Blog Anniversary, Progress and Goals
Warning: This is a long blog post, and written to give myself inspiration and focus for 2020. I started my blog on January 4, 2006 and I like to use the anniversary to review my annual Progress and set new Goals.
Art Progress 2019 and Goals 2020
My main goals are to develop better drawing and painting skills on paper, and dye-painting and surface design on fabric.
1. Take Classes to Keep Me Inspired and Motivated:
Progress:
I took classes again for 2 semesters this year at Fashion Institute of Technology (Experimental Screen Printing on Fabric and Fashion Art and Design), one course at Sketchbook Skool (People Drawing People) and a Collage Workshop by Joy Hecht for Urban Sketchers NYC. Last February I participated in Figuary - an online daily event with figure drawing instruction, followed by a video of a nude model in different poses and for different lengths of time.
Goals:
Take classes in the Spring and Fall Semesters at FIT and online classes in Sketchbook Skool.
Take surface design classes on fabric at The International Quilt Festival in Houston.
Participate in Prime Time classes at MoMA, when available, and other short classes planned by Urban Sketchers. Look for other classes, either online or locally, as they are announced.
2. Maintain a Community of Artist Friends
Progress: I met with artist friends in a variety of activities in NYC: Urban Sketchers NYC, Battery Park City Figure Al Fresco, and UWS Figure Drawing when my schedule permitted. In addition we attended many local museum and gallery exhibits, and art auction previews at Christies, Sothebys, and Swann..
Goals
Schedule art adventures throughout the year - to include museum visits, gallery visits, Master Drawing Week Gallery Hop, Art on Paper Exhibit in March, and Christies and Sothebys auction previews. Schedule regular sketching events in NYC with the groups listed above.
3. Deliberate Practice: Planned activities to practice specific skills
Progress: I had a list of planned activities and the only one I did with any regularity was drawing "figures in action" from photos after breakfast.
Goals: Same as 2019 - but hope to accomplish more.
Continue the Line of Action Drawings regularly. My main goal for 2020 is to draw as many bodies as possible, when moving, including dance and sports.
Participate in the June Urban Sketchers Challenge: Daily direct watercolor paintings.
Draw from my imagination at least once per week - in my special sketchbooks.
Continue to draw hands and feet in a dedicated sketchbook at least once per month.
4. Bookbinding
Progress:
I made cased-in 140 lb watercolor sketchbooks for my daily sketching and two recycled books with watercolor paper (for summer travel and a trip to Paris).
In October 2018 I started teaching a friend how to bind books and we continued to meet monthly making the following book structures: Pamphlet Book, Double Pamphlet Book, Recycled Cased-in Watercolor Sketchbook, Accordion Book with watercolor paper, Cased-in Book with Watercolor paper, Coptic Book with watercolor paper, Long Stitch book with leather cover, Single Pamphlet Book in Boards, Quarter Round Cased-in Book, and a Portfolio. We also made Paste Paper and Gelli Plate Monoprints. After our first session making paste papers were able to study 4 historical collections of Paste Paper at the Metropolitan Museum of Art Watson Research Library!
Goals:
Learn to make at least one new book structure this year - a month of researching the structure and methods, then make at least 2. Several years ago I did this every month for 8 months, and loved it. I love Hedi Kyle's Panorama Book Structure and maybe it is time for me to buy her most recent book - The Art of the Fold.
Continue to make my daily and travel sketchbooks, and watch for any new bookbinding classes in NYC. I took a short bookbinding class and made a butterfly book at Hauser and Worth Gallery and would like to study this structure more.
Continue monthly bookbinding activities with my friend - a great student!
5. Special Project Ideas: I like to remain open to new challenges, and this list will shrink and grow as the year progresses.
Progress: The only goals I accomplished were drawing lots of figures in motion from photos and machine quilting my dye painted NYC skyline art quilt which is almost finished.
Goals:
Explore "drawing" line of action figures with my sewing machine and black thread. I started to explore this several years ago, and would like to play some more.
Make a scrap Christmas Quilt and use up lots of my fabrics that are leftover from years of Christmas projects. I started last year, cut out fabric squares, and will resume.
I usually look at this blog post several times during the year for inspiration and additional ideas.