Oddments & Curiosities

Leah Palmer Preiss in Raleigh, NC is making an imaginary being every other day in Oddments & Curiosities: odd creatures on odd days...




Why did you decide to do this project? Ever since I first encountered Skull-A-Day, I've admired 365 projects from afar & thought taking one on would be a great creative stimulus. Still, the idea of doing anything every single day seemed just too daunting for my skittish personality & busy schedule. When it suddenly occurred to me that I could post something on every odd day, I knew I had to try it. The phrase "oddments &a mp; curiosities" has been part of my identity (on business cards, web profiles &c.) for many years, & it seemed perfect for the project. I began Oddments on my birthday, & hope to keep it up until my next birthday.


How has doing a yearlong/daily project affected your life? It has only been a month so far, but already I find it keeps my head buzzing in a playful, dreamy way. The concept is open-ended enough that I doubt I'll ever run out of ideas-- I have dozens waiting in the wings already.  I look forward to experimenting with different media & adding other new challenges in the future to keep things fresh. I love not quite knowing what will come of it!  (I call it an experiment in predictable unpredi ctability.)
Posting so frequently has helped me to let go of some of my perfectionist, tweak-everything-to-death tendencies. Also, especially because I've been working mainly on longer-term art projects for the past few years, it gives me a real psychological boost to complete something, however small, on such a regular & frequent basis. And last but not least, I'm surprised & delighted by the fun, creative comments I'm receiving!




See all of Leah's odd creatures HERE.

2 comments:

Curious Art said...

Noah, thank you so much for including me here even though I'm not strictly a 365-er. And thanks even more for all the inspiration & encouragement your sites & books have given me. I doubt I'd have had the gumption to do this project without you!

It's funny... yesterday was the first day I almost didn't manage to make my post... I did it in the end, but the timing was tight, I wasn't thrilled with the piece, & I had that "why am I even doing this?" moment. Then this morning I woke up with a great idea for my next post, & when I got to the computer I found this! Now I have a new surge of Oddments energy, so thanks yet again!

Noah said...

So glad to have inspired you Leah! And I'm happy that you managed to press on despite the difficulty. I definitely found that the benefits I gained from my own project far outweighed the stress and frustrations that are inevitably part of such a massive project.