A Year Of Dreams and Colour Schemes

"Blog - just do it!" - that's the new years resolution I set out for myself on January 1st 2015. Now, 12 months later, I feel so proud and happy to say that I pushed myself to make that resolution a reality. I have found a hobby which I truly enjoy, met some wonderful people, learnt a lot about writing and photography, and established a little place on the internet to call my own. So, at the risk of blowing my own trumpet, I'm going through the achieve to pick out my favouirte posts from Dreams and Colour Schemes in 2015. It's been wonderful to see how much the quality of my posts has improved throughout the year and it gives me so much motivation to take it to the next level in 2016. I hope you find something in the list that you may have missed to have a read of!

My 2015 Highlights

As the year is rapidly drawing to a close, I thought I'd end 2015 with a roundup of all my favourite moments from the past 12 months. I realise I've been a bit absent blog wise for the past month, in honesty I have had a lot going on in my life, some good and some not so good. Anyway, looking back, life has changed at lightning speed for me this year and some pretty significant milestones have happened. The end of the year and the start of a new one is a wonderful time to reflect so here are my highlights of 2015.

Summer 2015: Highlights & Photo Diary

Summer seems to have slipped away without so much as a goodbye here in the UK. I'm noticing the evenings draw in and the temperature has dropped noticeably over the past week or so. I thought that before I start university, it'd be the perfect time to look back on my favourite memories from the summer and share some photographs of what I've been up to.

2015 New Year's Resolutions: 6 Month Update

*insert compulsory statement wondering how it's already June*

So along with just about everybody who has a blog, my first post of this year was sharing my goals for the twelve months which stretched out ahead of me. Now, six months (i.e. half way?!) though that twelve, I thought I'd do a little update and see how good (or not so good...) I've been at making my new year's resolutions happen.

1) Draw LOTS more (starting with a drawing a day in January)
Ok. ermmm. well. This probably isn't a great place to start! Drawing is something I struggle massively with, and it's mostly down to my own confidence. When it comes to drawing, I always feel incredibly inadequate and as a result I just don't do it as often as I'd like to. There's not much point in me doing this update if I'm not going to be honest about it so I'm just going to go right ahead and say that this has been a massive fail so far. All is not lost though - there's still six more months to get my draw on right?

2) Stop wasting time by worrying about time all the time
This is a bit of a personal problem. I have this terrible habit where if something doesn't quite go to plan, I waste time by worrying about it, and then waste more time by worrying about the amount of time I've spent worrying... and so on. I actually think I've made good progress with this so far in 2015. Last year this episode would plague me at least once or twice a month, but I'd say it's only happened maybe twice since the new year. Thumbs up!

3) Blog (just do it!)
Easily my biggest success of the lot! Pre-2015, I was a very on-again off-again blogger. There were so many silly worries holding me back from blogging on a regular basis and in January I decided enough was enough and I needed to just do it because I enjoyed it and I wanted to. So far so good I'd say! I've blogged at least once a week in 2015 and I'm loving every minute of it.

4) Update my wardrobe 
Unfortunately, I haven't made as much progress as I would've liked with this resolution yet, and it's not through lack of trying. Money has simply been a bit tight and I haven't had a lot of extra cash to spend on clothes, however I have made progress where possible. When I have bought new clothes, I have made sure ONLY to make the purchase if it's something that fits in with what I WANT my wardrobe to look like. This method has allowed me to make slow but sure progress with perfecting my style. This summer I'm determined to clear out all of the junk lurking in my wardrobe too...

5) Shoot in film
This is a bit half-yes half-no. Have I shot in film? Yes. So technically, goal achieved. However, this was only on one occasion and I would like to do it more frequently. Again, money has been an issue since film is so much more expensive than digital but this summer I'm hoping to have another go. I am pleased that I got my film camera working and have learnt the basics though so not a complete failure here.

6) Learn how to better deal with anxiety and depression 
Again, something slightly more personal. In honestly, it's been a really tough year so far in regards to this but I won't go into too much detail here (mainly because it's largely not about myself). On a positive note though, I've felt pretty good 90% of the time and I actually feel like a happy person within myself even if I do still struggle with anxiety in a big way. 

So there we have it! I'd say I've got a 50% 50% success rate so far which isn't bad considering we're only half way through the year. It's great to check back up and see that I've achieved some of the things that were merely a goal six months ago. Publishing my resolutions in black grey and white on this little corner of the internet has made me feel much more accountable to actually sticking to what I set out to do. 

How are you getting on with your new year's resolutions? Have you raced ahead in achieving your goals or have they fallen by the wayside since January? I'd love to know, hopefully some of you are doing better than me with a few, or maybe this post will give you that extra boost you need to revisit the goals you set yourself six months ago. 

New Years Resolutions Update : 1 Month On

So today is the very last day of January and for what seems like the first time ever, I am NOT saying it flew by. In honesty, time seemed to be in slow motion this month and I for one won't be sad to see the back of January. However, as I mentioned my original new years resolutions post, this year is pretty much the first time I've ever set a list of serious resolutions, so I'm quite eager to make them happen. So, before we wave the most hated month out for another year, I thought I'd review my 2015 goals and resolutions list and see how I'm getting on with them so far as a way of (fingers crossed) motivating myself to keep going!

