Once Upon a PAL

Today's square -- drawn for the 4th of July :)

Not so very long ago I 'liked' a page on Facebook called 'Once Upon.' It's an online Facebook community for "rediscovering the tales of childhood, revisiting the magic hidden there and fighting some demons" and it's hosted by a charming artist by the name of Janet Kisch.

Janet updates 'Once Upon' often each day, sharing samples of her own work plus wonderful art that she finds all over the Internet. (I can't begin to tell you how much I personally appreciate the fact that she credits the artists, too, which hardly ever happens on the Internet and is just so darn refreshing, don't you think?).

Less than a week ago, Janet gave the members of her site this great suggestion. In part, her status post read:

"On some of the craft/sewing/crochet pages they sometimes have an online 'get together' and create something from a pattern to be finished by a certain date, and then at the end enjoy all the individual ideas that jump from that, and vote for their favs... Now as you know, I'm always encouraging you to PLAY and to bring out your gorgeous inner child into the light of day and have some fun. SO... here's the thought, and it's for EVERYONE, even if you don't think you can be creative, whether you're an artist or crafter or stitcher or writer or even a plumber for that matter, you can join in! It would be a small block a day for a certain number of days with a theme. This can be drawn, collaged, sewn, buttoned, can be ink or paint, whatever speaks to you! I will post some simple rules so we're all working within the same basic parameters. It would be so amazing to see all the work at the end of the time. You would be posting it to me at the end and I will make an album for viewing? If you're interested in a PAL (play along ) just leave a comment..."

Oh yeah, I commented, you bet I did! And although having done so makes me a little bit apprehensive (who knows what accomplished artists are also taking the challenge!), I can't help but love stuff like this as it makes me think outside the pencil box.

When it appeared as though a number of us in the community were interested, Ms. Kisch gave us her guidelines for the challenge, including the time frame and date of deadline (and I won't include those dates here as the challenge is already underway and nearly half over as of the time of this posting, but feel free to visit her site, 'like' it, and go from there, 'k? You could always catch up!):

"Here’s our PAL (play along) and a few guidelines. You can create using any art medium. You can work on paper, card, fabric, you can crochet or knit or take photos, you can make relief sculptures on your squares, anything goes! The theme is “This Day." It will be a reflection of your daily mood, your loves, your joy or anger in each day. If you love a certain thing (like owls) you can do a square a day with an owl to reflect your mood. Works can be abstract, realistic or atmospheric. Your squares could have a button a day, or a brooch a day, a doodled design, black and white or multi-coloured, anything goes! Here are the only things we will conform to….thus making it a project of the same size with the same theme.

• You must have fun, and play, stress free!
• There will be 12 squares each measuring 5cm. (The finished work will measure 15cm x 20cm)
• The object is to complete one square a day, and that they are individual squares as opposed to a page mapped out in squares. The squares will be assembled at the end of the project."

How exciting! I wasn't sure what medium I wanted to be creative in, exactly. I already write a daily e-mail blast and do a daily 'doodle' that I post to my own Facebook fan page, and I try to blog here as often as I can -- all in addition to my regular art, etc., so it would have to be something that wouldn't take up too much of my time. I figured: as long as I'm already putting pencil to paper during the day, perhaps I'd just continue to do so for this challenge. It seemed like a good fit, too, because I've lately been interested in working smaller by taking my designs and my style into Art Cards and ACEOs (2.5" x 3.5"). For me, one of the biggest parts of this challenge would be making use of a size of paper that, at 2" x 2", is even smaller....

Each square so far includes one word that describes how I'm feeling on that day, plus an accompanying illustration. On the back, the square is dated, signed, numbered (#1 for the first square in the project), and labeled with a note detailing what was happening on that day to warrant the word I chose to illustrate.

I promise to share a photo of the assembled collection of squares when I'm finished, 'k?  In the meantime, PLEASE consider visiting Janet's wonderful site and 'liking' it. If you're a lover of book illustrations and whimsical, thought-provoking art, I guarantee you won't be disappointed. Plus, if/when there's another PAL challenge, you'll be one of the first to know about it. :)
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