Lately I have been feeling that my passion for art has been slowly shrinking. Often, I get home from work and just feel like vegging out with my DVR rather than continuing a pursuit of artistic enlightenment. What happen to the young, fresh and full-of-ideas art student I once knew? It’s not like I am not surrounded by inspiration on a daily basis: I listen to interesting independent rock music. I go to hipster bars. I work with talented people. I have lots of good art books…. What happened?

On a recent trip to the Bay Area with my girlfriend, we went to the Treasure Island Music Festival. We saw some great bands, were surrounded by interesting people, there was an area for patrons to paint and share their creations, and one of my favorite poster design studios had a booth – The Small Stakes. The old flame for painting and design was lit. It was a two day affair, but we decided to bail on the second day. Instead we went to the SFMOMA to see an exhibition of photographs by Richard Avedon. The photos were great and I wished I had been a photographer, but it was the Roy Lichtenstein painting I saw on the way up to the show that reminded me of my artistic past. At around the age of 12, Lichtenstein was one of the first artists that made me want to pursue my career. It also reminded me of my failure to pick up a paintbrush in years. I started my career as an illustrator and environmental designer—sketching and drawing on a daily basis, and when I became a graphic designer, usually I was the only designer who had any hand skills. This realization that my artistic desires have gotten lost among the day-to-day deadlines of my life has lead to my artistic crossroads.

When I have had the opportunity to use my art skills, I experienced great enjoyment and pleasure. So I have decided to reinvigorate and re-awaken my artistic self. I am throwing down the artistic gauntlet. Whether it is painting, sculpture, drawing, learning an instrument, take photographs or whatever – it’s time to re-up. I am going to hit the art store at full force! The plan: to produce at least on piece of artwork or try something artistic every month for the next six months. I will post the results on this blog regardless of the turnout… i.e. crappy acoustic guitar version of Led Zeppelin’s “Going to California.” Stay tuned for my epic fails and epic wins.