My creative mojo, that is. I find it difficult lately to write, to quilt, to make music, to make art. It doesn’t help that I’m trying to recover from whatever bug I caught last week–I’m still weak and sleeping a lot.

Sadly, I’ve made almost no art in 2024, even though I know how much I enjoy it. That’s why I’m excited that the Index-Card-a-Day project starts June 1st and runs through July 31st. It’s for people just like me–people who say, “Why is it I never get around to making art when it’s something I really want to do?” Guess what? There are more than two of us in that boat.

The idea is that for two months, you make a small piece of art, on an index card. That way, if you mess up, you won’t have invested in expensive canvases or special paper, and you can just throw it away and start over. No muss, no fuss. Can you do that for 61 days? Maybe. But no shame if you can’t. You can jump in any time.

The official ICAD website provides daily and weekly prompts, which you can apply or not, no pressure. But if you’re stuck for ideas, they’re a great way to try something new.

Actually, I think I’m going to use the prompts that my Facebook group, Tangle All Around uses. You can join, too, and see what’s up. I really enjoy Zentangle. I like the repetitive patterns. The steps are broken out for you so that you can learn them. I find them easier than, say, representational art. And there’s the meditative aspect as well–being in the moment, the sensation of your muscles as you draw the curves.

In the past few days, I’ve tried a couple of designs that are new to me, just to try to get back in the groove.

The one on the left is “Jacy,” by Julie Beland. The one on the right is “Kaurikunda4,” by Tina-akua Hunziker. I especially like patterns like this that you can set in grids, because they remind me of quilt patterns.

I hope you’ll all join me in participating in the ICAD challenge! Let’s get our Mojo back!