"Take 5" was just the kick in the ass I needed : why art prompts are my new resolution.

Every September I throw myself into homeschooling my two sons (now aged 11 and 14) and believe me, that's a full time job.  By October I start working on all the hand made Christmas gifts I create, which usually means spending about 4 hours a day sitting on the right side of my couch knitting like a mad woman: socks, hats, scarves, fingerless mittens and even sweaters for those dearest to me.  By November I can't rememebr where I put the keys to my studio and by December I've forgotten that I'm even an artist. Is it any wonder that when I break into my studio in Januaury it looks like this?

An alarming mix of blank canvases, abandoned tools and half finished works. Where do I even begin?  This year I have decided to embrace art prompts.  In the latest issue of Cloth, Paper, Scissors there is a wonderful list of 52 art prompts; one for each week of the year. I'm going to randonly choose one every Friday and see what I can make of it. I'll even blog about it every Saturday morning so you can get inspired too.

Week 1: "Take 5"  Go to your studio and choose the nearest 5 objeccts to you and create art with it.  Here's what I started with: a cradled panel, red paper, a scrabble game, glass shards,and a photo of one of my favorite dogs taken by my photographer friend Mar Lovejoy.

I know not every thing I create will become worthy of showing and selling.  I had to decide right away that wasn't the point.  The point of art prompts is to get me out in the studio in the first place and to kick start a weekend of creative frenzy. The piece will be finished later today, but here's how it's coming out so far.





So if your muse has left you, try some art prompts.  Start with taking 5!