Live Bold List 40: 25 Things I Learned from my 50th Birthday Bold Art Project

header for blog post Live Bold List 40

Let’s launch into the list! ‘Ado’ not necessary…

Live Bold List 40: 25 Things I Learned from my 50th Birthday Bold Art Project

  1. Be mindful when committing to projects with 50 items or more!
  2. 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.
  3. 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.
  4. Hard things can also be fun. Fun things can be hard.
  5. 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.
  6. 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!
  7. 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.
  8. 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.
  9. 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
  10. That particular blue and pink paint combination dry with a beautifully granular texture
  11. I can transform my day with art… by painting how I feel or want to feel, or
  12. … processing of things (see 9), or
  13. … recording things around me,
  14. … 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!
  15. Things take longer than you think. Ha ha, the “2 month” project that took 10 months! Yep.
  16. It’s doable though. Keep going.
  17. 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.
  18. 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 :)
  19. 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.
  20. 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.
  21. 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!
  22. Wear shorts in Summer. And let your arms out too – they are a valid part of life.
  23. 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.
  24. 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 :)
  25. 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

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