The Dust of Daily Life

“The purpose of art is washing the dust of daily life off of our souls.”
- Pablo Picasso

For my weekly art challenge pages in 2014, I will be combining four elements:  an activity prompt, a technique, a tangible object, and a quote. I will post a photo of the finished page on Wednesday, when I share the new ideas for the next week. I made the first page yesterday, but didn’t share the new approach because I wasn’t sure exactly how I wanted to pursue the challenge this year. I took some time today to hammer out the details (a few hours and a green tea at Starbucks).

For week one, the four elements are:  open a book at random and write down the first six words you see (let your eyes wander the page, don’t copy a sentence fragment); use a resist technique; a birdcage; and the Picasso quote at the top of this post, about the purpose of art.

For the activity, you can use a dictionary, a novel, a phone book, a textbook – anything works, it doesn’t even have to be in English! The way you use the words on your page is then completely up to you. Be creative, think outside the box or ditch the box completely. Have fun!

For a resist technique, there are literally dozens of ways you to accomplish this; I would recommend typing “resist technique” in Google and reading about a few of them if you don’t have personal favorites. I’ll talk about the one I used when I share my page next week.

The rest is again only limited by your willingness to try new things – a birdcage and the purpose of art. Combine your elements and cater to your muse my friends! And of course, don’t forget to share your thoughts, ideas, comments, questions, and most importantly photos. After all, I’m a curious crafter!