Day1-10 The 100 Day project
I’m choosing to practice the wonder of whimsy. 🌿✨
For 100 days, I’ll spend one hour a day creating paintings inspired by nature and everyday life — but painted from imagination, guided by instinct, and led by my gut. My hope is to complete somewhere between 15 and 25 pieces by the end of this adventure.
The first couple of days were like being in love for the first time. I was absolutely loving what I was painting. Studio time had golden light streaming around all my projects. Small birds sang sweet songs as I delicately danced about the studio, painting. Everything was inspiring me—the plant on the kitchen window, the cardinals flitting about my backyard, the sun as it set…
Then the real work started.
Doubt came creeping in my studio door. Sneaky… but steady.
Is this really what you want to paint?
Are you sure you know what you’re doing?
Just look at the photo a little bit.
Here is a quote from my journal:
“There is an uncomfortableness that comes with painting from my gut—a stretching of my trust in myself. Possibly an insecurity.”
Anytime I try new things, it’s eventually going to push against what I know—the routines and motions of my creativity. Well, I hit that wall hard this week.
I will give myself a break in that I have been traveling and my practice has been on my iPad (digital), but… I haven’t been in love with what I’ve been doing. The work has been work: trying new brushes, making new color palettes, playing with the same sketches in different variations. I’ve had to push aside the thought that I should have actual art produced. But that’s the entire point—it’s a practice.
So as I start the next ten days, here is the takeaway.
I love the adrenaline rush that comes with creative energy in my head and gut. I love it when it’s flowing. But it’s not always going to flow… and I need to accept these harder times and work anyway.
So far, it feels like the wonder and whimsy I am exploring is more illustrative than painterly. I’m trying to sit with that and not push in either direction—to let my heart and my hand work, not my mind.
I need to create a routine that gives my mind space to shift away from my work projects and toward listening to my gut and heart.
I am going to practice not judging myself… say that aloud ten times. Ha ha.
The image above “Messenger of Joy” 18x24 painting was completed and the two images below.
The images below are digital illustrations. Several more images were created, but big smile…these are the ones I am sharing. HA!
If I continue to create these quirky retro images i may make them into prints.
Thank for reading my progress I would love to hear your thoughts below.
