THE #getyourcraycray_on CHALLENGE

Way back in October I took part in a doodling challenge on Instagram, I realised that I have a variety of footage from it that I've never shared in my blog, so I thought better late than never!!

This challenge was perfect for me in many ways.

1. It was in the middle of a season of admin, so it created a welcome excuse and nudge to be creative at least for 5 minutes every day.
2. It was using crayons, which to me felt unthreatening, something I could be playful and unprecious about.
3. Pat Butynski, the artist who set the challenge turned out to be part of my mentoring programme - a wonderfully inspiring, brave and provoking abstract artist who I'm now honoured to call a friend.
   
   

I say I have a variety of footage but I actually told myself at the start of doing this that I could be free to play without the pressure of ever having to show anyone what I produced! This was very releasing and meant I could explore to my hearts content.

Here's a little timelapse video of one of them:

So the challenge was to do a #30daycrayonworkout, basically playing with crayons in any way I chose every day for 30 days and posting it as part of a group who were all doing it too. Search #getyourcraycray_on to see the other 1500+ responses.

In December I shared a selection of my sketches at my Open Studio event and even sold a few. Then in January I had the opportunity of exhibiting 12 of them at City Church Cambridge – hoping to inspire some playful 5 minute creativity in others.

I now have a collection of them for sale in my Etsy shop. Click on each image.

There are many creative challenges around on social media and I heartily recommend them to you as a means of thinking outside the box and getting your creative juices flowing! If you find any good ones, I'd love to hear about them!