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If you follow me on Instagram (and if you don’t: what are you waiting for??), you know that I started the 100 Day Project this year (and I talked about it here). I am behind and could even say that I will not complete it BUT I am not giving up.
Like my 100 Nixies project, I will not set a deadline but will do my best to work every day on something. Even if it is just making a mark or starting a background.

Here is the video:

Do you like painting abstract? I still find it intimidating so if I could, I’d sign up for all the classes 😉
You’ll see that I had fun using different media for this piece, acrylic paint and markers, oil pastels, modeling paste, stamps… Everything I love most or almost. Because this is what these 100 paintings are about: finding my creative joy again.
And thanks to it, because for weeks on end I only painting abstract, Nixies actually came back full force, nudging me to let them speak.

A few more pictures:

List of supplies:

• Mixed Media Paper
• Dina Wakley paint
• Artguard cream
• Catalyst blade
• Stencil
• Ink pads
• Alcohol Ink
• Acrylic Marker
• NeoPastels

As I told you at the beginning of April, I embarked on The 100 Day Project this year.
On week 2, we had a long painful power outage. My ArtCave is located in our basement and it was about 10ºC (about 50ºF) inside our home. So let me tell you: no matter how badly I wanted to go paint in there, it did not happen for five days.

On the positive side

• It forces me to stretch my creative muscles
• I need to work on not boring myself
• It’s okay for me to explore new color palettes
• I have no pressure, or almost none
• I will end up with 100 paintings in the same series: to me, that’s huge!

On the less positive side

• I do feel bad when a day is skipped
• Some days, it’s like I am just repeating what I have already painted
• I am afraid to get bored eventually
• what the fuck will I do with 100 paintings?!

Some favorites so far:

At the end of 2018, I had this gut feeling telling me that 2019 would be a turning point in my life. That it would pretty much feel like Flight or Fight in many areas of it. And so far, this has been true… Many decisions to be taken, choices to be discussed. About the mundane and sometimes more life-altering.

Do you have a guiding word for 2019?

Being unapologetic in being me

This year, my husband decided that I will find my way back to my Self. And it comes to being outside how I feel inside.
I sometimes feel like I am schizophrenic because there are SO many sides of my personalities, sides that don’t necessarily make sense put together.
I have not straightened my hair for years now, wearing them au naturel instead. With the fibro, it’s very hurtful on my shoulders to keep up but that is part of me owning my heritage. However, sometimes I like actually being able to DO something with that mass of hair. My daughter spent 3 hours flat ironing my hair earlier this month; we put Queer Eyes on Netflix, chatted and laughed and I am very thankful for her asking me if she could do this for me.
I am also getting more unapologetic in the time my body and my soul need to rest, fully and deeply. It means being less productive in a way, but I realized that it’s a lie: I am more productive when I am rested.

Being unapologetic within my creative practice

Since the beginning of April, I started the 100 Day challenge and I have not painted a Nixie in a while.  I sometimes feel like I am abandoning them but I know in my guts this is temporary. Nixies keep showing up in my mind but they want to come out as big as possible and right now, that’s just not an option… I don’t have the room for them. By the way, I have a lot of them coming in my new shop in the next few weeks but you can check my Etsy shop and my new shop already, maybe one is calling your name and you just don’t know it yet 😉

Something I keep trying to practice is consistency. Doing something daily so it becomes a habit. I think I have never been able to stick to a project this long (the longest I have done was 80 days of a fitness and nutrition program).
I discovered Elle Luna through her book, The Crossroads of Should and Must: Find and Follow Your Passion. Every year, Elle organizes a 100 Day project, inviting anyone who desires to participate. Each person picks something s-he wants to do for 100 consecutive days, and document it on social media. It can truly be everything and anything. People do something art related, 100 days of meditation, of cooking, of exploring… whatever sparks your joy 😉

Because I have an end goal in mind, I decided to focus on creating small abstract paintings. If you have not watched it yet, check my video regarding my current favorite art supplies to discover the paper I will be using for this project.
I will mostly be using acrylic with other media. I don’t want to put any pressure on my shoulder. It’s okay if I don’t have a finish piece at the end of every day.

What about you? Have you ever done a project like this, committing on creating a practice for a set amount of time? I would love to know about it 🙂

This year, my month of April seems to focus on daily practice. I always start with the best intentions but run out of steam before the end. I don’t want this pattern to repeat itself, though.
I have two distinct projects this month that are really exciting!

Effy’s blog-along

Starting today, I will do my best to blog every day. I really wish to open a dialogue with you guys and that you’ll enjoy spending time here. Effy is hosting it and I am thankful for the push to at least try. This space means a lot to me, but Fear is often too loud.
I am learning that Love is Louder and that my voice matters.
Another thing I love about this blog-along is that I get to discover what other creative people have to say and give them some love as well.

The 100-Day Project

Starting tomorrow is the 100-day Project, organized by Elle Luna.
I picked doing an abstract painting on paper. No pressure, just joyful explorations of shapes and marks. It is about the intention that goes behind the scenes.
I will share on my Instagram feed daily, and invite you to follow my hashtag #100DaysOfAbstractExplorations 🙂