New Year! New Space! My first goal of the year was a tiny one. To make a space to play creatively. My family shares an office where I have a computer and a new Wacom tablet (Merry Christmas to me from hubby) to finalize pieces with. But I realized after watching a workshop Storyteller’s Academy workshop given by Vanessa Brantley Newton, that I needed a place to sketch, paint and play to get my creative juices flowing.
So I carved out space in my… (wait for it) bedroom closet. I got a desk from Michael’s and gathered my supplies and some inspiration. I’ll be adding more of that as time goes on, but here is glimpse of my tiny space, which represents a tiny goal accomplished. I know other goals will probably involve more of a process to come to fruition, so this is a nice treat at the top of a new year and decade.
To keep myself inspired, I also decided to include some of my favorite children’s books authors and illustrators:
1. The Giving Tree, because Shel Silverstein and me (and my mom) go way back. We used to read his poetry together and I always loved his exaggerated illustrations.
2. One Love illustrated by Vanessa Brantley Newton, a prolific illustrator of more than 85 books! I absolutely love her work. My mom gifted my kids this one and Every Little Thing before she passed some years ago. Both books are illustrated versions of the famous Bob Marley songs by the same name.
3. The Best Time of Day written by Valerie Flournoy and illustrated by George Ford. Was my favorite book growing up, because it was the first time I remember seeing a black family like mine in a book. I’m sure you see a theme here, but I absolutely loved when my mom and I used to read this book, because like the main character, coming home and spending time with my parents really was the best time of day. Unfortunately, this one is out of print and I actually had to hunt it down from a previous owner on Amazon. But now I have it to cherish and share with my daughter’s every now and then.
4. Similarly, The Snowy Day, by Ezra Jack Keats was like a friend of the family. My mom and I loved this cute little boy in his collage-filled, patterned world.
5. Island Born written by Junot Diaz and illustrated by Leo Espinosa is just gorgeousness on so many levels. I love Leo’s style, colors, and characters so much.
Speaking of tiny goals. The idea for this actually came from Lilla Rogers at Make Art That Sells. She posted this magical armadillo worksheet, that really resonated with me. I did a couple of versions until I could look at it and smile. My first version actually made my chest feel tight when I looked at it. It took some meditation to understand why, but I realized it was because the goals felt like far too much pressure; pressure that I was placing on myself to make a lot happen in too short of a time span. So I refined my goals. I swapped them with milestones that would lead me to my original goals in a way that felt more fun, light and most importantly doable. Here is a photo of my armadillo sheet.
So how about you, do you have any tiny goals you’re working toward? Are are they all really big?
