Let’s launch into the list! ‘Ado’ not necessary…
Live Bold List 40: 25 Things I Learned from my 50th Birthday Bold Art Project
- Be mindful when committing to projects with 50 items or more!
- I can do hard things and big projects. So can you. Persistence wins. Eventually. You’ll have an accomplishment to be proud of once you get there.
- On the other hand, if you get what you need out of a project and jump tracks to another project, that can be ok too. Depends what you want to get out of it.
- Hard things can also be fun. Fun things can be hard.
- Deliberately imagine the end when you’re in the middle mire. Or if you can’t quite imagine the end yet, think of it as a step in the right direction! Small steps add up.
- We definitely need “Queen”, after Mother and before Crone (see picture 28) in the women’s life archetypes. I intend to get a lot done in this phase!
- I like cats, shoes/feet, flowers, colour, produce and patterns. They make me happy, either looking at or drawing or designing. No surprises I guess. But affirmed.
- I got more into painting people. I didn’t see that coming! And that those people pictures (bold souls) resonated with readers, fellow instagrammers, facebookers, etc.
- I find telling my self what I need to hear with art is a good way to process things (see 8). Happily, I started to make self-needed affirmations #whatIneededToHear
- That particular blue and pink paint combination dry with a beautifully granular texture
- I can transform my day with art… by painting how I feel or want to feel, or
- … processing of things (see 9), or
- … recording things around me,
- … even to the point that I can let physical things out of my life once they are recorded in a painting – which is great for decluttering / creating spaciousness… If the object to be released is beautiful, this is a great fix – if a bit time consuming!
- Things take longer than you think. Ha ha, the “2 month” project that took 10 months! Yep.
- It’s doable though. Keep going.
- An ongoing project might reflect the life story that’s going on at the time. 3 Seasons were progressed through and that shows up in the pictures.
- I know what makes me happy. I’m not sure what happened for a while there… parenting perhaps? But I know now What Makes Me Happy. This still surprises me, and, also makes me happy :)
- Sovereignty. This is an amazing thing. I feel a bit of a late-bloomer! So liberating. And the quality it brings to my life is delicious.
- I enjoyed having the focus of a series and was also glad to be finished. By the end of prioritising this project I had many more ideas for lino prints and other drawings and paintings brewing and stewing and jostling, waiting to be done.
- Draw out your birthday as long as possible. Unintentional in this case, but the project has given the birthday feeling a much longer life! My recent 51st was happily low key, and much shorter than 10 months!
- Wear shorts in Summer. And let your arms out too – they are a valid part of life.
- At 50 I was starting to wonder if I was getting invisible. In order not to be invisible, look after yourself kindly, so you don’t feel invisible or act that way.
- If you do actually become invisible sneak around and plant heart stickers on people’s backs, love notes on mirrors, inspiring cards in between library books etc. Invisibility is a cool super power! One can use it for one’s own lovely plans. Mwahaha :)
- Quantity is great. So is quality. Quality of life, of art, of attention. Love. Goodness.
Click this link: to see my 50th Birthday Bold Art Project Gallery online. These pictures are no longer available online – it got too complicated to keep track. You can find them unframed or framed at my dearly loved stockists, or at art markets in person.
I loved doing this project! I’ve got big news that I can almost tell you, so that’ll be the next project. In the meantime I’d like to play along with #arteverydaymonth with Leah Piken Kolidas. I was rather a sporadic team member with #inktober I’m afraid. Hoping to get more photos and writing and art done now we’ve finished moving house.
*Hugs* for a wonderful week!
Love,
Meg x o