I participated in this a few years ago and decided to again this year. My friend from the UK was doing it and that's how it reminded me, "Oh yeah.. I know what this is... I'll do it to!" It wasn't until the second giveaway day (on the 10th) that I realized that this was a UK thing. The giveaways were of UK based companies with winners only from the UK (or else had to pay shipping). No, not even the U in Day 01's prompt of FavoUrite tipped me off as that's how I also spell the word. Not a problem as most were building tools for your business which I'm not that serious about (plus The Sister and I no longer have an Etsy store and that was one prize, something to fancy it up and get you more business). It was still fun to participate and to see mainly non-Americans posting their stuff. Or how for Day 26 (self-care) a lot of photo's were of teas in or out of doors. Adorable. That's not something you'll find from an American really. But for this post I'll show you my personal journey through the month. Day 01;; Favourite To Make. I love creating collages. It's this fast-paced grab for images that spark something in me right in that second. No thinking. Then a picture comes alive. I also love putting my illustrated girls into the mix like with this piece; American Girl series - Redhead. Day 02;; How You Started. I'd always been drawing as far back as I can remember, but it really took off when I was about 9 or 10 repeatedly drawing mermaids (but the "pretty" kinds, not the more accurate folk-lore versions). From there I started drawing females & that's where we end up today with my art. Day 03;; Flatlay. The Elements together. These were originally five separate pieces and The Sister used for of them (half of four of them) for bath salt labels which turned out really great. Day 04;; Tools & Materials. I illustrate in ink & colour with a variety of markers; artist markers, regular, sharpie, but my favourite are the fine brush tipped watercolour markers (a few of which I've laid out). If collaging is to be done, an X-ACTO blade is in order for cutting out my pieces. (I missed putting magazines/magazine clippings, glue stick, and scissors in this photo). Day 05;; Detail or Close Up. Upcycled Spanish Traditional. I tried illustrating the traditional dress of the Canary Islands, didn't like it (my rendition) except the skirt, so I drew a new girl, X-ACTO'd the skirt out & voila! We have a new piece. Day 06;; Full or Part Time. By night, I art (so part-time/hobby). However, my alter-ego makes a weird living in a variety of ways: cut & style hair, house-sit, cat-sit, gopher & personal assistant. Day 07;; Less Glam Side. Cramped conditions, as my art desk is also my computer desk. Also generally I have ink on my hands. Day 08;; Product Range. It's not a lot. It's mainly originals of the collages & illustrations. I do have a few pieces as 3x5 photographic prints (seen here as the Thundercloud). I do some sewing things, but it's not a main focus. Day 09;; Story Behind Name. Several years ago, I was sitting in this room letting my mind wander, like ya do & Peruvian Pink sprang to mind. It rang bells in me & I knew it was perfect. I am not Peruvian, & though I've never been, I've always been drawn to Peru in all aspects; plus I like to create the world in my art; because I love it & to show & educate. Pink is one of my favourite colours. It wasn't until I started actually using the name that I realized, reversed, it's drugs. "Perfect", I thought. Perhaps my art can e the counter balance to something less savoury in this world. Day 10;; You. I always enjoy a good, strong coffee (espresso with cream or half & half, mind). I'm always drinking coffee when I create, so I thought it was fitting. I like cooler weather & rain, ice, & snow. I think cats are the superior species. I like believing in the unbelievable (Yeti's, Aliens, Faeries) because it's fun &, I feel, makes life more interesting. I love nature & mountains & sea creatures & flowers. I adore my grey hairs & lone bushy eyebrow. Day 11;; Reducing Waste. I'm big into recycling & am about to take a whole messa stuff to drop off at the center. I also re-use packaging materials to cut down on waste. Day 12;; Hands At Work. I made a small time-lapse video of me hand-sewing the pattern onto a new felt pouch that I'm in the process of making. To see the video, check out my Instagram (@Peruvian.Pink.Arts). Day 13;; Photography. I love to take pictures. I'm not sure if the prompt was for actual photography or just how you photograph your pieces, but this is how I interpreted it. (I also only named the prompt and put the hashtags on this day - apparently didn't feel the need to talk). I've been taking pictures since I was a kid with a 110 and 35mm cameras (mainly 35mm), then moved to digital once film was harder to come by and harder to get processed. For the past six years though my photos are mainly via my mobile, which was an iPhone 4 and is now an iPhone 5s. All of the above shots were via the iPhone 4 without any filters. (The roses are just because there happened to be too much sunlight, but I like it - I often find that I have happy glitches and random oddities in my photos). Day 14;; How I Learnt. No art classes, simply self-taught by way of unintentional practice (I just kept drawing because it was fun & enjoyable). The same can be said for my other main artistic endeavors of photography, sewing, & collage. (I find that some of these prompts are superfluous. How You Started & How I Learnt, to me are practically the same thing. It could have all been combined.) Day 15;; Motivation/Goals. Besides frivolity & whimsy, I enjoy illustrating educational things; people & animals that others can learn about. Perhaps I'm working up to a book/books? Day 16;; Workspace (tidy/messy). It's never tidy... not really & here it is this morning. I've been going through all of my music, but also I'm reading this book about Sharks, Skates, & Rays in The Gulf of Mexico so I can learn more about the sea creatures I'm fascinated by that live in my water, but also I can use this new information for illustrations I'll soon create. Day 17;; What I'm Working On. The collage of Middle Eastern American, then my American Girls series will finally be