This Grey Mist

A quick sketch of myself in my current state of uncreativity
(set against the backdrop of Van Gogh's painting). 

This is going to admittedly be a dreadfully short post this week. I am struggling to shove aside a few months of creative block. I am having a hard time making, writing, or creating things. Unfortunately this creative block has come during my last year, and during IP. This week I seemed to have an even harder time trying to create something towards my IP. So..

I WHAT I DID/WHAT I ACCOMPLISHED:
I attempted several sketches, and tried to create around this concept of letters. I listened to Julie Shapiro's audio piece, "Yours Truly." I also started working on doing several layouts in InDesign that were not really related to anything, I just felt I had to start working on something visual and get in the process of making. I also set out a tentative budget and timeline, both of which are probably laughable since I really don't know what I am going to make or do, outside of a desire to make a book. I estimated about 100 dollars for paper, printing and binding. Totally arbitrary as it will vary depending on how I decide to go about the said tasks, and how much I end up making.


 WHAT I HOPE TO ACCOMPLISH:
On this long break I want to finally shake off this creative block. I would like to settle in one concrete direction for my IP project and move into a productive work mode. I am not quite sure how to accomplish this....

I remember hearing a lecture once from an author. She talked about how the concept of "genius" originated as the idea of something outside of ourselves giving us an idea, rather than the current concept of genius being a quality of a person. While I don't believe I am a genius or create genius work, just a creative individual, I can liken my work to this concept that she talked about. I feel at this moment like I am just waiting for something to spark, for an inspiration to be given. So while I wait, I need to just shoulder down and push out some work.