U is for unique

Well, we are into the last week of the A to Z of Me challenge. U is for unique.

I finally got around to buying some modelling paste yesterday, so the stars here are done by pushing the paste through a stencil. I have been learning a lot more about stencils recently. I signed up for Julie Fei-Fan Balzer's stencil 101 course and Carolyn Dube's Use Your Words workshop. (Both are fun, still open for sign up, and *free*!) I'll be posting more about Use Your Words when the A to Z of Me is finished. If you want a sneak peek before then, visit my flickr photostream.

You are unique, you are fearfully and wonderfully made, and there is no-one like you who will do the things you do in the way you do them. This is especially important for artists to remember. Your style is your own. Embrace it!

Comparison

I found this quote on Julie Fei-Fan Balzer's blog - go and have a look, it's fabulously inspirational. I shall be linking this post to her 'Art Journal Every Day' link list on Friday (which will be Saturday for me :) )

Comparison is the thief of joy - Theodore Roosevelt

How true!

How often do we compare ourselves and not like what we see?  Instead of being content with who we are and what we have, we look over the fence and desire what is there.

As artists this comes up a lot. We see a piece of work by someone else and like it. But instead of just being blessed by the fabulous creativity, we compare our own work with it. Often what we have previously been pleased with we now start to see faults in.

Why do we do this?

What we have to remember is that we are not comparing like with like. We are all unique. We should be content with being an original rather than a carbon-copy of someone else!