Next Steps and the importance of leaving breadcrumbs

So I've now had a chance to observe myself while being more creatively engaged than I have been for a long time. It's been interesting. And kind of suprising. And kind of unsurprising, too.

The Good Stuff:

My visual/design diary

For the first time in my life I'm actually using a design diary for its intended purpose. This completely amuses me. I was the student in my high school art class who finished their final project on the last day before it was due, then stayed up all night making ficticious (and backdated) alternative designs in my design development diary. (The point was to make it look like I'd followed correct process and actually thought about my work. The irony was that the stuff was often much better that what I had actually ended up doing as a final piece). Anyway, using a visual diary as a way of playing and experimenting is happening naturally these days. Who knew it was actually a useful tool? :D

Enjoying the process

Even though I've just been inching along, i've really enjoyed doing something creative each day. The project I'm working on at the moment is quite lenghthy, but it's been good to see it emerge a little bit at a time.

Stuff looks good

I'm happy that my technical creative aptitude hasn't deserted me. I've been really glad that what I've been working on has been pleasing to my eyes.

Leaving myself breadcrumbs

I've really been enjoying the fact that I've been leaving myself a trail of breadcrumbs to follow with my projects. This makes it easy to fit in small bits of creative work because I know where I"m up to and know what the next step is. And often the next step is just simple execution. So I feel like this is something that's really working for me! Wunderbar!

Seeing things grow

Even if it's happening slowly I"m getting such a kick out of seeing my projects unfold bit by bit. Very satisfying!

The Hard Stuff

Filling in forms

At times it's felt like what I"m doing (particularly with the felt house project) has been a lot like filling in a form. The design element has been quite small compared to the time spent on execution (embroidery). Plus sometimes when I'm doing something at the end of a day just before bed I feel like I'm just ticking a box. I'm glad that the box is getting ticked, because it's a milestone and also moves my project forward, but it still feels forced at times.

Hitting roadblocks

I've realised that certain steps of the creative process act as roadblocks to me. Often they're technical issues that I"m not sure how to resolve. At other times they're choices that need to be made, and I can't decide what to decide. I find this pretty frustrating, though I'm getting better at recognising when I'm standing at a roadblock.

Record keeping

I suck at it. I hate keeping track of what I've done each day. Or rather, I don't mind it (when I remember it!) but I hate reporting on it here! Especially when it's like the last 10 days has been... the same project worked on for small snippets of time each day. There's not much impetus to write about what I've been doing when it's repetitive.

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It's late and I need to hit the hay. I'll be back soon(ish) to post pics of where I"m at and do a proper check-in. Till then, I'll just keep chipping away!