Jaci Dawn

“Do what makes you happy”

I have already accomplished one goal (website debugging) and my artist friend, Mary, has pointed me in the direction of another (making cabochons), so I figure I am starting the year in good form. That, and I didn’t have a hang-over this morning.

WRITE. Blog more often. Edit some long standing manuscripts. Keep up my personal journal. Send letters and cards more often (snail mail, the real deal).

PAINT. Bigger, better, more often. Take a class. Acrylics, gouache, oil, maybe even watercolors. Pastels. Colored pencils. On canvas, on metal, on wood, on ceramic, on glass. Maybe even on a wall or the side of a bathtub. Definitely on the stairs.

WEBSITE. I can check off getting it debugged. I paid someone else to do that this afternoon. After that, it will be maintaining and adding new content. (The website is different than this blog – I’ll post the link at a later date. I want it debugged first.)

CREATE. This is different from painting. Sculpt. Experiment with textures. Make more masks. Costumes for cosplay. Faerie houses. Polymer clay creations. Send my paintings off to make cards and cabochons.

GARDEN. Every opportunity. New plants. Harvest berries and grapes and apples and make jams, apple butter, and just plain eat the harvest. Vegetables. Kill weeds naturally Encourage birds.

PHOTOGRAPHY. Every.Chance.I.Get. Have the camera at the ready and my phone (love that macro lens on mine!) charged at all times. Experiment. Birds, flowers, insects. Food, beer, and what my coffee cup is up to at any given time.

My coffee cup painted Italy/T-Rex one morning. The designs are often interesting. I post the pics on Instagram.

INSTAGRAM. Follow more. post more. @thejacidawn Build my art business.

REMODEL. I have my Pinterest account full of ideas. My husband, when I showed him some of my ideas, said, “I’m not the handyman you think I am.” I replied, “I didn’t think you were going to do these. I am.” Because, yes, you are not a handyman – after 39 years of wedded bliss, I have this figured out.

My projects include: painting the press-board stairs after I pull the ugly carpet off of them. Paint the bathroom floor or tile it. Trim the parquet in the kitchen. Paint the kitchen cupboards with chalk paint. I have more in mind, but I’ll start there.

DE-CLUTTER. This is huge. We need to clear out the “collectibles”. The vintage, the odd, the antique. I have books (paperbacks) that I can let go of. I have boxes of stuff that needs to be put into scrap books. I’ve already cleaned my closet of work clothes (I’m keeping a pair of black slacks and a simple black skirt for professional events or funerals). I see either an Etsy or E-Bay store in my future.

That’s the short list. I start tomorrow morning. (C’mon – today is a business holiday. And I already paid for a clean up of my website. #goalaccomplished )