I do love a New Year, there is something hopeful and clean about it for me. It makes think about what I want to do in the upcoming year (not what I need to do, and often not anything to do with work - that stuff gets planned way in advance).
Last year I had 2 intentions, you can read about them in the post I wrote last year here. The first was to learn to crochet and I did just that:
It was glorious, I am in love with having a yarn hobby again, I'm a total beginner and it has given me a much better appreciation of how difficult it can be when you're not familiar with terminology, it's difficult to remember that when you've been doing something for a long time.
My second intention didn't really get going. I did go to some exhibitions and museums (not nearly as many as I would have liked), the William Morris Vs Andy Warhol exhibition was amazing and I really enjoyed the Yorkshire Sculpture Park. I didn't do any sketching on location though, I think because I visited with others and I really need to go to more places on my own if I want to do this. I did have a magical afternoon with a sketchbook on the shores of Squam lake and my trip there did wonders for my creativity.
Intentions for 2016
Number One: Inspired by Kenneth Rocafort, who draws and paints in a page-a-day diary everyday (I think for 4 or 5 years now) I have bought a tiny pocket diary and intend to do something in it everyday. It might be a drawing, a painting, a print or something else. It might be something I saw that day, it might be something random. The only rule is to put something on the page everyday. I'm hopeful this will be a path back to things I used to do that I haven't for a long time, I can't remember when or why I stopped - I'm working on forgiving myself for that.
Number Two: To keep track of the books I read. I think I'm using GoodReads for this but if you know of a better way, please let me know.
My rolling Intention is to be kind. I hope 2016 is a kind year to you and everyone you love.