JFJ Big Idea Challenge

In June 2015, I was urged to create a daily challenge on the blog, and so the JFJ 15 for 30 Challenge came into being. For 30 days I asked participants to spend at least 15 minutes a day engaged in some specific art making task. I focused mainly on techniques and processes that could be easily done in 15 minutes, but which could be elaborated upon with more time.

I’m back just over a year later with a new challenge, The Journal Fodder Junkies Big Idea Challenge! Whether you have 15 minutes or three hours, each day’s challenge provides a starting point or a spark of an idea. There are no rules to this challenge other than allow the prompt to be a jumping off point for the work.

Here’s how it’s going to work. Each day throughout July, I will post a Big Idea along with some points of clarification and some points to ponder. For those of you who may not be familiar with Big Ideas, they are a notion that has come to a place of prominence in Art Education, and simply put, Big Ideas are the ideas that artists explore in their art. Big Ideas are large human issues or concerns that conjure a wide variety of thoughts, reactions, and possibilities. Big ideas are complex and ambiguous which gives artists room to develop individual lines of inquiry and to explore a wide range of possibilities.

Read the Big Idea and the points that go with it, and respond in any manner you see fit to that idea. Write, paint, collage, journal, draw, make a video, sculpt, or snap a photo. Remember that there is no right way to respond, so allow the Big Idea to guide the making and explore whatever possibilities arise. You might focus on a very personal and specific notion as you work, or you might explore the concept in more general terms. It’s up to you.

Like the 15 for 30 Challenge, this is not about having finished, glorious works of art or fully resolved journal pages. This challenge is about opening yourself up to an idea and seeing where it can take you. It’s about finding time each day to journal, to make art, to reflect, to create. It’s about opening to your creativity and giving yourself permission.

If you have a blog or if you're active on social media, you may want to post your responses for others to see what you have been up to. Use the hashtags #jfjbigideas or #jfj16.

But what if you get behind or miss a day or two? So what! Don’t worry about trying to catch up. Just do the challenges that you can, and don’t feel overwhelmed as if you have to do all of them. Besides, all of the challenges will be here on the blog for you catch up anytime you want or to explore in greater depth.

So, if you’re up for the challenge, it’ll all start tomorrow, July 1, so grab some art making materials and join in on the fun.