Daruma by Meg Lyman

5×7″ gouache on matboard

SOLD

‘Tis the season to plan art activities for the upcoming year. Late last year, I made grand plans for 2012. I went half time at work at the end of January, and created a plan for the year that may have been a bit too ambitious. But I did make a lot of art, learned a thing or two, and ended up moving across the country for a different full-time job in September. In all, it was a fantastic experience and I was extremely fortunate to be able to do it. However, I didn’t have nearly as much time as I thought I’d have, and as a result neglected a few of my 2012 goals. Now I’m setting out to make more realistic ones for 2013.

The paint-a-squishy-cephalopod-doing-something-cute meme has worked fabulously for me. It is what people expect of me, and the ideas keep spewing forth, both from my brain and from creative fans. The execution has become easy for me to do. Too easy. I never do backgrounds or really challenge myself. I want to challenge myself next year. To me, that means:

1. Paint enough cephalopods to fill a 2014 calendar, and try to throw in some backgrounds once in a while, jeez
2. Practice painting still lifes (lives?) and landscapes, and take a class
3. Explore my artistic passions, which wander into decidedly non-cephalopodish genres

To help all three goals, I made my own daruma doll. Darumas are traditional Japanese toys that bring good luck and help accomplish goals. They come with blank eyes. When the goal is set, the first eye is painted. The second eye isn’t painted until the goal is met, and looking at the lopsided, unfinished doll always reminds you of your goal. Here’s to 2013 and painting that other eye!