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| EMBODYING LIFE ALONG THE SEASHORE. Once emerged from the egg and after maturing some, what could be better than a run along the water with another hatchling under the watchful eye of a parent American oystercatcher? (art by Hallelujah Truth) |
WARM ONLINE COMMUNITY
More than a year ago, I decided it was time to expand my blog's philosophy of daily artmaking to a Facebook Group. "Coffee With Hallelujah" is the idea that if you have time for a hot beverage in the morning, you also have time to create (see my mission statement here). It was the expansion of my practice of "drawing 15-minutes a day" which compelled me to initiate this blog dedicated to the life of being a spiritual art pilgrim (here's one of many blog posts on that topic).
Decidedly beginning THE DAILY CREATIVE PRACTICE (DCP) was a stupendous idea and continues to reap rewards throughout each day. We as Creative Souls are not alone even though it may feel like it some times as we generate our work (see my rationale for creating the DCP here). Today, as I write this blog post, we currently have 774 members in our group, with a solid 15 to 20 people contributing regularly--particularly when we have a creative challenge.
CREATIVE CHALLENGE: Birth of the 10-day continuous posting and sharing work
Starting in with the winter solstice in 2013, I challenged the members of the DCP to share work continuously for 10 days from December 21st to the end of December, a time when one's creative practice succumbs to endless holiday celebrations and family obligations and practically disappears.
Artists, photographers, sewers, scientists, writers, and cooks participated with joyfully dedication. Creatives hunger for support. Creatives long for and thrive upon connection and the Internet and Facebook provide a way for kindred artistic souls to share their work without expending large amounts of energy that physically leaving one's home requires.
Since the first 10-day continuous creativity challenge, I have held two more on the DCP, with the most recent one occurring from September 21 to September 30. We were all delighted how much work we completed and shared during this time! Congratulations to everyone who participated! And thank you for the momentum I gained from your presence and loving support.
MY AMERICAN OYSTERCATCHER PROJECT
During my 10 days of continuous creativity on the DCP, I drew eight of ten images related to my American oystercatcher project. In addition, I contacted my collaborator, Jen Hilburn, and planned a meeting with her in October in Savannah, Georgia, face-to-face! How's that for momentum!
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| LEARNING HOW TO FEED. Just as baby American oystercatchers learn how to nurture themselves on bi-valves along the seashore, so do we learn how to nurture one another on our warm-online community, The Daily Creative Practice. (art by Hallelujah Truth) |
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| TAKE OFF? Yes? Not yet? Soon? Whenever you are ready! We are here! Ready to support you and fly together! (art by Hallelujah Truth) |
Ruth, Thank you for this blog, for creating the DCP, for the challenges, and for your love of the American Oyster Catcher. You inspire me. I love the DCP and its solstice challenges. They seem to crop up just about the time my creative juices are waning, so I use them to spark my creativity. This last challenge was particularly interesting to me as several people, myself included, chose a theme to work with for the ten days. It was great to watch everyone's work evolve and to have so much convivial support flying about. It was energizing to see what everyone was doing, and to learn how some of the scientists in the group approach their work. I saw new things from people who don't usually post, I read some great poetry, and overall was impressed with everyone's creativity. Thank you again for creating such a warm and welcoming environment for us to play in.
ReplyDeleteTrish as I pushed the publish button, I realized that there was so much more to reflect on about the group in general! Thank you for your remarks and for expanding the reflections. You are such a treasure!
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