The thirty-day nerd

I decided on my project for International Fake Journal Month which begins tomorrow, April 1st.  The idea is to come up with a character, not my usual self, and try out something new.

I seriously have over 200 art books, mostly instructional in nature.  I spend a lot of time with them, but I treat them like magazines.  That is, I turn pages, have nice thoughts ("Oh, that's nice..") but quickly flip to the next section when I see words like Project, Exercise or Try this.

For the month of April my character will be a nerd, at least for 30 days.  He will actually follow the directions of various artists and art instructors and see what can be studied and learned.

I set up some guidelines for myself.

1.  I plan to do this with the seriousness I would bring to an in-person class assignment, you know, when a grade is pending. I was in two art classes last October and had to drop both when I relapsed and began chemotherapy.  I miss both, had to do it, but wish I could have stayed in at least one.  With surgery and treatment pending it just wasn't an option.

2.  It's okay if I miss days or revert to my comfort level - I'll just keep going until I finish 30 days, however long that takes.

3.  Repeats are acceptable - from the past or during the month of April.

4.  The only real rule is that the source of the idea be identified, that seems fair.

5.  The final project will be to spiral bind the book with the new Bind-it-All that I bought in December but haven't removed from the box.  That way I can use my preferred size of paper - 8" square and very hard to find - and also use a variety of papers, whatever the instructions call for.  I have quite a cache around here, it's just a matter of tearing and cutting.

6.  I'm more likely to be successful if I choose each project the day before so I can problem solve in my sleep and jump right in.

So glad to have that resolved!  Oh, the information for International Fake Journal Month is HERE.  Roz Stendahl, a Minneapolis artist and instructor, invented the idea and has hosted it faithfully for the last few years.

There's still time for you to commit.  Remember:  Life's so short, why live only one?