Let me preface this by saying that, while I've been disappointed in my lack of progress with outlined goals, I've since come to a point of acceptance and self-love that allows me to acknowledge it's okay to experience your day, week or year within the parameters of your energy and needs. This means that, no, I didn't meet my goals. Not a single one. But that's okay. 

I spent too much money. I bought too many planners and too many clothes and too many purses. More of any one thing than I am likely to use. Not only did I spend money, but I realized too late what a superfluous purchase it was, then later re-sold it or gave away many of the things I had acquired. I recognize the waste I caused and in which I indulged, and I'm working steadily to make better choices as the weeks unfold. 

However, it's been a struggle. 

Last fall, I was diagnosed with pneumonia. This illness persisted for longer than anticipated and, even when my tests came back negative and I was clear of the illness, I was feeling lethargic, unmotivated and uninspired. This has continued through today. In February, however, an answer arrived in a diagnosed of  ME / Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, most likely triggered by the viral pneumonia (in theory), and was told to expect my physical and emotional stressors to continue indefinitely.

So how does this relate to my depth year and 2019 goals? 

It has led me to understand that it's okay. That it's acceptable and encouraged to make allowances which encourage self-care. Sometimes this means goals and plans must be sacrificed so my energy may be utilized in ways that many take for granted... taking a shower, folding a load of laundry, grocery shopping or an afternoon with the in-laws. But it has also taught me that there's no excuse for indulging in unhealthy behaviors and habits that are not feeding my wellness, but adding to its demise. 

What does this mean moving forward? 

It means I'm taking things slow. I'm keeping myself accountable for using my resources responsibly, which include my energy and my finances. It means lessons may be released late, videos may be postponed, personal art projects may remain in a perpetual state of "almost complete", and how I interact with others is altered to protect my mental health. 

And I hope those of you out there who also experience chronic illness are recognizing your needs and finding healthy ways to address them, without guilt, without regret and without self-admonishment. You deserve to care for yourself first, before you can care for the needs of others. 

Stay safe everyone and stay creative!
​

Anyway, that means I'm even MORE impressed with the entries, because the participants took the steps I provided (which didn't include that pesky 14 gauge wire) and had to incorporate that nonsense piece of wire in there somewhere! And boy did I open every single email submission I received and say to myself "Why didn't I think of that?" Because every single entry was outstanding. 

By the way, if you haven't already seen the Gallery of Entries, check out the gorgeous work by clicking the link highlighted above! You wont be disappointed. 

Now for the winners! We had both a "group favorite", voted for by the participants of the challenge (and only the participants, to help avoid a popularity contest), and a "judged favorite" chosen by a panel of seven individuals, myself included., who were non-participants in the challenge. So let's begin! 

Both winners will receive 10 tutorials of their choice and a $25 cash prize (payable via PayPal), and Dalila will receive my finished pendant (sans that 14 gauge round wire!). But honestly, guys, let's be straight.... the struggle to judge this was real, and I imagine that sentiment is shared by all the participants who cast their vote. Because every entry was a wonderful peek inside the character of its creator, and inspires in me the motivation and creative drive to get some work done! Thank you so much to everyone who participated, and I hope you will all check out the entries linked above and share some love with the contestants. 

See you in the next challenge! Stay creative!

​Nicole

But I was feeling the pull. 

I've always been inclined towards a sense of minimalism. I don't like clutter. I feel overwhelmed when surrounded by too many things. And, of course, organization is a keystone of my day to day life. So, part of my Depth Year was a low-spend or no-spend promise to myself for 2019. I hoped to find peace and joy in what I already possessed, and not in the hunt for something new and shiny. This didn't, necessarily, mean I wouldn't purchase anything at all, but that I would attempt to be very conscious about my purchases.... bringing to me only the things that filled a need, purchases that supported local artists or business owners or fed into the creative community, and purchases that would further what interests I'd already established that I'd hoped to journey deeper into during the year.

