I've been gone far too long

Writing has always been a part of my creative process but in the past few years I have neglected this very important step.  To write your thoughts on paper requires extra concentration and focus that just isn't there for me on a normal day.  I feel strongly that I need to start fresh giving my gray matter a daily workout here on this blog.  I'm hoping it will help me become more focused and purposeful with my creative efforts.  I feel as though I've gotten into such a runt of just throwing the proverbial "Paint" on the wall to see if it will stick. 

One day it's "I've got to start this shop" or "I need to create this design or listing" or "Print on demand has to be my future."  I find myself running around in circles so much these days that I'm making myself sick.  It has become increasingly clear to me that as an artist I need to slow down and have my work become more carefully planned and researched out.  I can't completely forget about the numbers but I have to change my focus to be more on the "creating process" and not so much numbers driven.

So with those two rambling paragraphs out of the way, I can get to the good part.  What I'm working on right now on my iPad.  I started sketching elements with graduation coming but now that I look at the calendar I realize that I'm really too late to work on that.  This is the lack of planning and researching that I was talking about earlier.  I guess I can change that "3" to a 4 on the gold charm and have a head start for next year. 

This week I was told that one of the best places to do trend research is the Target.com website.  I personally don't shop at Target but many of my friends do.  I didn't realize this but the creators at Target.com are really good at predicting what will be popular with their styles and colors.  So earlier this week I was checking that lead out.  I saw they had a denim collection and I was immediately overjoyed at that prospect.  I've always loved denim as a fabric and adore those little denim flowers made from scraps. Let's not forget just how amazing embroidery on denim looks.  So the other night I just started working on my first denim flower clip art.  I plan on adding a number of single flowers that I can then arrange together in Photoshop to make pretty patterns with. This should be a lot of fun.  I will be sure to share more of my progress in the next few days.        

my current sketch page I'm working on in Procreate