Art for Lent

Even though I am not really associated with any religion, I love to learn about the different traditions, and the history of different sects. One of the things that I have found most interesting in religions are the practices that require the follower to deprive themselves of something in remembrance of an event, or to achieve a spiritual goal.

Buddhist and Hindu ascetics deprive themselves of worldly possessions and desires to become One, or to escape the cycle of rebirths, Muslims deny themselves during Ramadan, and usually Catholics give up some vice or habit during Lent. I admire these actions for the amount of faith they have to believe in something so strongly, and the will power, and patience, it must take to alter your habits even for a short amount of time.

Every year I say i will not eat from sunrise to sunset during Ramadan, then 3 hours later I am eating a burrito. So this year I thought that instead of denying myself something like sodas or meat, I will instead make this 40 days a time where I will ADD something to my life. Instead of denying myself something, I will force myself to make something new everyday. It probably won't help my chances with the man upstairs but it may still be good for my soul.

THE RULES
1.Everyday for 40 days starting on Wednesday March 9, I will do something artistic. I will try not to phone it in, but since I work 7 days a week I can not promise they will all be winners. Get ready for a lot of self portraits.

2.The medium does not matter. I am going to try to make it stuff I would normally make. More than likely there will be zines, prints, and drawings. Some street art type things may creep in, and if for some reason I feel as though a performance art piece is necessary, I will post the video.

3.Some work will take preparation. For example, if I am working on a woodcut, there will be lots of time cutting, but little time printing. in these cases I will still post pics of what I worked on, and describe it, and I will also submit a finished piece to accompany it. More than likely it will be a drawing of some kind.

4.Oh yeah, I will be posting these things on this blog where I will also write about the process, and the piece as necessary.