What is Art?  This question is hard to define.  TS Eliot believes art should be able to create and evoke new emotions.  Art reaches out to each individual with a unique voice.  The good thing about art is that its not limited to museums or google images.  Art can be found in a unique juxtaposition of colors on a blanket or in the images that come from a book passage. 

Below are some challenges to get you to think of your surrounding environment in an artistic way.  The well of inspiration should never run dry when learn to reevaluate your surroundings.

Have you ever had a craving?  Usually all of my cravings stay in the edible food realm (chocolate, nuts, cheese, ice cream); however, for a few weeks in 2007 I would actually wake up in the middle of the night craving to draw an elephant.  Naturally, since it would be about 2 or 3 in the morning I would ignore it and go back to sleep.  But the "craving" would not go away.  Finally one day I got out my drawing pad and looked up elephants on the web and began. 

This elephant is the product of my first-ever art craving.  He took much time and dedication, but I am proud of my amateur art skills I applied.  For me, he is literally a dream which sprang to life. 

I want to encourage you to follow all of your ideas.  I was fortunate that my craving did not go away, otherwise I would have never had my baby.  But I'm not foolish enough to risk the same mistake twice.  That is why I now carry paper and pencil with me everywhere I go (even church).  You never know what my spark your interest. 

So, I've had a thing for hands for quite some time. Most people don't realize how expressive hands can be. As palm tellers will tell you, each hand has a unique set of lines. Fingers look different from hand to hand. This series which I am working on looks at different hand poses. I've also included different types of heart. The title "Heart in Hand" was inspired by one of my favorite authors Sarah Dessen.

Look around you. What are some ordinary, undervalued objects? How can you make them unique?

Flowers can come in so many colors, sizes, and species.  There have been many great art pieces focused around flower arrangements.  In fact, flowers have almost become a cliched art theme.  How can you change this.  What makes your flowers special?

Some of my favorite pieces were inspired by my faith and my freshman philosophy class.  I created many wonderful pieces under the exciting lectures of Dr. Baggett (who was nice enough not to care that my sketchbook had replaced my notebook).  While most of these focus on a Christian aspect, I have several others that came from other philosophic topics.

Challenge: Check out a philosophy book (they are not all dry, boring and hard to understand).  If you need a suggestion try If Aristotle Ran Hogwarts.  What ideas or images pop into your mind.  Take a minute to sketch them.  You can always expand on them later.