When art becomes work

The last couple of months I've been struggling with a bit of a problem. It seems like my art for "work" has gotten in the way of my art for "me."

I am very thankful that my career is advancing and I'm being kept busy. I love it, truly. But still, the last time I sat down to work just for me? I can't remember. It's always deadlines, class descriptions and article proposals.

Right about the time I started feeling depressed about this, an artist whom I really respect, Traci Bunkers, started doing a 30 days of carving challenge. She did a different carving every day and then posted photos of them.

It got me to thinking, when I first started out I would take time everyday to make some art for myself and I need to get back to that. I love working in my art journal. But I tend to take FOREVER to finish a page. I doodle and dither and poke and it takes days. Which is why I don't work on it when I'm on a deadline, because I know I don't have the time to finish it.

So with that in mind, I am embarking on my own challenge: 30 art journaling pages in 30 days.

Sounds crazy, right? Well, we'll see. I already have my book ready to roll. The pages are small 4x6, which is part of what's going to make this doable.

Here are my rules:
1. a page a day
2. no more than 30 minutes can be spent on each page--I will use a timer to keep me honest.
3. pages will be posted on my blog.

I'm calling this challenge 30/30/30 since it's 30 pages made in 30 minutes over 30 days.

What do you think, you want to play along? If you're going to join me, let me know. I'd love to see your work, just put a link up in the comment section of this post.
I'm starting this March 1st, so the first post goes up tomorrow. (ekk!)
A big {thanks!} goes out to Traci Bunkers--your work has inspired me.