This is the space for our members to discuss and share their creative projects, ranging from written works to drawings, photography, and even craft projects such as knitting and woodworking. Self promotion is welcome (websites where we can view and/or purchase your work). Please do continue to preface if content is NSFW and be sure to properly spoiler/link such content. Those of you who’d like to post future Creative Endeavors Threads post your request in the comments below.
So last week we had our (first?) big heatwave of the summer and I put into action my emergency plans to use the various libraries in town (switching between public and college) as workspaces when it was too hot to work in the house (I have a pretty sturdy window unit, but now I have my roommates’ electricity to think about as well as my own and DTE’s… well, DTE). I did this to a limited extent the past couple of summers, but that was more about getting away from online temptations and being able to use an actual workdesk of the kind I don’t actually own. Not that the online temptations don’t exist at the library, especially as I usually bring my iPad (particularly now that I’m trying to put a digital production schedule together), but it feels different.
I had a couple of pretty successful sessions, all told, and was able to play with some ideas around organizing my time, not least spending a set amount of time on specific works. I’ve always been a little leery of this—I feel like I do enough quantification of my work as it is, but that kind of stopwatch mentality feels antithetical to the way I think of art—to say nothing of life except for very specific conditions. On the other hand, given the circumstances—and as long as it isn’t an actual hard-and-fast thing—it worked pretty well in small doses and I was able to get a middling watercolor and most of an illustration done, as well as a pastel I’m pretty stoked about. Managed to get onto both oil and acrylic again as I had my home space open again, as well.
Last but not least—with a tip of the hat to Lydia—I finished another sketchbook! It’s always a great feeling when that happens, even if the planned finish wasn’t quite what I had in mind. Went to the Sleep Tight Tiger show at A2 Funhouse Thursday night and thought I might get a sketch of the band, but decided to cede the very small dance floor to the kids (once again, I was probably the only person there for the show over thirty, let alone forty or fifty) and concentrate on the atmospheric surroundings. The venue’s the old “dining room” of the downtown basement bar that’s gone through several owners over the years (I only recently remembered that I celebrated my 35th birthday there… a while back with a few friends; it was probably one of my stealth favorite memories) and it’s got a lot of personality (I’m not actually sure what its history is—probably ought to find out). Today’s header is one of several views of the bar I plan to do over the next several months if things work out.
How’s your work going?