One thing that I have noticed in my forties, besides gray hair, is that I am becoming more and more self aware: I am starting to see things in my art and in my life that I consistently love, and turn back to again and again. Geometric patterns. Repurposing things. Old things. Art that feels like a puzzle. Everyday things. Small things that come together to make bigger things. This last thing is probably why I love The 100 Day Project so much, and am so excited to participate again.
Even though I have gone through this (five times!) before, it always seems so daunting to begin. What can I do for 100 days? In a row? So many possibilities. I tossed around lots of ideas, and while I was driving one day I think I finally put it all together. (Does anyone else get ideas while driving?)
Early on when thinking about this year I had some bigger, challenging ideas, but they seemed a little clunky. Maybe next year. It made more since in this somewhat chaotic season of my life to keep painting in the direction of my curiosity. In other words, keep doing what I’m doing:
What’s the project? Continuing with my love of postcards, I am going to complete a series of 100 3x3” postcard based artworks. Some will be painted on, some will be patchwork, some may be a combination of both. The only thing that is set right now is the size and the postcard base. I’m leaving everything else open for now.
Why 3x3”? They’re small and doable for 100 days in a row. The average postcard is around 3x5 or 4x6, so this is a perfect size to be able to be able to work on just the postcard without first mounting it to another type of paper. Keeps it simple. These 3x3” pieces can stand alone, or later combined together into a few larger pieces. I can see large postcard quilts in my mind…
What do I need to do to make this work? Last year I batched painted all my paintings for the 100 Day Project. While I was at the studio I painted groups at a time that I would then post over several days. It worked, but it didn’t. I struggled a lot with getting in a grove, and it was because I never really found one. So, my goal this year is to try and do as much daily work as I can! To practically make this work I need to make it easy: enough supplies at both home and the studio to work both places.
So here’s to The 100 Day Project! (Everything starts up tomorrow!)