I'm not a graphic designer. But tomorrow, I will be.

Yes! Two activities in one week! AND I got to draw!

Supplies: Pen Paper

The activity was Swirling Swirls. I had to fold a regular size piece of paper into quarters and use each quarter for the exercise. I had to imagine a two-ended swirl, draw it, and then build more and more swirls of varying sizes from the original swirl.

One more time - swirl.

I started by drawing a large S and built off from there.  I also had to retrace each swirl backwards (hence the sloppiness). When I sat back, I was actually pretty happy with with I created.

Up close, it’s messy but I like the messiness of the swirls. Once refined, I think it would be pretty.

I moved onto the next quarter panel to try another sets of swirls. This...did not turn out so good and I gave up on it rather quickly.

What....did I do!? Jim mentioned using the other panels in case of frustration so i didn’t stay here too long. Moving on...

Panel 3 turned out a little better. The original swirl wasn’t as dramatic as I started with in the first drawing. I wanted to expand the swirls to be bigger or better but I need baby steps, I suppose.

I wanted to jazz it up with a purple marker...that started dying as I retraced my steps. Typical. The flowers added a cutesy quality but I liked it.

Panel 4...was weird.  Jim suggested trying other shapes. And I did. And it was a mess. I’m embarrassed to show it but I tried! I stared at it looking for more triangles but I admitted defeat.

Ew. Just ew. But I tried and didn’t beat myself up over the lack of genius or perfection. It’s bad, though. Seriously.

So while I experienced some good swirls, the bad was BAD. I’m okay with it. It’s a learning process and each activity will force me out of my shell little by little.

And now, I can doodle in meetings with pizzazz!

Last night I FINALLY got started with the 30 exercises for designers.  I sat down with some excitement and a lot of nerves and went over the instructions.

Supplies: Pen, Paper Time: 1 hour

Jim’s first exercise was really eye opening for me. I was instructed to get rid of any distractions so that I could focus on the activity. I put on some music (I need SOME noise), turned my phone on vibrate as instructed and began reading.

The first section said to set a timer for 15 min and really think about what I’m good at and it didn’t have to be related to art or design. I went into detail for each listed item but it’s really hard to write about yourself. Some examples of what I wrote:

-Making people laugh -Remembering things about people (names, birthdays, details) -Cooking and trying new recipes -Adapting to new people and places -Learning new technology -Sharing

I had a few more but that was a LONG 15 minutes. If I thought of something else, I felt like a sham or that I was lying. So I spoke my truth as best as I could.

The section section I had to set the timer for 20 minutes and write about improvements on my talents and any talents I’d like to develop from scratch. So now I really had to critique myself.

So...Improvements: -More willpower and stop being lazy! -Seek out new technology rather than on a need to learn basis -Put myself first -Listen and absorb better. People deserve attention -Share with everyone, not just those I know -Be patient -Be open to learning anything and everything!

Talents I’d like to learn from scratch... -Drawing -Painting -Playing/reading music, specifically the guitar -Photography -Learn a new language -Fashion -Surfing -Cooking like a chef (I want to chop fast!) -Typography

The final section required 25 minutes. What in the what?! I had to write down goals and visions about my future with the intent of taking the talents and improvements and hopefully marrying them together.

GOALS! VISIONS! YAY! -Create and finish a blog of art-related projects with this book and beyond -Learn new technology to use in a new career endeavor -Harness ideas through listening and turn those into art -Turn doodles into full projets -Draw anything and not feel silly -Take a funny moment and create art in the moment to capture the beauty -CONSIDER MYSELF A GRAPHIC DESIGNER! -Create projects for friends and family members and possibly turn that into a side business -Use free time to create - not always lay around! -Maybe one day...be my own boss

Obviously there was more I wrote but I want to keep somethings to myself. Now I have to seal these up and put them away but not lose them. I guess they’ll come back in a later exercise.

I surprised myself with some of my goals and how I wrote the improvements I wanted.  I never give myself the chance to sit down and think about me and what I want. And this is definitely something I want to explore.

Here I am. On the cusp on 32. And I'm finally tapping into something I want to do with my life. Maybe. I think.

Boring background: I've been with the company where I work for almost 4 years and in my current position for over 2. My position is in Communications and we create pieces for our clients to understand their health benefits. Riveting stuff. But I like what I do. Well, I like it a whole lot more now that I have an actual graphic designer as my "boss." I use the term boss loosely since we're more friends than anything else. She started almost 2 years ago and taught me so much since then.

She suggested I join her for the HOW Live Design Conference in Chicago this past May. I loved every minute of it. The sights! The sessions! The food! The people! It was amazing and completely overwhelming all at the same time. I haven't taken notes so feverishly since college. I also haven't felt so out of place or unsure of myself since college.

4 days of sessions, meeting people, eating, learning, and writing, I felt...confused. I talked with a new friend from Dallas after the closing party (and a lot of vodka clubs). I opened up about how I felt really out of place- I've never designed. I can't draw. Fonts are a new realm to me. Listening to the speakers and fellow attendees, I was a newbie in every sense of the word. However, he made me feel so much better.  The speakers make up the 1% of designers who are rock stars. Everyone starts somewhere and at different times.Maybe now is my time.

It was at that moment I never felt so inspired. I couldn't wait to get home to tap into this new creative side! I needed to explore it! I picked up some books about creativity and design from the conference and headed home.

Finally, after two months, I'm getting around to reading those books and letting go of any fears and insecurities. I'm going to get comfortable with being uncomfortable

While at HOW, I went to a session with Jim Krause and loved every minute of it. I even got to tell him and fangirled about how inspiring he is. Swoon!  I picked up his book "D30: Exercises for Designers" which has 30 days of creative exercises. I thought it would be cool to start this blog and write about each exercise as they're completed. And whatever else I'm working on.