ok so I know I vowed not to start yet another project this year but this really isn’t a ‘regulated’ class, project or anything; it’s simply my goal and desire manifested.

I LOVE new stuff…new adventures, activities and challenges however I also love routines, structure and the ‘same old same old’ – I very rarely order something new on a restaurant menu, always go the same way to and from work and usually do the same thing week after week because my work life is full of tipsy turvy mayhem; I never know how the day will go as it changes hourly, so I very much enjoy routine elsewhere in my life. So even though I treasure new experiences and adventures, I deeply avoid them in many  specific scenarios…and want to change that.

My idea at the beginning of the month (beginning of the year) is to try something new every week – I heard about this little idea a couple yrs ago when a scrapbook industry ‘personality’ posted it on her blog for the year. While I know most people who would participate in this type of challenge probably have a genuine problem trying or doing new things – me, not so much but i NEED to try to change-up my regular routine, choices, etc… like new things in restaurants, new wines (new grapes mainly), new styles of clothes, new brands of products (that’s HUGE for me), maybe new hair (gulp), new classes at the gym, and anything else I can come up with …if you have any ideas, feel free to forward them. I will post here pretty regularly letting you what I tried and how it went.

So far this month, I posted a scrapbook page on a website in a class gallery for open critique and comments (I never do this- strictly due to my HUGE adversion to criticism) and oh my goodness, people were so wonderfully kind and gracious that I felt amazing by the end of that week that I may do it again – they were truly lovely!! Then the 2nd week of the month, I rented a video that normally there woudl be no way, I would rent…something I would roll my eyes at and think I have no time to see that crap, or somethign that I would imagine be bored stiff with and hating but I genuinely enjoyed it. It adjusted my view of Justin as well… a delightful surprise. I saw Justin Bieber’s Never say Never
 And this week , I started an Intro to Acrylic Painting class (signed up last yr so still not breaking my 2013 rule yet) and LOVED it. Technically I tried to get into painting about 20yrs ago… bought stuff, painted one canvas which my sweet brother at the young age of 14 or 15 said “Wow that is so ugly, you could probably sell it” thereby describing my reason why that was the last time I picked up a brush… and perhaps my reason for fear of criticism 🙂 but Harmony and I attempted another painting class last year that was a total bust because the instructor gave no instruction or guidance and my piece looked like a 3yr old did it, but I still had fun so when this opportunity showed up for 4- 2hr classes, I was excited to try again… and this is what we came up with…  we were focusing on primary colours. Very bold for me but i had fun.

Janine, the instructor, said art, especially abstracts need to speak to you, they tell you what they want to be.
Originally I was painting this with the red on the bottom,dragging the black DOWN but it wouldn’t dry so I started waving around the studio helping it dry and it hit ME!! Its upside down and it is Stanley Park at sunrise at the seawall. Yep its abstract but totally spoke to me:)

So for the first 3 weeks of the year and my first 3 NEW things, I am loving 2013…

Big Hugs,
Carole