Hurray! My most recent 30-day painting challenge is officially completed! If you weren’t in my orbit a few months ago and missed out on the embarking, catch up here. It didn’t quite take 30 days (it took longer) but it’s really important to me that I persevered and of course, the many many lessons that emerged. Definitely the most difficult time-bound creative challenge I’ve taken on to date, and I’m sharing this in a mock interview below!
So deep breath, how do I feel having come this far and completed 30 mini-paintings under a very specific self-imposed theme and color scheme?
Incredible! It feels absolutely amazing to have stuck to it and actually having a body of little works that I can do a few things with : expand upon into larger paintings, exhibit in a local art market/show (yes this is happening! Scroll down for dates, places and juicy details!), display on my website as an up-to-date portfolio AND last but not least, feel just a little peacock-proud about.
What was the most difficult part of the challenge?
Coming up with ideas about what to paint after the 18th or so piece that would still fit in the overall narrative/theme. This was probably my very first serious lesson in creating collections. There are many ways to be an artist and while creating cohesive themed collections isn’t always a conscious decision, I find that I personally love setting a larger vision and working towards it. It really pushes me to pay attention to thematic ideas and prompts BUT it’s definitely difficult when I shoehorn myself into such a specific one.
While the specificity made design decisions such as color and inspiration much easier than say, open-endedness, I really struggled right around halfway through to come up with a compelling subject matter that I was excited about now that I’d run the gamut and was perilously close to boredom.
Coming up against a wall like this and figuring out how to get around it was the biggest and most satisfying accomplishment in this challenge and in my opinion, a reason why it’s been a successful one. It stretched me the most. Unable to pull ideas out superficially, I had to dig deeper into my psyche and experiment with journaling and keywording, free-association and intuitive painting. The most effective method for difficult days was journaling how I felt that day and pulling out emotion keywords as a starting point. My pieces were often deeper and more meaningful on these days and some of my strongest ones in this collection were ones from the second half after The Wall.
Would I do it this way again? It’s hard to say, I’m very pleased with the results but I would probably experiment with looser, more abstract themes in the future and see what happens there.
What did I learn about mediums, substrates and painting style?
One of the biggest problems I wanted to tackle during this challenge was what medium I wanted to master and what kind of substrates would excite me the most and become my signature, recognizable ‘look’. When I was embarking on this challenge I was on the verge of shaking up what had been a very safe aesthetic path (watercolors on white paper, large and small).
I was outgrowing it and wanted something I couldn’t put my finger on. I was also struggling with making decisions on which path I wanted to take -oils? Acrylics? Watercolors? Big or small? Loose or tight? Canvas or paper?
Did I answer these questions? YES. But not in a way I thought I would. I thought I would settle on a medium and substrate but I didn’t and it no longer mattered. I did realize I love the raw edges of the handmade papers but I was equally excited about some of the stuff I did on stretched canvas.
I painted in both acrylics and watercolors, opaque and transparent but in the end none of it mattered. When I had a vision, when I was excited, whatever was available worked. The path of least resistance was the preferred one. The message was what ultimately shined through.
In the end, the sweetest thing was that all of these disparate methods of painting ended up looking cohesive anyway. It looked like a single body of work. It looked like it came from me. And this perhaps, is the most beautiful truth of building a collection that I could have ever stumbled upon. Trust. Have faith in the filter that is me.
Incredibly liberating.
Were there any revelations about response? Did you see a pattern of what your audience liked, or not?
Every now and then, because I’m also a designer at heart, I wonder what folks would think of a piece. Whether it would resonate. As the challenge matured, I realized an important thing, a mini sampling of what art means to society- that it’s not easy to predict what the response would be. And because it was so, spending any energy worrying or trying to anticipate it wasn’t the best use of time. While keeping in mind some basic design and visual principles was important, letting the art flow through me was much more rewarding. Sincerity gets noticed, always.
Another wonderful side-effect was how many followers I picked up during the challenge and how much increased engagement I was getting through social media. It was not something I consciously set out to do and so was a pleasing little bonus. Folks are like moths drawn to the light of passion. When you are excited and actively creating, curious kittens gather to join the adventure.
Can one buy any of the pieces made during the challenge?
Absolutely. I’ll be debuting these pieces framed in vintage and found frames at the brand new LA Artists and Fleas market in Downtown LA this November. If you’re local or in town, do drop by and say hi!
What’s next?
I’m embarking on a new challenge, creating my own little deck of soul cards!! Join me on Facebook ,Instagram, or if you’re not already on my list (or if social media makes you sigh), sign up below and I’ll send a periodic roundup of my adventures through email.
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Did my experiences help you in any way with your own creative challenges? Share below, I’d love to know!
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