In getting back to my busy working mum life, I started having a huge longing to be more creative. I managed on the spur of the moment to self-motivate by giving myself a “challenge to draw” in late 2013. Making it public. Using Facebook to do it, and to be be accountable.
I got through it, with 20 quick little drawings of random stuff around the house, snapshots of our daily mess. It was great fun to move those drawing muscles again. I realised that accountability is a great motivator (as I used it on Facebook by announcing my goal and then posting my pics), and I thought doing it with others would be even better, so I started a group called “10 in 10 Quick ‘n’ Dirty Drawings” – one drawing per day for ten consecutive days, with each participant posting their work for the group to admire.
I wanted to see if I could take others along on the ride, and use the 10 in 10 to start driving a small creative wedge into our always-too-full lives.
Fast forward to December 2015: In a few weeks we are about to start the 22nd “10 in 10 Quick ‘n’ Dirty” and are still going strong. Over 800 drawings have been created and shared to date. Most of us are strangers in the physical world, but find ourselves connected in the virtual one by our love of drawing and mutual support for each other.
- Imogen Rowe a 10 in 10’er wrote a post on her delightful creative mama blog.
Slow & Sparkly
Taking it into the REAL world and taking more people on the ride was the idea behind “Slow & Sparkly”. This is a colouring-in and drawing book printed at the Rizzeria in Sydney. We hope to encourage friends and people we know to slow down and colour in some drawings, or take up a bit of drawing themselves. So why not join the next 10 in 10?