2010 in Review

Happy New Year! 

It's hard to believe that 2010 is already over! With another year gone, it's time to look back and see what has been accomplished. 

Last January, I set one main goal: to remember to make art. 

At very least, it was important to remember to make time for art in my life. With my very broad personal definition of art (pretty much any form of creative expression), the odds of meeting this goal were strongly in my favor.

Shortly after setting this goal, I took up the #dailysketch project. The "daily" part was soon abandoned as I found flaws in the plan and other activities upon which to expend my energy and time.

In February, my new camera was given a trial-by-confetti-fire in Manhattan's Chinese New Year parade.

 

Through the winter to mid-summer, I took to crafting - picking up knitting for the first time in years and teaching myself to crochet. I indulged in some crafty geekery (documented in more detail here), joined Ravelry, and this blog started to see a trickle of regular visitors thanks to some very kind cross-blog promotion by the Pixelated Mushroom.

I also tried my hand at cake decoration, using colored marshmallow fondant. The Great Cake Decoration Experiment taught me three things:

1. Kneading fondant, even marshmallow fondant, is HARD. (My arms and hands were quite sore for the days that followed)
2. The people who decorate gorgeous cakes for a living must be incredibly patient as well as talented.
3. I don't really like how marshmallow fondant tastes.

 

 

The Cake is [not] a lie

2010 was not a great year for my involvement in audio drama activities as I generally stayed behind the scenes and did not do much. However, I did cheer from the sidelines as I saw my friends over at the 4077th get themselves up and running. 

Art appreciation was also high on my to-do list, in the form of visits to proper art venues, such as the Museum of Modern Art and the Denver Art Museum....

 

The Denver Art Museum has one of the most vertigo-inducing 

architectures I have ever encountered.

And a horse on a giant chair.

 

Not actually from the Denver Museum of Art -

just a statue in Denver.

Other instances were merely exercises in thinly-veiled geekery combined with the opportunity to meet in person various artists and creative people I admire and enjoy.

I even got to thank Neil Gaiman for his part in inspiring this!

Perhaps appropriately, given that it was technology and the Internet that led me to the articles and quotes that got me thinking about creative endeavors, that technology has helped keep me engaged in discovering new outlets which are likely to keep this effort going into the next year and, hopefully, onward.

For instance, pointed towards the SketchbookX app on the iPhone by the guys at DarkMojo Productions, I learned that working on the #dailysketch project was only as difficult as pulling out the phone I have with me all the time.

 Drawn and colored on the subway using my fingers and a phone!

We truly live in the future.

 Twitter has also put me in contact with a new collaborator, Julio Angel Ortiz, whose writings are being released in e-book format. I am helping him with covers for his stories about Palequus and Peter, the ex-Reaper and cherub who go on paranormal, paratemporal adventures. The first story featuring a cover illustrated by me, Unnatural Time, was released a couple of weeks ago on Smashwords. It's fun and bizarre and a tiny bit Steampunky - great fun to draw!

In retrospect, 2010 has been an amazing year - I've created and indulged in more creative activity than I have in a long time. I am certain that part of it has been due to increased awareness, making the effort, making time. This coming year will be harder - in the next few months alone, I will need to finish and defend my dissertation proposal, get IRB clearance... Life will increasingly get in the way. 

I hope to keep the momentum going.

I hope to continue to find and make the time to make and appreciate things.

I hope that the things that need to be done get done and the things I want to have done can be too.

I hope that everyone has a happy new year!