Day One

Aye yi yi... I hope this flies.

Here's the deal: I am totally, completely pathetic when it comes to independently maintaining creative momentum. There is a darling baby girl to take care of, loads of laundry to be washed, dishes to be done, delicious distractions... and truth be told, I am a performer. I thrive on being depended upon and do my best work for other people. Working/doing/taking care of me? Finishing my website?

Sigh. Not so much.

I'm also marooned in a tiny town on the western side of the Tetons. My creative peeps are all a plane ride away from sharing a pot of tea over our sketchbooks. What I'd love to have in my life again is thoughtful, supportive, hilarious dialogue with like-minded people engaged in creative pursuits. I'd love this little blog to be a spot to post a little sketch or idea a day, share and find inspiration, feedback, encouragement and supportive critique. I always feel guilty about not taking just 5 minutes each day to do a little sketching/journaling- if I knew people were holding me accountable for participating, well shoot, I just might have to do it!

I have a long list of people I admire that I would love to do this with- some close friends, some mere acquaintances, some complete strangers... and I am 100% positive that all of these people will think I am a huge dork for proposing this.

But what the heck? Maybe it'll be great. Maybe it will bite the dust. Maybe it will turn into an experience that will inspire a sitcom (I lived in Santa Monica and worked in West Hollywood as a designer for a while- in a wacky way I was shocked that none of my clients ever proposed I star in a sitcom based on my life. I mean, come ON!). Or maybe not. The point is, I don't know what life this idea will take on, but I have nothing to lose besides being labeled a creative geek, so I'm just gonna hang it out there and send some invitations...

Here's a quick list of people I admire that I will send invites to just to get started:
[eeeegads! so scary to make this public- I feel like I'm a 7th grader begging to be friends with the cool kids, know what I mean?]

http://shimandsons.typepad.com/
http://www.anh-minh.com/weblog/
http://lauranormandin.com/
http://www.goodonpaperdesign.com/About/About.html
http://www.ericamulherin.com/
http://weewonderfuls.typepad.com/wee_wonderfuls/
http://www.rosylittlethings.com/
http://www.festivefibers.com/
http://www.lisacongdon.com/index.html
http://www.artistgirlfriday.com/index.html
http://www.papage.com/index.html
http://www.jillbliss.com/

There are so many more neat-o people to invite, some are missing websites... I'll post about them at a later date.

Obviously, there will be ground rules-

1. You can't be mean. Ever.

2. You have to be funny, or at least willing to acknowledge how funny everyone else is (an appreciative audience is indispensible, don't you think?!).

3. You have to contribute a quick sketch or link or musing of some type at least once a week, and you have to leave at least 2 comments a week. This will only work if we have dialogue!

4. You have to be willing to be cast as a character in the sitcom, should Hollywood come a-knockin'.

5. MOST IMPORTANTLY, YOU/ME/WE MUST TREAT EACH OTHER WITH THE UTMOST RESPECT AS ARTISTS. THIS INCLUDES GIVING CREATIVE CREDIT WHEN/WHERE CREDIT IS DUE, CONDUCTING ONESELF WITH INTEGRITY, AND HONORING THAT ALL SUBMISSIONS ARE COPYRIGHT OF THE SUBMITTING ARTISTS. This needs to be a safe place to bounce ideas around and share inspiration without fear of being ripped off. Capiche?

So be looking for your email invitation! It appears that I can set up lots of people as authors (I'm new to this blog thing, veterans, please email suggestions how best to execute), so as soon as you let me know you're in, I'll set you up.

Ok. Fingers are crossed. I'm going to click publish and see what happens... really. I am.

!!!!!

-Annie