1. Draw LOTS more (starting with a drawing a day in January)
Ah.. so...hopefully I can start on a low here and work my way upwards. The good news is, I did draw a fair bit this month. The not so good news is that I didn't stick to my drawing a day. I made it 2 weeks in and after one long, busy day I forgot to draw and it all went downhill from there. So we'll call this one a half success, after all, new years resolutions aren't supposed to be fully achieved within the first month.


2. Learn how to better deal with anxiety and depression 
This is a big one and I know this will take time, most likely longer than the year ahead but I'm hoping to have a good crack at it in the coming months. I chose to research into mental health issues for my current art project which has opened me up to a wealth of information which I think is a good start but I still have a way to go with dealing with my personal issues. 

3. Stop wasting time by worrying about time all the time
Ok, so this is a big personal problem of mine and it stems back to my issues with anxiety. I panic about wasting time to the degree that if I've wasted 10 minutes of time, I will waste a further 2 or 3 hours panicking about those lost 10 minutes. I don't exactly know how I'm going to solve this yet and I have had a few episodes this month, but I've found that simply having this in my conscious mind as one of my resolutions has at least helped me to accept that this is an issue. 

4. Update my wardrobe 
This was my superficial resolution for 2015. I seem to have landed myself with a wardrobe that's stuffed full of clothes I don't wear. I've half-heartedly cleared it out several times over the past few years and now I think enough is really enough. This month I found Unfancy, a minimalist fashion blog and I fell in love with the idea of a 'capsule wardrobe'. Now, I haven't completely overhauled my wardrobe yet but I did make one small step - I was given a jumper for christmas which just didn't fit right, so instead of doing what I would usually do and keep it out of guilt, I exchanged it for something I really love. Feeling guilty about returning a gift that you won't use just doesn't make sense - my mum was much happier knowing I'd swapped it for something that won't end up gathering dust. 

5. Shoot in film
As you can see from this blog post's image, I got a long way with this resolution in just one month. I will probably do a separate post about my experience shooting in film but it was just by chance there was an opportunity to be induced into the dark room at my art school mid way through January and I grabbed it with both hands!

6. Blog (just do it!)
Hurrah! I think I can call this one a triumph so far. This post will be the 6th this month which I am more than happy with considering how on/off I have been in the past. I've decided to really have a good go at blogging and so far I am loving it! I'd like to say thank you to anybody who has looked at/followed/commented/supported my blog so far this year and I can't wait to see what the future brings.

How have your new years resolutions been going? Have you stuck to them so far?

x

15 Things To Do Every Day To Stay Creative In 2015

Staying creative is a bit like an athlete keeping themselves in shape. If you stop training, like an athletes fitness level, your creativity will gradually slump back to square one. Maintaining your creativity takes work and requires a conscious effort. So I thought I would devise a list of 15 things you should do every day try and have a go at doing every day in 2015 to keep your creative juices flowing throughout the year ahead.

 1. Stop trying to please everyone

2. Write on non-lined paper

3. Check for new upcoming exhibitions and events (and arrange to go!) 

4. Walk a different route 

5. Join forces 

6. Drop everything and sketch right now
7. Stop trying to be a great artist
8. Make lots of mistakes
9. Take praise well
10. Take criticism well
11. Stop scrolling
12. Read the news
13. Watch a documentary about something you know nothing about
14. Go outside
15. Never stick with what you know

x

2015 Goals and Resolutions

Wishing everybody a very Happy New Year! Hope you had a wonderful festive period. 

To me it feels very strange that it isn't 2012 anymore, let alone 2015. 2014 has been a mixture of ups and downs for me but I've spent it with people I love and care about so I'm still very lucky and have some great memories from the past 12 months. 

In the past I have never really made proper goals for the year ahead. But last year I made just one - to read more. I still may not be a massive book worm and I still have a problem with being ridiculously slow at finishing any book, but the bottom line is I HAVE read more this year than the previous 5 years combined. I've gotten through a handful of great books in 2014 and I hope to continue this into the new year. I feel like there is so much negativity and pessimism surrounding new years resolutions, but in my opinion it can work! Just one tip from me though if you want to make it happen: try to be somewhat specific with your goals. Nothing too broad if you  can help it. For example, if you want to get fit, try not to write "1. Get Fit" on your 2015 resolutions list. Swap it for something like "1. Do at least one run a week". If you achieve this easily, then great! Keep the original ones up, set some new ones and keep going. 

I really want to start the blogging year ahead by sharing the goals I have set myself for 2015. I've actaully ended up with a few more than I had planned to but I still think they're easily manageable for me (some being harder than others!) Hopefully I'll be able to look back on this post at the end of the year and at least say I've had a real good go at all of these.

So, here are my six goals/resolutions for 2015:

• Draw LOTS more (starting with a drawing a day in January)
• Stop wasting time by worrying about time all the time
• Blog (just do it!)
• Update my wardrobe 
• Shoot in film
• Learn how to better deal with anxiety and depression 

Wish me luck! I hope this year is a safe, happy and exciting one for you.

x