A few months ago I decided it was time for a challenge, something to help me break some habits and loosen up while painting. I gave myself 60 days to create 60 paintings. I painted on mostly small canvases and in any medium, any subject that felt interesting, starting a new painting each day. This gave me freedom to try new things (abstracts!, watercolor, flowers and birds) - no big deal if it was a total disaster since I only spent one day on it; tomorrow would be a new project. Most paintings turned out pretty good, and all were fun to create. You can see my favorites in the Daily Painting page of my website, http://www.hokeilenart.com/daily-painting, divided up by month.
Now that that challenge is over, I'll have to try a new one.