I recently participated in one of my favourite art challenges, Folktale week! ( (November 18 – 24, 2024) If you follow me on Instagram @MayaLikesArt you saw my daily posts. I continued with the same characters I used for last year’s Folktale Week. Anyway, I wanted to share more about my experience somewhere, so here I go!

What is Folktale Week?

Folktale Week is an annual event that celebrates the rich tradition of folktales from around the world. It’s a time when participants share their favorite folktales, retell traditional stories in creative ways, and even craft new ones inspired by folklore. (I did the latter.) People from all backgrounds, cultures, and art forms come together to share their love for storytelling!

How did I participate?

Folktale Week takes place every year in November. (This year: Nov. 18 – 24, 2024.) Where you follow daily prompts. This year’s prompt words were: Mist, Gate, Blight, Trail, Depth, Bone, and Blossom. These prompts are designed to inspire your creativity and give you a starting point for your creations. Whether you’re an artist/illustrator/writer, or someone who loves making crafts, these prompts can inspire you to create something unique.

Create and Share

Once you have your idea, it’s time to bring it to life and share! I often tell my students they get to choose how much they want to share. So this could mean putting it up on your fridge or putting it out there on social media. The official Folktale Week organizers use Instagram as their main platform. There you can use their specific tags so other participants (including the hosts: @debrastyer @jennifermpotter @kalyquarles @louve.draws @matejalukezic @rachaelschafermakes) to find your work and create connections! I got pretty excited when some of the hosts saw my work and commented/shared my work!

Why did I participate?

Got me out of my “creative dry spell.”

I know I love to illustrate and wish I did more personal work, but with my regular job, life, etc., sometimes it just gets put to the side you know? I find that art challenges in general give you that extra encouragement to start something. The hardest part is starting, once you start, sometimes the hardest part is stopping!

It’s a challenge, but also not as challenging as starting from scratch

What do I mean by this? The rules of the challenge reduces decision fatigue. The prompts and time frame were already determined for you. So you don’t need to figure that part out. The challenge is coming up with those responses to each prompt! I actually found the 1 week time frame liberating. If I felt stuck or unhappy with my work I just told myself, I only had a week to do all of this, give yourself a break. It’s ok if you are late, post it when you can. Or if you just can’t come up with the idea you have in your head, just post what you have – you only had a week!

Improved my creativity and skill!

It’s is a great way to enhance your storytelling and creative skills. It can also be a great excuse to explore new forms of expression and experiment with different styles and techniques. AND you might end up with a new body of work in a short amount of time and you get that “Wow I did that” feeling! I am always surprised at the results I come up with. This year in particular I was surprised of the story I strung together.

Creates accountability:

Since I decided to do daily posts online, it created accountability for me to keep up – as best as I can.

Connecting with a community: Art challenges have the potential of bringing people together from all over the world. You’ll find a supportive space where everyone is excited to share and appreciate each other’s work. This is one of my favourite aspects of this particular challenge. My IG feed was so full of beautiful creations from artists of different backgrounds and experience. I also what to give a huge shout out to the hosts, I can tell they were busy connecting with participants, providing support and encouragement. You don’t get that with a lot of popular art challenges.

My tip is to don’t just post your work – engage with others too! Folktale Week is all about celebrating storytelling, so make sure to check out what others have created, leave comments, and share your thoughts. It’s a great way to learn new things and be inspired.

Celebrate Tradition: Folktales have been passed down for generations, and by participating in Folktale Week, you’re helping to keep these stories alive. It’s a celebration of the timeless power of storytelling. A special thank you again to the amazing hosts! @debrastyer @jennifermpotter @kalyquarles @louve.draws @matejalukezic @rachaelschafermakes

Will you try it next year?

Here are my entries from this year. Click image for larger view. Click “i” symbol to read the story! Or visit my Instagram page @MayaLikesArt