One of my 2025 goals is to try a new artform or medium every month!
Why did I do this? What kind of mediums can I learn? Or at least, explore? Where can I find the time?
These questions race, as I sip my second cup o’ caffeine of the day, this 1 a hot dirty chai with oat milk. I’m preparing for page ?? of a seemingly endless lit review for 1 of the last courses of my LIS program, research methods. But that’s just it: There’s writing inherent within this program. (Or at least, within this course.) And as I lean into librarian life, and away from marketing mayhem, I am trying a ton of new things, lately. So why not combine this learning mindset with my creative heart?
I’d like to explore HOW people write, make, and explore, as much as their chosen mediums. There’s potentially a lot of shared experience there, and so I plan to spotlight fellow artists on the 20th of every month. I’ve dubbed it “Called to Craft”, an homage to staying committed to the creative life. You can read the first “Called to Craft” post here.
This “Make New” series will be about my own artistic process, as I try new mediums. It’s somehow fitting to try new things when seemingly everything else is changing, too. While the “Called to Craft” posts are about cultivating community by embracing others’ experiences, I hope these “Make New” posts embrace vulnerability. And that includes sharing the messy drafts, the still-waiting words from pieces I started but didn’t finish, and even making space for completely new-to-me formats. Think scratched-out songs, poetry in progress, even some of my guitar whims.
I designed my 2025 goals around weekly artist dates, weekly exploration of others’ art, and monthly poetry slams/performances. In other words, I’m still learning, creating, and becoming my realest self. Change – whether it’s inside my control like completing LIS program, or outside of it like what’s happening across the States – calls for empowerment. There’s a bit of rebellion in still showing up for myself, but I am empowered to use my platform and positioning to make new.
Newness may seem scary, but it is just different. And so, I am ready to begin, starting with using found sounds and words for February’s art. Who’s with me?