Thanks so much for reading! You can support the writing and art I share each week by donating to my art supply fund.

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