#Create28

I’ve always been creative. Since I was little, I've loved to paint, draw, journal, handwrite, photograph, and craft things. I’ve always felt really excited to create.

What I’ve admittedly become a little rusty at lately is CONSISTENCY and BOLD ACTION to actually publish and share the art I create. Like many artists, I suffer from perfectionism and lack of confidence: "is this really 'good enough' to share??" The focus of “getting it right” helps me finish gorgeous quality works of art. Perfectionism can also sneak in unwelcome at the last moment before publishing— in the final home stretch— and cause me to decide to start over, get cold feet about sharing, or scrap the idea all together! I'm sure many of you totally feel me on this one.

I calligraphed a zillion “#Create28” samples, with the plan to digitize one for the announcement post of this project today. Yes, I ended up tossing out all of these ideas. Not without first realizing the insane irony in ALL of this.

I've been brainstorming ways to finally end my vicious pattern of: awesome idea > excitedly create > dejectedly delete > repeat. The new year has brought some clarity to me, and I've realized a few important things:

• There’s literally no point in keeping hand-made art buried in folders in my desk, never to be seen by myself or others (some of it's awesome, and deserves to be seen by human eyeballs, not the inside of a drawer!!)
• There’s zero joy in experiencing the unconscious pattern of “GREAT IDEA = WILL THROW AWAY.” This! Must! End!!
• There’s immense joy in committing to personal challenges, especially to change bad or unfulfilling habits.
• There’s no shame in publishing “works in progress.” (Without progress, there is no finish.)
• There’s momentum gained from consistency and from action, even if the subject or photo is not “perfect.” (“Perfection is a pipedream” says our wise friend, Peter G.)
• Art is never truly finished, merely abandoned.
• There's magic in knowing that by sharing a new piece of my heart every day, I may inspire others to share theirs, too!!! WIN WIN!

Introducing #Create28: my personal creative project for February, to CREATE + SHARE more of my art. 

How it works: The concept is simple. Each day of the 28 days of February, I’m going to be posting a new creation on Instagram! There's no certain medium, style, art process, size, detail, or time spent required. No limits or theme. It just needs to be something I created myself. It can be small, simple, grand, weird, dull, crazy, personal, digital, painted, lettered, cooked (?!), etc. My goal is not to create grand masterpieces daily, although maybe some unexpected badass pieces will come out of this project. The goal is simply: to build a new habit of posting a new creation that came from my heart every day, and to get out of the perfectionist pitfalls that are preventing me from moving forward in my artistic endeavors + the sharing process.

By February 28th, my hope is that:

• I’ve improved in a variety of art styles, lettering, + mediums (maybe even tried brand new ones!)
• I’ve learned about my “Inner Critic” a little more, and how I can avoid the procrastination and perfectionism pitfalls (Keep your friends close and your enemies closer, know what I’m sayin?)
• I’ve posted 28 new creations consistently, and reflected throughout on what felt most challenging and why, so I can improve
• I've honed my personal art style and found what I love to create the most.
• I’ve let go of any remaining fear of criticism, judgment, or failure about creating + sharing my art
• I'm inspired to continue to share my art, heart, voice, knowledge without hesitation
• I'm confident about my ability to create consistency in other areas (vocally, writing projects, working with clients, coaching, etc.)
• I’ve built strong relationships, conversations, and friendships with my friends, family, and fans online on my favorite social media platform! (Instagram is amazing. I really love interacting with peeps there and can't wait to do this daily!!)
• I have the skills to confidently photograph my artwork
• I’ll be inspiring others to commit to their OWN version of #Create28 -- whatever that means for their own lives! We all have hang-ups and hesitations. About ourselves, our behaviors, our personalities, our habits... If you can get clear on what you want to improve, and make a plan to challenge yourself, you’re already gaining momentum to become who you want to be!

I'm passionate to become more courageous about sharing my art and my heart.

I want to inspire YOU and others to do the same.

So… let’s #Create28!!! Here's my creation for February 1st:

x, Riana

P.S. Would you like to join me on this crazy challenge?! Post your creation any time this month on instagram, and please include tags @riananelson and #Create28 so we can see what you're making. Also, please put your email in below, so I can email you a weekly update on my own progress this month— it's the easiest way we can chat about what's challenging, easy, fun, wonky, etc.