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What happens when we truly commit to something, set ourselves up to succeed by being accountable to others, and show up regardless of what might be getting in our way? Much more than we could have expected is often the answer, at least that has been my experience, and seems to be the experience of many others that have done the same. As I write this I am on the final day of the 30 Day Sketchbook Challenge. I started this Challenge as a way to help me reacquaint myself with my studio after a break and invited any other artists that also wanted a Challenge like this to join me. The response was unexpected, and welcome. I had a wonderful group of artists from all over – including many that were familiar with my coaching work and many others that were not – join together and form a supportive and encouraging Community. Each day we have shared our work and thoughts on Facebook, Instagram and in my private Groups. It has grown beyond any reach I had imagined possible, and that became a strong, driving connection to continue day after day. I’m so incredibly grateful to all the artists that dedicated 30 days of their creative lives to this Challenge and offered me so much feedback and support along the way. I know that by travelling together we gave each other added strength to make it to the finish line. Some may continue, while others are catching up. Either way you can ride the wave of this energy to where you want to go. You have a community behind you and along side you...cheering you on. Throughout the 30 Days I shared my work and my thoughts about what was arriving for me – what I was investigating and bumping up against. I haven’t shared this openly before about my process and I so appreciate the many comments and emails about how much this resonated for you. Thank you so much. Today I am reflecting further on what this Challenge has given me, as one last sharing and offering for you. I want to talk about the Sketchbook Mindset and how I believe this mindset tells us everything we need to know about making our art. I have known the gifts of having a dedicated sketchbook practice for some time, but this practice and commitment went even deeper and I have been considering why that is and what allowed it to be such a powerful practice for so many artists. And, I’d love to hear your thoughts on this as well. One of the things that I have been asked about is how to leverage this practice and use it to inform our studio work. So let’s unpack this a bit and then see what strategies can be used.
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