Art Inspiration Booklet for 2010

This year I got inspired. It was time to do something different.

For the last few years, I wrote up a “business plan” for my art business each January. It’s a Word document, about eight pages long, all text, no pictures. Frankly, it’s not much fun. And not surprisingly (especially in 2009) not much use either. (See this article about why business plans are pretty useless.)

I have all sorts of plans and goals for 2010. Some for my personal life, some for my art. I have my word of the year picked out. I’ve thought about what worked in 2009, and what I want to do differently in 2010. I have ideas that I might or might not actually do, but I need to write them all down so I don’t forget them. In short, I need a way to write this stuff down, but the stodgy old business plan format isn’t working for me any more.

Just in the nick of time, I found Lisa Sonora Beam’s blog, where she shows how she makes a visually appealing booklet (she calls it a “strategic planner”) to contain all her plans, goals, and ideas for the new year. What a great idea! As she says, creative people need visual stimulation. You can see what her booklet looks like here. It’s pretty fabulous. (She does have the advantage of being a collage artist.)

Inspired by her adorable booklet I decided to scrap my usual art “business plan” in favor of my own version of the booklet. It was so much fun to make! Here’s a peek:

OK, the cover isn’t the most exciting part. It gets better inside, where I’ve collaged images of other artists’ work for artistic inspiration and visual stimulation. This is the stuff that gets my creative juices flowing!

The first page lists some of my personal values (“integrity,” “honesty,” etc.) plus my word for the year, “prolific.” I chose prolific because I intend to create more art than ever this year.

The next page lists my personal goals, like decluttering and daily exercise. Additional pages include my artistic and business goals, and some ideas for better time management.

I collect pithy sayings, so I put some of those in the booklet too.

I was pretty frugal about the materials I used. The pages are some old cardstock I had lying around (standard 8.5×11 inches). I cut out some images from an Artful Home catalog, choosing art that inspires me. I also printed out pictures I’ve collected from the internet of other artists’ work.

I stapled the booklet down the middle, then painted each page a with a different background color or pattern before gluing down the various pictures. I used Sharpie pens to write in my various goals, plans, and ideas. It helps that I took a class on collage, because this is not my usual medium! The class emphasized working quickly and spontaneously, so I was able to put the booklet together in fairly short time.

For once I find I’m looking forward to using my plan. Just looking at it makes me feel good. So much better than a business plan!

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