keri smith, creator of "wreck this journal," has created this work in progress. i am using her 100 ideas as a "to do" list for me over an undefined period of time.
- go for a walk & draw or list things you find on the sidewalk
- write a letter to yourself in the future
- buy something inexpensive as a symbol for your need to create (new pen, a tea cup, journal & use it everyday
- draw your dinner
- find a piece of poetry you respond to, rewrite it and glue it into your journal
- glue an envelope into your journal & for one week collect items you find on the street
- expose yourself to a new artist (go to a gallery, or in a book) & write about what moves you about it
- find a photo of a person you do not know & write a brief bio about them
- spend a day drawing only red things
- draw your bike
- make a list of everything you buy in the next week
- make a map of everywhere you went in one day
- draw a map of the creases on your hand (knuckles, palm)
- trace your footsteps with chalk
- record an overheard conversation
- trace the path of the moon in relation to where you live
- go to a paint store & collect 'chips' of all your favorite colors
- draw your favorite tree
- take 15 minutes to eat an orange
- write a haiku
- hang upside down for five minutes
- hang found objects from tree branches
- make a puppet
- create an outdoor room from things you find in nature
- read a book in one day
- illustrate your grocery list
- read a story out loud to a friend
- write a letter to someone you admire
- study the face of someone you do not like
- make a meal based on a color theme (i.e. all white)
- create a museum of very small things
- list the smells in your neighborhood
- list 100 uses for a tin can
- fill an entire page in your journal with small circles & color them in
- give away something you love
- choose an object; draw the side you can't see
- list all of the places you've ever lived
- describe your favorite room in detail
- write about your relationship with your washing machine
- draw all of the things in your purse/bag
- make a mini book based on the theme, "my grocery list"
- create a character based on someone you know & write a list of personality traits
- recall your favorite childhood game
- put postcards of art pieces/painting on the inside of your kitchen cupboard doors, so you can see them every day (but not become deaf to them)
- draw the same object every day for a week
- write in your journal using a different medium (brush & ink, charcoal, old typewriter, crayons, fat markers
- draw the individual items of your favorite outfit
- make a useful item using only paper & tape
- research a celebration or ritual from another culture
- do a temporary art installation using a pad of post it notes & a pen
- draw a map of your favorite sitting spots in your town/city (photocopy it and give it to someone you like)
- record all of the sounds you hear in the course of one hour
- using a grid, collect various textures from magazine and play them off of each other
- cut out all media for one day & write about the effects
- make pencil rubbings of six different surfaces
- draw your garbage
- do a morning collage
- list your ten most important things (not including animals or people)
- list ten things you would like to do every day
- glue a photo of yourself as a child into your journal
- transform some garbage
- write an entry in your journal in really LARGE letters
- collect some 'flat' things in nature (leaves, flowers) & glue or tape them into your journal
- physically alter a page (i.e. cut a hole, pour tea on it, burn it, fold it, etc.)
- find several color combinations you respond to in public; document those using swatches & write where you found them
- write a journal entry describing something "secret" & cut it up into several pieces and glue them back in scrambled
- record descriptions or definitions of subjects or words you are interested in, found in encyclopedias or dictionaries
- draw the outline of an object without looking at the page (contour drawing)
- what were you thinking just now? write it down
- do nothing
- write a list of ten things you could to do & do the last thing on the list
- create an image using dots
- do 3 drawings at different speeds
- put a small object in your left pocket (or in a bag), put your left hand in the pocket & draw it by feel
- create a graph documenting or measuring something in your life
- draw the sun
- create instructions for a simple everyday task
- make prints using food (fruit and vegetables cut in half, fish, etc.)
- find a photo & alter it by drawing over it
- write a letter using an unconventional medium
- draw one object for twenty minutes
- combine two activities that have not been combined before
- write about your day in an encyclopedic fashion (i.e. organize by subject)
- write a list of all the things you do to escape
- cut a random shape out of several layers of a magazine & make a collage out of the results
- write an entry in code
- make a painting using tools from the bathroom
- work with a medium that is subtractive
- write about or draw some of the doors in your life
- make a postcard that has some kind of activity on it
- devise a journal entry using "layers"
- devise an entry using "layers"
- write your own definition of one of the following concepts, sitting, waiting, sleeping (without using the actual word)
- list 10 of your habits
- illustrate the concept of "simplicity"
- write down and complete an idea of your own
- write down and complete an idea of your own
- write down and complete an idea of your own
- write down and complete an idea of your own
- write down and complete an idea of your own
thank you keri [http://www.kerismith.com/funstuff/100ideas.htm]