Katie Jeanne Wood
Thank you 2023, Bye
 Gouache portrait painting

I’ve been reflecting back on 2023 for a couple weeks now, as most people do when a new year is approaching. I’ve pondered over whether I should or shouldn’t make resolutions, my word for the year, and the things I want to change, personally & within my art business in the coming year. 

I’ve even contemplated doing another 365 days of art challenge because I’ve seen other artists talking about starting it today. I think it sounds fun to do the challenge with other artists because when I did the 365 in 2017, I started on my birthday in July, alone. Now, looking back, a sense of community probably would have made it more interesting & easier in some ways.  

After giving it some thought, I’ve decided not to do the 365 challenge this year. The main reason being – I’m happy with the pace I’m creating, which is almost every day. I prefer having the freedom to take a day off here and there to recharge my creative battery, without guilt or feeling like a failure because I messed up a year long challenge.

I also don’t want to wreck my momentum by forcing myself to paint every day. I paint almost every day because I want to, not because I signed up for a challenge and have to create. 

I am only human, I am not a machine. We need to give ourselves breaks. It’s ok not to create. It’s ok not to post. If we don’t take breaks, our practice, whatever it may be, won’t bring us joy. And that’s why I started doing this in the first place. 

Quote from artist Jen Ament

That all said, the 365 day challenge that looks most interesting, and most doable to me is Adam Ming’s art journal challenge. He’s doing it the smart way by only committing to 10 mins a day, which is far more manageable than what I did back in 2017. I thought I’d tell you about it, in case you want to do it. 

If you feel up for the 10 min 365 day challenge Adam is doing, I’ll leave you with this hack that I used back in 2017. If you’re crunched for time, start creating at 11:50 pm, and stop at 12:10 the next day. That way, you can cross two days of the challenge off your calendar in one quick 20 min sitting. When I did the 365 challenge, I remember this hack saved me on days I had other work I had to get done. The drawback is you have to stay up until midnight to do it, so that might not work for you. 

I wish you a happy new year, and all the good stuff that hopefully comes your way this year. I’m going to leave you with this Neil Gaiman quote… 

I hope that in this year to come, you make mistakes. Because if you are making mistakes, then you are making new things, trying new things, learning, living, pushing yourself, changing yourself, changing your world. You’re doing things you’ve never done before, and more importantly, you’re doing something.

Neil Gaiman

PS: I’ll be sitting on the sideline, and cheering everyone on, so if you’re doing the 365 challenge, let me know.