Each day in October, I received an email with a creative prompt/assignment. My job was to interpret the prompt however I liked and share a photo of what I did.
In this community of online sharing, I not only felt obligated to keep up with my daily post, but also I felt motivated but all of the other creative spirits going through the same experience as me. It was a lot of fun seeing what others came up with given the same assignment - almost like being back in school but way more fun and relaxed.
I combined this challenge with my Afros365 challenge of creating Afros for a year. This in some ways limited some of my ideas and I ended up, on some of the assignments, doing two creatives for those days. In some ways, limiting myself hindered my efforts because I was trying so hard to "make it work" for both challenges. I had to just let it go and do two.
I learned a lot about challenging myself and completing tasks. I learned that life is short. You start off thinking a month is a long time, but how quickly it goes by, especially when you are having fun. I also learned, and am still learning, that I was able to keep my motivation for this project and Afros365 because I love crafting more than I love art. I don't know what this means for the future of my art but I am enjoying the ride.
DAY 1 DREAM SMALL. People who aspire to do great things can change the world. Having big goals is a wonderful way to find purpose in your work. However, Big Ideas and Big Goals can be daunting or worse, completely paralyzing. That's why it is important to begin with something small.
Make something that fits in the palm of your hand using only the materials in your immediate environment.
DAY 2 Make something inspired by or using the letters of your first name (or your initials if you prefer).
DAY 3 Give a face to something that normally doesn't have one.
DAY 4 Make something with the contents of your pockets or bag.
DAY 5 Make a container, something that can hold something else.
DAY 6 PERFECTION IS OVERRATED. Probably one of the biggest creative stumbling blocks is our need for getting things right. The reality is that treating your creations as precious little things to protect keeps you from the world of possibilities that comes from trying new things out, making mistakes, and getting things wrong. Make something with your eyes closed.
DAY 7 Make something inspired by a guilty pleasure.
DAY 8 Recreate or interpret a work of art you admire.
DAY 9 Break something and make something new with the parts
DAY 10 Make something inspired by your favorite childhood game.
DAY 11 Work with the unexpected. When you are trying to make something and it doesn’t come out the way you want we are inclined to label it a mistake or a failure, or junk. But what if we change the semantics of that and say its unexpected results. There’s opportunity in unexpected results, you can learn from that and at the end of the day that is where you will find innovative new solutions. Spill something and make something with or inspired by the mess.
DAY 12 Choose any activity you normally do today and do it backwards.
DAY 13 Use the front page of a newspaper or cover of a magazine as materials or source of inspiration, today.
DAY 14 Walk for 5 minutes without any specific destination in mind, make something with or inspired by whatever is available where you end up.
DAY 15 Learn about something that happened today in history and make something inspired by it.
DAY 17 Give It Away. It may sound counter-intuitive, but you get a lot from giving things away. And this relates not only to things but ideas and even simply opening a door and inviting people into your working process, sharing your practice and methodology. Doing this is essential to building an engaged and invested community around your work. Teach us how to do something.
DAY 18 Make something and trade it for something you want.
DAY 19 Make something for another #CreativeSprint-er.
DAY 20 Find a creative way to give someone a compliment.
DAY 21 Make something and send it snail mail to someone.
DAY 22 Make a Fool of Yourself. At some point in our lives we’ve probably been told not to make a fool of ourselves, but the fact is that’s one of the most effective ways to get inspiration! Fear of rejection and fear of embarrassment—these are the ephemeral enemies of our creativity. Make a mustache and get a photo of yourself wearing it in public.
DAY 23 Go outside and make a shrine to nature - leave it for someone to find.
DAY 24 Break a rule.
DAY 25 Make whatever you want but do it in a public place - park, library, coffee shop - get someone to take a photo of you doing it!
DAY 26 Create a frame, using any materials. Take it with you wherever you go and use it to capture anything you view as beautiful.
DAY 29 Ask someone to start something for you to finish.
DAY 30 Make a trophy and award it to yourself!
