Annual accountability post and word of the year.

 

It's a good thing I have some time between Monday Murals and T Stands For Tuesday, because it's time for my annual accountability review. 

Due to welcoming Art Journal Journey's new host, Second on the 2nd, and Monday Murals, I had to push this post back until today.  

It's once again time for my annual accountability post.  This is the one where I see how well I did the previous year, and how well I think I might do in the coming year.

Let's begin with my word for 2020, which was Simplify.

When I chose this word for 2020, I had no idea how prophetic it truly was.  Not only did my life get simpler, so did my art and my thinking.  I simplified many things I had enjoyed in the past, like eating out with my foodie friend Sally, or spending time with my no-name-no-photos group, or spending my summer with my three young friends who now live in California.  Now that I have Zoom installed on my computer, I can at least type messages to my friends who can't see me, but I can see them.

 

There were no trips to JoAnn's for art supplies or fabric in 2020, either.  I had to make due with what I have, and believe me, I have plenty.  The only thing I really need is glue and gesso.  I often substitute thread and machine stitching for glue and old paint I've picked up in the past from my Household Hazardous Waste Facility for gesso.  Since I'm an Earth Day baby, I have learned to make due with what I have.

I've had my Word of Year picked out for three months, then waffled back and forth between two words.  I tried to figure out how to show them both together.

My word for the year is HOPE.

 

I ended up darkening it a bit so you could see the home, too.  I apologize because my laser printer is about out of ink.

These definitions were taken from The American Heritage Dictionary:

intransitive verb: 1) To wish for a particular event that one considers possible.  2) To desire and consider possible. 

noun: 1) The longing or desire for something accompanied by the belief in the possibility of its occurrence. 2) An instance of such longing or desire. 3) A source of or reason for such longing or desire.

 I HOPE you can see why I chose this word and how it will apply to my life as it revolves around my home until this pandemic has been put to bed.

 

As for accountability, let's see my accountability intentions I made on January 3, 2020 and how well I did.

1. Continue to make art that I hope some will find meaningful and show the process along the way.
Old habits die hard, so this one I tried to adhere to, but sometimes I made art late at night and the craft room was so dark, it was hard to take process shots.  Whenever I could, I showed the process.  Whether I showed the step-out photos or not, I always explained how I created each page, tag, or object.

2. Create at least one tutorial each month.
These seem to be popular, so I've continued my monthly tutorials on the second Thursday of each month, although I've been a bit slow at times.  Now that I've joined Rain's Thursday Art Date, I've had a bit of trouble deciding when to show my Tutorials.  I may have to change days of the week.  During April, I created several tutorials because I was often working with materials I don't normally use.  They make up for my missing December, 2020.

3.  Interview one artist over the course of the year. 
I asked people to share recycled art this year during April, but I didn't interview a single person.  I really MUST try harder in 2021.

 

4. Continue to dye fabric in my own different and unique way
This was another no-brainer.  I love dyeing fabric and I'm always on the lookout for new ways to dye fabric using nontraditional eco-friendly dyes.  Some of you saw how different mordants and additives changed the look of cabbage water when I dyed various fabrics, mostly cotton muslin.  You also saw how old grape juice doesn't give you lavender, but brown instead.  I suspect you'll see more over-dyeing this year, too.  I have several pieces I want to dye a second time, since they didn't turn out as well as they initially could have.

 

5. Sort, sort, sort.  
It's an ongoing process, but I have two craft areas to keep clean, one of which is my main floor craft area, and one my basement studio.  You can't imagine the number of bags of trash and recyclables I got rid of in my basement studio that weren't good enough to donate.  Most were water damaged, and I was worried if I kept them, they would gather mold, which I definitely don't want.  Several bags of products that were usable, I donated to the grade school and the Goodwill.  The good news is, I found the punch I was looking for in 2020 in my craft room closet and did a happy dance when I found it.

 

6. Create four abstracts. 
This was one I struggled with and made it a priority.  My abstracts aren't as good as some I've seen on the internet, but I made four I can loosely call abstracts.

 

7. Redo my gardens.   
I found a decent place for my herbs, even allowing my friend and grocery shopper  Scott to buy new and different herbs last spring.  I completely got rid of my veggie garden.  It is now a nature preserve (or at least that's what I'm calling it).  I still need to finish concentrate on my front flower bed.  

 

That is exactly what I plan to do again this year.  I hope to hold myself accountable to these same seven goals I set in January, 2020.  These are NOT meant to be thought of as stressful, and they are certainly not resolutions.  Resolutions are soon broken about the third week in January.   I know some people like to roll with the flow, but I am a very organized person and I need certain guides in my life to keep me on track.  This blog is my day job, even though it is non-paying.

1. Continue to make art that I hope some will find meaningful and show the process along the way.
I don't think I'll have any trouble living up to this one.

2. Create at least one tutorial each month.
I will continue to create a new tutorial each month on the second week of the month, more than likely Wednesday, although it is getting harder and harder to come up with new ideas given my limited tools and products.  I plan to explore more ways to play with Lutrador, but that is not a product every person has, or even has access to.  Any and all suggestions will be greatly appreciated for tutorials you would like to see.

 

3.  Interview one artist over the course of the year.
I plan to be more proactive in 2021 and ask several of my friends if I can interview them.  I'm hoping at least one will accept.

 

4. Continue to dye fabric in my own different and unique way
I keep watching for different ideas on ways to rust, but there are only so many ways you can rust fabric.  I have created a lot of resist dyed fabrics.  But I must learn different ways to use products I have on hand or ones that are easily available to me in order to come up with new ways to dye fabric.  Suggestions are always welcome in this area, too, because I don't plan on going shopping any time soon.

 

5. Sort, sort, sort.  
On my list of areas to clean and declutter for 2021 is the small dresser in my craft room.  It holds all kinds of ribbon, fancy fibers, and rick rack. 
 
6. Create four abstracts. 
I realize my abstracts aren't always pure abstracts, but I plan to work on a couple in my basement studio as winter sets in hard, making it difficult to craft in my freezing main floor craft room. 

 

7. Redo my front garden. 
I need to spend some quality time in my flower bed this year.  That was one area I didn't work on as I had planned.   About the only thing I did in 2020 was move three Rose of Sharon bushes when I tried to hide that ugly fence my neighbor put up.  I may need to enlist my friend Scott's help, because my back tells me I can't lift and dig like I was able to even a year ago.

 

And, although it isn't on the list, I want to create a bug/bee motel for my "wild preserve" (AKA my old veggie garden) sometime this year.  I have all the materials, except lumber, so I don't know what I'm waiting for.  Surely I can find some lumber scraps somewhere in my basement studio.

Of course, you'll have to wait till January, 2022 to see how well I did in 2021.  Thanks for stopping by and seeing how well, or not so well I did in 2020.  Personally, I was quite pleased with the progress I made.  Any and all suggestions for new tutorials and fabric dyeing will be greatly appreciated, too.  And remember, please.  These are not stress inducing, but, because I like to be organized, these are important prompts to keep me on track.