And I think, entering April, I'm finally finding my groove with my Depth Year journey. I deleted all shopping apps from my phone (even apps for Michael's or JoAnn's or Hobby Lobby.... those coupons encourage me to spend without necessity!). And now that I've purged unused items, even items I've only recently purchased, I feel much more free to create, or that I'm at least open to creative possibility. 

While I may have moments I'm derailed from this new path of mine, I wont punish myself for it or allow it to derail my goals moving forward. I may yet buy another purse. I may buy another tarot deck, despite the 20 I haven't used in months. But I'll endeavor to try, every single day, to invest my time and energy into what I have. 

And this isn't just about "things". I endeavor to spend my time more consciously as well. I want to experience the depth of great relationships, encourage other creative souls in whatever way I can (and yes, sometimes this will mean buying things), and keep my interactions positive and uplifting whenever possible. And when not possible, be open to receiving the positivity of others. 

So yes, while I may have "failed" at the beginning of my Depth Year, there's still a lot of 2019 left, and I'm opening myself to whatever that means. I'm excited to see where this road will lead. 

Are you investing in a Depth Year? Let me know in the comments below!

Here's the rundown: 

• Every month, through 2019, a purchase of the new discounted tutorial bundle pack will automatically enter your name in a drawing to win a piece of jewelry. For the month of April, this purchase enters you to win a green dragon eye pendant! The winner for this pendant will be announced April 11th!
• Every month, any purchase at all enters your name in a drawing to win the following month's tutorial bundle pack. Winner drawn and announced the last day of every month.
• We've also got a 15k Facebook Likes giveaway happening on my Facebook business page soon. This TWELVE HOUR extravaganza will include a tutorial or piece of jewelry given away every half-hour (including my five brand new electroform pieces!). While I'm only a few likes away from goal, I'm terribly unprepared for the giveaway at this time, which will likely occur at some point this summer, possible June or July, while I scramble to get some brand new tutorials together!
• Coming up! A tutorial giveaway for newsletter subscribers only. So if you aren't already signed up, click here and get on the list so you wont miss out!
• In my Nicole Hanna Jewelry Facebook group, I'm enjoying a Wine and Wire Wednesday live chat every other Wednesday of the month. Next live chat is scheduled for April 10th (I might have mis-dated it in the last newsletter as April 11th) at 6pm US Eastern. But there's a giveaway scheduled for the last live chat of April! Anyone who stops in, if even for a moment, and leaves a comment during the chat, is entered in a drawing to win whatever it is I create during the chat. So be sure to click the link above and check out the group!
• And yes, despite the delay last month, there are new videos coming to my Go Art Yourself YouTube channel. 

I am definitely looking forward to what the rest of 2019 brings, which will include other changes as well. Last September, I offered a tutorial membership package, which was basically one ginormous 60% off discount on 12 months of tutorials released (at least 60 lessons!). This year, I am (so far) undecided whether or not I will be offering this membership again. Only because I have a comprehensive online workshop planned that I'd like to offer, and my website can only accommodate one or the other, for a variety of technical issues and the limitations surrounding the platform I use. I could offer the workshop off-site, on a third-party platform like Teachable, for instance, so it's an option I'm keeping in mind. Let me know what you think in the comments below. I've got a few months to go, so there's time to make decisions yet and I'd love to hear what you think!

And now, I shall be off, plan a few more blog posts (I'm feeling chatty after so many weeks away from writing), and get to wire wrapping! I hope you all stay creative, until the next time....

​Nicole

So it seemed a no-brainer, as I got older, to invest a little time in art classes, as part of my school curriculum. I'd always been decent with a pencil, and could work with reference photos easily enough, but looked forward to the opportunity to learn techniques, work with new mediums and stretch my creative wings. 

Little did I know, 8th grade art class would start a downward spiral of negative experience with the "creative" side of the educational system. It begins with Mr. Stanley, whose bald head and pompous demeanor I still clearly envision and, if you can't tell, for whom I still hold a great deal of disdain. 