complete. There's 10 in all & it's taken me awhile. Day 18;; Mistake or Lesson. Lack of research. I'm really meticulous with my research on non-fiction pieces, however, when it came to myself I couldn't even be bothered to look in a mirror to figure out exactly which side my signature eyebrow was located. That doesn't speak well to the authenticity of my work if I can't even get myself accurate. Day 19;; Dream Collaboration. I've already done collaborations with The Sister (@PoppyARTStudio), & I think it would be nice to do some pieces with my friends who art; either one of one like these three shown, or several of us combing our styles together into one piece. Day 20;; Design Process. I'm working on sea creatures, so today I wanted to draw a jellyfish. I searched online until I found one I wanted to draw, figured out what it was & settled on the Atlantic Sea Nettle. I did research and then saw the piece through to the end. (The collage is weird, but it starts with all those photos of jelly fish, then the one diagonal from it that shows I chose Atlantic Sea Nettle [Chrysaora quinquecirrha], then the bottom group from top left, top right, bottom left, then bottom right. Then the very top left photo is the piece entirely finished). Day 21;; Throwback. This is one of my earlier illustrations (only from 6 years ago), that I still have. 17th Century German. Day 22;; Proud Of. My girls (Girls Around The World) & I were chosen to be in an art show this past autumn. Day 23;; Top Tip or Advice. Don't listen to them. You know "them"; The Debbie Downers, The Naysayers, the people who try to make you feel small. I draw, first & foremost, because I love & enjoy doing it. Do most people like my art? Absolutely not. Not, it's true. I've heard jibes since people saw my drawings as a teenager, "your work sucks", "why do they look so bad?", "you're not nearly as good as..." to name a few. I almost listened to them & I'm glad I didn't. They've also tried to make me feel badly over the people who do like my art; "just kids..." like that's somehow a terrible thing. It is true that the vast majority of people who adore my work are kids (mainly pre-teen girls), but I couldn't be happier about this. I want my work to end up with people who appreciate it which is why I've made under 5 sales in the past 6 years, because most pieces I give to the kids that fall in love with it while the parents think it's worthless junk. Case in point, Robe á la Polonaise, seen here. She was a gift to the 11-year old girl who thought she was so pretty & perfect, whose mother found no value in it. I made no money off the piece, but it's one of my happiest memories & fuels me against Them who try at every turn to tell me I'm not good enough. Perhaps not for you, but then apparently my art isn't FOR you; all you Thems. Day 24;; Customers/Feedback. This commissioned piece, "The Journey To Freedom", is exactly what the customer had in mind & was very well received. Day 25;; How It's Made. Paper, drawing ink pen, & various types of coloured markers. Everything shown created 19th Century Mid Victorian. Day 26;; Self-Care. Cats & Nature... & reading a good book with good coffee. [that's all I wrote on Instagram for the prompt besides the hashtags, but you're going to get so much more. Huzzah!] It wasn't until I'd posted my seven photos for that days prompt that I noticed all the UK Art Kids have photos of their tea (mainly out of doors). Too funny that we all pretty much did the same thing without knowing we were going to do the same thing; only of course I'm not a fan of tea so my tea is Cuban espresso with brown sugar and half & half. Instagram tells me that this post was doing 89% better than all my other posts, because art? who cares... but cats!?! People get hearts for eyes, so... Meet Inky & Yata. Inky is, of course, the Siamese, while Yata is the white cat (Yata means cat in Greek - I also call him lígo gourounáki [leehyo hguronahkee] which is little piggy in Greek, because he's kind of fat - I can call him that because I'm more than a little fat myself). Inky is Emperor of InkyLand which is the entirety of the backyard (which is large), his palace and throne room are the basement (his thrown is the three seater sofa), with principalities in the kitchen/den/sundeck on the upper floor. He has been invading the vacant, wooded lot behind our house to add to his kingdom. This is why he is out here & not very keen on Yata rushing him, though they are friends. He likes if you ask his permission to enter InkyLand or to change things. Makes him feel important. Both of them enjoy rolling around and sleeping in the bird bath because most of the time it's dry. They're not our only cats, nor the only cats that spend time in InkyLand; they're just the only ones who were outside that day. Day 28;; Packaged. Pieces slipped into cello envelopes or wrapped in cello with stiff backing. An envelope with stiff board for mailing. [that was all for that post originally. I also skipped Day 27 because I couldn't think of anything that I wanted to take a picture of for Anything Goes.] I don't have pretty, fancy labels or anything, which after posting I noticed all the UK Art Kids did. Mainly they were so professional and polished or staying away from plastics, which I like that idea, but sometimes I do the odd sell show in town & I can't very well protect AND show my pieces in brown paper or paper bags, but I did like that idea. I don't use plastics if I send a sewn felt piece. Day 29;; Most Difficult Make. Plushies. They're easy for me, even not using a pattern of any kind, but they're completely hand-sewn which takes a lot of time & is why they're my most difficult make. Day 30;; Support. It probably makes me a terrible person to say it, but I don't really FEEL like I do have much support. There are a few, tiny incidents where I did feel that I was supported. I acknowledge those times, but out of the scant smattering of support, most times the support feels fake, if it's even there at all, & really it's just me, adrift. Day 31;; Product In Use/Wild. Framed & hanging in someone else's living room. This is Miao dressed for Duan Wu Po from the Girls Around The World series.
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