Over the last 15 days, I have tried to create art that speaks to my emotions and to help me grow as an artist.  It has not been easy.  Some days I felt like I completely failed, while other days I truly loved what I created. Such is the life of an artist, though.  You don't always love what you create, but at the end of this journey, I do feel that I have become more than I was and I am eager to continue to push myself to greater heights. 

The last theme is Growth with the challenge to "use yourself".  This challenge was not strict and I did not have to do a self portrait, but I did want to do one as it was one of my goals the last 15 days to use myself more in my art.  The days when I use more stock pieces than with my own photography I felt more like a digital artist than a photographer.  I don't consider that a bad thing, but it feels more fulfilling to take a new image than use something someone else created. Because of this, my last pieces for this challenge are simple portraits taken in my yard. I used a few overlays, but did not composite anything new or change the composition at all.

Though I feel like this was a little too easy for the last challenge, I am happy to have something simple to show today that photography by itself is art. I actually made two  pieces, one as a metaphor for struggling to grow, with vines holding me back and another that is just a portrait of myself in the ivy. I'm not sure that I will take on a challenge like this again anytime soon, but I think creating a few new pieces each week should be a good goal for me.