I make shadow puppets.

I'm no draftsman, and the designs are very much created to stay within the limits of my abilities. Technically they're far from accomplished. But I don't really care. I rather like 'em.

Artistically it's often a good idea to try your hand at something that doesn't play to your best strengths. Knowing that there's a limit to what can be expected of you can free you to have fun and fool around, and that's very good for your imagination. I came up with a whole new plot solution after a particularly blocked week where I gave up writing - seriously, I was that stuck - and just made puppets. Then I had a whole series of ideas that got me out of a horrible impasse.

It's a curious thing as well to see what kind of energy comes out in your alternative projects. My puppets are rather dark and intense, which is not unlike my writing. This is through no particular intention; the puppets look the way they do because I can't seem to make them look any other way.

I bring this up now, I guess, because I'm overdue-pregnant and in something of a holding pattern, so artistic holding patterns seem like a relevant idea. Anyone else do alternative art projects in different forms when they stick on their main ones?