My January art calendar

Even though these pages are not finished, I decided it was time to show them. I would have done so earlier, but I had hoped to redo the pages. Sadly, my time is too crowded at the moment to change them.

I started this art calendar on a whim. I decided to join after I saw several of my art friends doing this, and since I admire Kate and her art so much, I wanted to join.


I believe I need to explain these pages a bit. Those of you who don't know me, I'm NOT into journaling. In fact, I can't even write. I type. I can't doodle. I can't draw even simple shapes. Never have been able to. Even with this handicap, and knowing my limitations, I jumped in with both feet, but left my brain behind.

I'm an engineer. I can design a widget to put into a wadget. But for some reason, I couldn't design a calendar. See that mess at the bottom of the pages? That is where I removed one entire week's worth of squares. For some reason, I got all confused when I made the column on the right first, then the one on the left, next. Why I did this is beyond me. But when I started adding the numbers, I found I had added an extra week. So, this must be my "learning curve" month, I guess.


The left side shows I started out trying to be creative, then the whole thing began to fall apart when I lost electrical power, then my pipes froze, then my basement flooded, then my basement stairs collapsed. I have not caught up since then.


I plan to replace the "drips" on the right side with an image of a water faucet dripping water. I know I have one somewhere, but looking for it will take time and the return of my images from storage. Until then, I have just drawn some drips, which is what this month was all about.


Now it's on to my February pages.

Things I learned in January:
1. Use a real calendar page to get correct placement.
2. Don't decorate the pages until the end of the month, then base the page design on what is going on in my life that month.
3. Write each day's prompt when my hands are at their best, so my writing or printing is legible.
4. Learn to write small.
5. Be flexible

Thanks go to Kate at The Kathryn Wheel for allowing me to join this project. I hope to do better next month. I welcome ANY and all comments, tips, and ideas for making this calendar better and easier.