We were learning to work with pastels. It was my first experience with the medium, and working from the  still life of a fruit bowl (because those are always riveting, am I right?) and I was having a great time dusting all that chalky powder from my hands throughout the class. Mr. Stanley was making the rounds,  looming over the shoulders of students, correcting perceived mistakes and pointing out bad technique. To 8th graders. Sigh.

I was proud of my work, and my fellow students were complimenting me. But, as the teacher rounded my table, he leaned in close and said "I'd like to enter this in the state school art fair, but these shadows need a LOT of work. Make them darker". I didn't think my shadows needed more dimension, but he was the teacher. He knew what he was talking about, right? So I worked those shadows, nervously, while he continued his circuit around the class. Eventually he made his way to me again and said (I kid you not) "That looks like shit. You ruined it." But he took it and shrugged and said he'd enter it anyway.

My junior high school art teacher just told an 8th grader their art looked like shit. 

And you know what? My piece of shit won 3rd place. In the entire state. Out of hundreds of entries. I thought he was rude and pretentious and a snobby critic, but I brushed it off and brandished my winning ribbon proudly while he said "You could have won first place if you hadn't messed it up."
​

High school rolled around, and I figured I was done with art class and content to fill my sketchbooks in my own time and work with the medium that brings me joy. I was done with self-important, snobby art-critic teachers. Until I needed a class to fill my schedule and basic art was the only thing available. And you know, it was a good class. My teacher was impressed with me, she wanted to push me and didn't feel she had the tools in an introductory class to do so, so recommended to the school that I move on to the (already full) advanced class.  They made room for me and I was chuffed with myself. But worried. 

For good reason it seems, because I almost failed that class. I almost failed a class in which the content is 100% subjective. The techniques were ridiculous, the projects totally obscure (for instance, we had to make a place setting for a famous person, from the place mat to the silverware). Gone were the innocent days of using oil paints or acrylics or charcoal pencils, because apparently the classics had no place in modern curriculum. The final project was 40% of our total grade and absolutely ridiculous. We had to sketch our home. I lived in an apartment. Do you know how hard it is to sketch an entire apartment building without any prior knowledge or experience with DRAFTING? But I did it, and it looked good. Damn good. 

But that wasn't all. We then had to add texture to our drawing. The door would have carpet on it, for instance, and the windows would have a sponge, and the siding would be popsicle sticks. We had to cut and paste textures to our drawing. Then we would paint the textures and print our homes on a clean sheet of paper. I was horrified. The idea of ruining my perfect, clean, crisp beautiful drawing was heartbreaking to me. And also hella difficult! Because my entire building was comprised of really complicated lines and stair cases and small details, that I now had to try to translate with texture. 

Needless to say, my print was a muddy mess and I received a D on my final exam, and a C in the class as a whole. The only C I received in my entire high school experience. 

Thinking there is a right way to be creative or "do" art. Have you ever been told you're doing it wrong? That your art isn't art because you didn't do it the way someone else has done it? Have you ever told yourself something similar? Let me be perfectly clear.... there is no wrong way to "do" art. The act of the art is the only thing that matters, because your story matters, and in every piece of art is a piece of our story. Who is that person to control how you tell your story or diminish its important because it doesn't fit inside the paradigm of their own perceptions. Art is, and always will be, subjective. It's an indefinable way to express our own creative spirit. The expression matters, not the methods or techniques used. 

Not taking risks. Oh, comfort zone, how we love thee. This is perhaps my biggest creative sin. I do what I know and I enjoy a place of confidence in my competency and the idea of failing at something new really, honestly, terrifies me. But one of the biggest ways to stifle creative flow and growth is by refusing to take risks. This doesn't mean you need the newest tool or the best supplies. This means it's important to flex the creative muscles any way you can, even when utilizing the materials already at your disposal. What matters is trying something new and sharing it with others. Because it's through the sharing of it that we realize our fears are misplaced. 

