It's been a while...October...November...December...Ah.....here it is...January! And not a moment too soon.

January sees me like no other month. Like everyone else, I go through the process of re-evaluating my life simply because it is the start of a new year. January sees me ask questions. January sees me look back. January sees me take note. And, January sees me reach out to my dreams across the white expanse of what could be. I start things in January. 

This year it became glaringly apparent that I tend to stumble across the same unrealized dreams and desires each year and then get tripped up on the road named "how to get there." Actually, it might not be a road at all. It feels much more like a carpet the way I trip on it. Nagging at me each January are the dreams I'm not living. The desires that have gone unfulfilled. With no magic map in my hands, I've reached many a years' end talking myself out of those dreams. Out of habit, I construct massive dichotomies, towering walls that block my every move.

January also sees me clean my studio and vow to work in it more. As I promise myself to not let day to day things and responsibilities overshadow my desire to create by July I tend to lose the focus. This year, I woke with that same call to action, maybe even a bit more. My hope for 2012 is to tease out enough of the fibers of my dreams and bundle them together to make a strong rope to pull myself toward fulfilling those dreams in spite of my fears, doubts and ability to get distracted or tripped up. So there January! I've cleaned my studio, made short term and long term goals (this time) and am actively seeking out other artists for community and inspiration. According to this essay I read on the  illustrationfriday blog it takes 10 years or 10,000 hours of practice to develop expertise. I have plenty of time to perfect my art. It takes time. But, most of all it takes...less talk, more action. Just doing it. So, I'm going to go get busy now!