Need a creative reset in the new year?

Tips to help you freshen up your art practice + a gift for you!

December, a month of mystique and magic. I think of it as a threshold month, straddling the old and the new, as it invites reflection and dreaming; grounding and planning. Most years, I carve out some time to reflect on the previous 11 months and envision the coming 12; fill out my Visioning Workbook to choose a word of the year; sling some tarot cards for the year ahead; and clean up and reset my studio.

This year, I also plan to mindfully choose a few creative projects to sprinkle in throughout 2024, along with some art challenges {like Seek, Gather, Create} that I want to take part in, just because they’re so much fun!

I’ve done the 100 day challenge a few times, but as I was telling a friend recently, I’ve never finished the challenge in 100 days. I always give myself some room for grace when planning out daily projects. While I don’t see myself doing the 100 day challenge next year, I’m using a similar ethos as I plan out my creative projects.

My idea is to create a few 30-day projects. The aim here isn’t rigid consistency as much as it is to spend a good chunk of time focusing on a specific project, and to see how it helps me deepen into or refresh my creative practice.

As I pencil in the challenges I’m doing next year, and start to play with ideas for a few 30-day projects, as well as a few longer, ongoing ones, I have to remind myself to take things easy. To not overcommit, or fill each month with a project or challenge. I’m consciously keeping a few months open, ensuring that I have little breathers, spaces to just play, to take things easy, to not turn my art practice into a grind, into a state of constant productivity. That can be the quickest way to stifle my creative impulses and turn something that I love and enjoy into just another chore or task to be done, and that is most certainly not my intention!

Receive notes on creative living, pages from my art journal, and short process videos in your inbox every Friday.

Tips for crafting your own 30-day challenge

If the idea of crafting your own 30-day challenges interests you, here are a few tips and suggestions to keep in mind:

• Decide if you want to create a working project or a series-based project. A working project is simply 30 days of doing something {e.g., 30 days of painting intuitively; 30 days of writing, 30 days of slow stitching}. A series-based project is 30 finished pieces done in a particular style or using specific supplies.

• When it comes to deciding on your projects, base them on techniques or styles that you want to learn or that need practice; ideas that you’re drawn to but have shied away from trying; or use a 30-day sprint to create a series.

• Keep your projects small, especially if it is series-based. Working too big can easily lead to overwhelm, and you don’t want to burn yourself out!

• If you’re a multi-potentialite like me, mix your projects up! Work across creative disciplines, in different mediums, on different crafts. Experiment with styles and subjects. Let this be a fun way to experiment and explore.

• Say no to guilt-tripping yourself. If a project doesn’t excite you, give yourself permission to drop it. It’s still good feedback, because now you know what you are NOT interested in.

• Give yourself permission to miss a few days — life happens, so don’t beat yourself up for it!

• Give yourself breathing room — don’t choose a project for every month!

• Listen to this episode of the Art with Soul podcast for more tips. While it is geared to the 100 day challenge, the tips translate just as well to a 30-day challenge.

A gift for you

If you’re looking for a gentle year-end reflection and planning process, I have just the thing for you!

The Visioning Workbook: A comprehensive year-end workbook to help you reflect on the year gone by, choose a word of the year, and set some beautiful intentions for the next year.

Note: You will be added to my monthly Studio Updates list; you can unsubscribe at any time.

Join the community — let’s chat in the comments!

Or simply hit reply to this e-mail — I’d love to hear your plans for 2024!

Here are a few questions to help us get the conversation rolling:

• Are you starting to dream into the new year?

• Do you have some ideas for the creative projects you want to commit to next year?

• Anything that you want to carry forward from this year?

• What are your favorite end of the year rituals and practices?

Love this post? Share it with your friends and invite them into our virtual studio. There’s space for all of us here! If you’re on the Substack app, consider restacking this post to Notes.