Self-criticizing before the process is complete. Don't get me wrong, it's an important part of the creative process to be honest with ourselves about our work and the ways in which we can improve. But one of the quickest ways to derail progress is criticizing our work before we've even finished it. How many times have you scrapped a project and started over? By doing this, we are teaching ourselves that our story (here I go with the "story" metaphor again) is somehow flawed and, excuse me, but you... are.... not.... flawed. So I challenge you with this: the next time you want to scrap a project, fight the urge and push through. Use that mistake and build from it. Because what is a story without the mistakes from which we learn? And you might be surprised by the magic of your mistakes. 

Inconsistent creative times. If you've followed my blog for five minutes, you'll know I'm a huge advocate for organization, planning and order. And while many creatives may fight this ideology and cling to the cliche that artists are inherently chaotic, there is an important role of consistency and order in the creative process. By this, I mean it's important to create daily. Every single day. It doesn't have to be gallery-worthy. It doesn't have to be wearable. It doesn't even have to be particularly pleasing to look at. It just has to be made, however small, however functional, however utterly UN-artistic it may seem. Create something every day, be it a sketch, a poem, collage, a journal entry, a prayer, a photograph. Even 100 ear wires or 5 feet of viking knit chain. All of these activities stimulate the creative muscle and it's through this daily stimulation that our imagination and creativity become habitual. 

Consuming more information or skills than we have time to process. I see this one a lot. I want to learn bezel setting. I want to learn soldering, or metal clay or electroforming or acrylic paint pouring, knitting, pottery, crotchet! This may be hard to hear..... this may even be totally counter-intuitive to your nature..... but it's important to limit our creative endeavors to what we have time to really invest in and process. Learn something new, yes, but then do that thing for months and months. Do it until you don't have to think about it any more because your body knows what's required of it to tell your story effectively in your art. Then learn something new, and do that thing for a year. But, by consuming an endless library of skills, techniques or information, you're more likely to overwhelm and short-circuit your creative muscle than you are to flex it. 

Believing there is nothing new to learn.  You know that saying "there's nothing new under the sun"? You should, because I've mentioned a time or two how much I hate it. The confusion here is that we sometimes believe learning is limited to technique, but art and creativity is more than that. Our voice and heart and spirit (however woo-woo that may sound) is part of the process, perhaps the most important part, and there are always new ways to express that spirit. I challenge you to spend thirty days.... one whole month.... working with only one medium, and make something totally different with that medium each time you pick it up. If wire is your medium of choice, make a pendant one day, a brooch the next, a sculpture, then a candle holder or a wall hanging or a picture frame. Teach yourself (through risk, as mentioned above) that there are endless ways to tell a story and you'll never know them all. 

Toxic comparison as a form of self-sabotage. Oh boy. This is a big one and perhaps the most damaging of them all. Because there is no quicker way to dampen our creative flow than by comparing ourselves to others. And we've all done it, I hazard a guess, because we're socially wired to see ourselves as less than. Our bodies are less than those in the ads. Our paintings are less than those in the galleries. Our jewelry is less than those in the magazines. But that's doing ourselves an immense disservice, because comparing our work to others is diminishing the heart and soul of our creative flow. My challenge to you: go to Pinterest or Google and find that artist and his or her work who sparks you to say "I'll never be that good." Go on... do it. We all have that artist to whom we have compared ourselves and found ourselves lacking. And look at their art. Admire it for the beauty and talent and dedication it took to complete it. There is purpose and meaning in surrounding ourselves with the art of others and finding beauty and inspiration from it. But then look at your own art and note all the ways, even if you have to physically write them down, your work is amazing. Did you utilize a new technique in your latest piece? Did that wire flow in just the right way to lead into the next and the next and create a whole? Did the combination of materials spark joy in your when you put them together and planned your work? Be proud of your accomplishments. You made something! And the next time you make something it will be better. 

So tell me, have you committed any of these creative sins? Are there sins you've created that I haven't mentioned here? I'd love to hear about them in the comments below!