15 Journals…
I can’t believe that I’ve finished 15 journals. Amazing! And the 16th one will be hand-bound. I’ve also reorganized my personal library, so my journals are now on the top shelf next to my desk.
Goals for 2014–May Update
Poems read: 479/365
Poems written: 237/365
Short stories read: 304/365
Short stories written: 13/52
Books read: 46/52
Submissions: 3/24
Videos made: 9/100
Sketches made: 100/365
Art pieces made: 29/52
- Bookbinding–made 21 books this year
- Sketching–in progress!
- Ink drawings–in progress!
- Urban Sketching
- Charcoal
- Markers–in progress!
- Watercolor–in progress!
- Acrylic
- Finger paint
- Digital–in progress!
- Joseph Cornell boxes
- Warhol Project
- Photography–in progress!
- Music composition
- Mail art–in progress!
- Quilting
- Knitting–in progress!
- Cake Decorating–in progress!
- Origami–in progress!
- Cooking–in progress!
Reward or Bribe?
I’ve tried numerous reward systems over the last year. I can earn points for each completed task, and cash in on a prize, usually a new round of books I’ve been wanting. But what about game time? I do enjoy playing video games once in a while, even though I’m not very good. So I purchased some new games. The reward system has also been useful as a bribe to get myself to do more writing and art time. So far it has worked. For the last 6 weeks I’ve worked on writing and art for an average of 40 hours. I’ve tracked my writing minutes for the last 30 weeks. My average is 34 hours a week. Not bad. Not bad at all.
This week I’m reorganizing my personal library and my writing and art materials. I found some more poetry projects. What if I did multiple reads of the Declaration of Independence to see how many cross out poems I can write? When I did a cross out poetry workshop at Winter Wheat, I had leftover books. So there are even more cross out poems in my future!
New Sidebound Techniques
I purchased bookbinding books to learn some new techniques. I was happy to discover new sewing methods for the side-bound book, one of my favorite book designs. These books were made with instructions from “Volume 1: Non Adhesive Binding: Books without Paste or Glue” by Keith A. Smith.
-
- Tortoise Shell Binding
-
- Hemp Leaf Binding
-
- Japanese 4-hole binding adapted to two holes
-
- Noble Binding
-
- Japanese 4-hole binding adapted to two holes
-
- Nobel Binding
Poetry Project Update
Poetry Project #6:
I’ve been working with cut-out poems from Nightwish lyrics since November 2012. Recently I finished “Angels Fall First” and “Oceanborn.” The remaining lyrics have been printed.
Poetry Project #7:
What if you could find poetry in TV or movie dialogue? I’m watching Firefly episodes, searching for poems. I have five episodes to go.
Poetry Project #8:
What is love? I’m reading books about love. On my list: “Symposium” by Plato, “Mastery of Love” by Don Luis Miguel, and “Not a Match: My True Tales of Online Dating Disasters” by Brian Donovan. If you would like to suggest reading material, please comment below!
Trello
One of my writing friends introduced me to Trello, and it has been a useful tool to organize my writing and art projects. I’ve also started the Artist’s Way course again. My daily writing and art is going well. Finally on a seven-day streak of writing and making art every day. Happy National Poetry Month!
Taking Time
It is good to hear that other writers also write bad drafts at the beginning of a project. This post by Avi was a helpful reminder. It takes time to cultivate a good story.
Daily Writing, Daily Art Update
I have made progress with making Daily Writing, Daily Art a habit. Out of 28 days, I was able to do both for 16 days. Not quite a habit yet, but it is getting there. With new stories and art projects in the works, it’s exciting to work on writing and art more often.
Suzanna and Writing 