This is part of my blog series sharing a bit about what’s going at at my monthly membership site: My Art Practice.
For context, My Art Practice operates on a 3-month cycle, rather like a semester. Each cycle is themed around an idea or concept. July was a transition month as one cycle ended and a new one began. This cycle 9 theme was “Reading and Making Landscape” and the cycle 10 theme is “Place Shapes Practice.”
Cycle Related
At the beginning and end of each cycle, there are always four cycle-related events:
- Wrap Party: MAP can be done in binge-y bursts, sporadically, or absolutely every week. Because we have all kinds of brains, different methods of interacting with the content is important. The Wrap Party is a live online event meant to summarize and bring the cycle together. For cycle 9, there were 33 lessons and events!
- What Changed This Cycle?: This is an opportunity for reflection. It’s the last part of every cycle. Did this cycle change anything in your art practice? Or not? How? Why? Or why not? I strongly believe that every time you reflect, you learn!
- Theme Launch: Each cycle begins with a lesson about the theme. In July, I shared a graphic of the place/practice circle and talked about how they continually feed each other.
- Art Challenge: Each cycle has an art challenge that you can do and submit at any time during the 3-month cycle. The challenge is designed to help you better understand the theme of the cycle. I encourage everyone to do the challenge whether or not you decide to share what you make. Doing is how we apply learning. Watching and reading is only half learning.
Much like a highway has an on-ramp and off-ramp, these four lessons are meant to ease you out of the old cycle and ease you into the new cycle.
Art Practice
It will come as no surprise that “art practice” is at the heart of an online learning platform called, “My Art Practice.” Every month we begin with a small step that keeps your art practice moving forward: Goals & Tiny Wins.
On the message board, I invite MAP members to share both their monthly goals and tiny wins.
- Monthly goals give your practice a gentle direction. When you name one small goal for the month, you give your practice something to return to.
- Tiny wins build consistency through self-trust. Most of us underestimate how much “little progress” matters. Tiny wins are the building blocks of a long-term practice!
One of the elements of an art practice is analysis — but it’s not just about analyzing your own work. It’s also about being aware of what else is out there in the zeitgeist. Each cycle I start a conversation, using a news article, about a contemporary art topic.
In July we discussed some of the ways AI is being used in art. I always appreciate MAP members thoughtful comments on whatever the topic may be!
This month I also shared a long Studio Vlog focused on cleaning & reorganizing my studio.
As always, there was a good mix of humor and practical advice — especially about how to think through what will work best for your space and your practice.
Art History
The art history lesson in July was about Robyn Kahukiwa.
Art Techniques and Materials
You may recall that I used to offer an intensive live online workshop called, “Design Boot Camp.” It was $750 for five weeks of intensive learning about the elements and principles of design in art. (As a side note, $750 is the same cost as a full year of My Art Practice membership!) As part of the “Technical and Professional Skills” portion of MAP, you will also find the elements and principles of art!
Each cycle I update one part of that section on elements and principles of art and in July, I posted three lessons focused on using value in art.
At the end of the month, I hosted the cycle’s live Q&A session. This is a one hour event, held over Zoom, where you can submit a question ahead of time and I’ll prepare a demo to answer your question. We always end up chatting about additional things, but the focus of this session was on two big questions:
- How to get over decision paralysis when making art?
- How to create abstract art based on real things?
Community
Each month there is a community-led Art Jam!
And of course, I don’t want to forget about all the chatter on the message boards, and weekly accountability group meetings. Lots of opportunities to be social if you want to.
Membership Info
There are two kinds of MAP membership. Full membership grants you access to everything on the site – all lessons and message boards and everything that has come before.
Technique Vault membership grants you access to a more limited selection, focused on art techniques and materials. But again, you get access to both new and archived lessons. (You can take a peek at the kinds of things that are available in this post.)
You can check out all the options HERE and do let me know if you have questions!
