100 Day Project
Do one small thing consistently. Watch something big happen.
Day 74
Today is supposed to be day 100, and I’m 25 days behind. There are some reasons for this, such as being out of town for a week and being sick and out of the studio for five days. But there were also days when I just didn’t show up. I don’t like it, but I also don’t concede defeat. I’ve learned lessons, and these lessons are valuable.
Forgive Yourself
Persevering in a creative practice requires being kind to yourself. My goal is to do something daily for 100 days—over three months. It’s possible. Absolutely possible! But it’s also so easy to mess up. “I mean… in 100 days? “How are you never gonna be slow? Never gonna be late?” Beating yourself up is the quickest way to fail. If you can’t forgive yourself for missing a day or two, You’ll feel defeated and give up. You’ll never complete the thing. Currently, I’m behind, but I can still complete 100 “small things”, even if I don’t meet the deadline for the exact date.
Most of our slip-ups don’t have huge consequences. They don’t end our life, get us fired, or land us in jail. Usually, they barely interfere with our progress. Stumble six times, get up seven. Momentum is probably the most helpful thing in completing a goal, but missing a day doesn’t necessarily mean I’ve lost my drive or excitement for the project. When I missed a day, I learned to check in with myself. Am I losing my momentum? Am I less excited about doing this project? Some days I did find myself less excited, so I’d set up my studio to make it easy to perform the next day. I’d make sure to touch the project in some way—perhaps getting paper ready or using the day to look for new materials to work with.
All or Nothing is Dangerous
My goal each day was to make some type of mark on 10 sheets of paper. I usually ended up doing 12. And usually, I’d try to do the same type of marks. But there were some days when I wanted to try new marks, and doing new marks 10 different ways was a bit overwhelming. At some point, I told myself it’s okay to do the new thing on ONE sheet and do something familiar on the rest of the sheets.
When I find myself overwhelmed, I allow myself to assess whether doing a small part of what I intended is okay. Often it is. I am coming to believe that consistency is the most valuable part of a practice. What I do consistently can change or be adjusted. Thinking if I can’t do it big, I shouldn’t do it at all ruins the progress made by doing things in small increments and letting them add up.
Don’t Rush
Sometimes in playing catch-up, I’d find myself rushing through the work. I don’t love that. This project is for my own accountability, and by remaining present in the process, I can really find answers to questions that the work is asking. The work I am creating in this project doesn't have a specific meaning. It is simply a process I enjoy repeating. But why do I enjoy it? I’ve displayed work in this style, and the response has been favorable. What do people see? Taking my time and being present can help me answer these questions.
For the final 25 days of work, I won’t be rushing. I might allow myself to be repetitive, but I intend to be more focused on the process. There are lessons in repetition. I can learn to master things that initially had no intention. I can find the value in something that at first, was just taking a chance. I love that process.
Watch Something Big Happen
I realized that in creating so much work, there is an opportunity for me to use this work in a variety of different ways. This 100-day project can simply be the beginning of a whole new series of work. I don’t have definite plans for the 1,000+ pieces that will exist once I finish the 100 days, but I have considered at least five different things I can do with this series. I’m looking forward to seeing how doing one small thing consistently can make something big happen.
Day 40
Forty days in, and I’m very bored. That’s not a bad thing. It’s just telling me something. At the rate I’m working, I’m producing a lot of what feels like the same things. In many ways, it is, but there are certain techniques that appeal to me a lot more. I think what I’m learning with the small works is that i’m going to need to slow down in this process. Work slower with more intention. I want mastery over what I’m doing. Really pay attention to how I’m creating the marks and processes that appeal to me the most.
I can also feel myself avoiding the fear that comes with experimenting bigger outside of this project. On day 16, I spoke of some things I want to pursue with this work, and I’m learning how much I need to learn in order to create what I want. I have to give myself space to do things that aren’t successful.
But it does feel good to be able to say that I’m showing up to something consistently. Forty plus days in, and I’m watching the amount of work I create grow. I’m looking forward to going back into old works, and expanding on what I’ve already done. I look forward to framing some of these pieces, and compiling them into a show of some sort.
Forty days of showing up consistently to a process is really getting me the point of being exhausted with what I’ve done, but exciting to do something new. I’m looking forward to turning this work I’m doing into something more substantial.
Day 16 - Progress Report
As an artist, I often wonder, “If no one asked me to make this, and I’m striving to approach my art in a unique way, what makes it valuable?
At its essence, I understand my own need for this artwork—I find satisfaction in expressing my perspective to the world. I enjoy exploring texture and words in ways that surprise me. 16 days into this #100dayproject, I’m getting a little restless with my current approach, yet I am excited to see where it can go! Here are some thoughts on how this consistent showing up is inspiring me to evolve my work:
1. scale expansion:
I want to see my work on a larger scale, yet certain tools limit this aspiration. Inspired by my involvement with ArtPop Street Gallery last year, I consider digitally enlarging the pieces, and employing collage techniques with the enlarged images. Thought the #100dayprojet will continue to be small works, I aim to explore new tools and techniques to manually increase the scale of this work.
2. I need more of my hand in the process.
I want more of my sketches and linework in the drawings. This is going to slow me down, but I have to be okay with not everything is going to look good initially. The only way to find what I’m looking for, and get better is to make "mistakes". My favorite work is often a happy accident, and I learn to master what was once unintentional. I believe the work is the work that flows out of you, and it's too early in this process to be producing my best work. I have to force it for a little while.
3. I'm struggling with the meaning of the work.
At this moment, it doesn't have to mean anything. I make it because I enjoy the process, and I love the way it looks and makes me feel. But I enjoy sharing my work, using it as a basis to connect with others. And so if I want others to connect to it, I do want to be able to talk about it. What goes into it. Why I do it.
Giving this thought over the last few days, I’ve realized something important to me is that there be an “access point” to things I share. I don’t want to dumb the work down, or change it. But I believe artists tend to make work for themselves and other artists. And as artists get better, and more goes into their work, the average person, the “non-artist” has less of an entry point to what they are seeing.
I always want their to be some accessibility to my work. Something that will resonate with the average person and encourage them to spend more time with what I’ve created.
4. presentation matters
I am seeing that I tend to like this work more when it’s paired with other imagery from the series. Or sometimes, a frame is what it takes to make it look like what it makes me feel like on the inside. This work has value to me, and I am learning that it is important to present your work in way that conveys that value to others.
5. CONTINUE LEARNING
Typically, when I work with text, my goal is to create something visually appealing. The message in my text is usually secondary, if it is important at all. However, with this is project, I want to make the find ways to make my work with text more impactful. Working consistently on one series drives me to explore techniques explored by past and contemporary creatives in monoprints, asemic writing, and graffiti, . In my next update, I look forward sharing progress in integrating things I’ve learned into my work.
