What I Learned From The 100-Day Project

In May of 2020 I completed my Master of Fine Arts in Communication Design. During my three years of graduate school I spent time combining my love of design with fine art. How could I use each of my projects to blend my love of multiple mediums while communicating a message that has meaning to me? I took passion projects to the next level by blending my love of watercolor, branding, and surface design into projects that allowed me to use each of those skillsets.

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When I graduated in the middle of a pandemic I found myself really leaning into creating for art’s sake vs. communicating a special message. I’ve always seen so much magic in the movement and layering of shadows. When shadows overlap in nature compositions emerge that are playful, unintentional, surprising, and meditative. I had a desire to just add paint to the page with those thoughts in mind. I didn’t want a specific reference. I wanted to play. What emerged was a piece that I loved creating as much as I loved the final result—that was a new experience for me. I struggled through it but there were so many valuable lessons that I couldn’t experience by painting from a reference. It freed my hand to make decisions based on instinct and that was something I had previously resisted. Suddenly, I was able to create entire collections by thinking about a reference and using intuition to create the composition. It was a playful dance that I not only enjoyed, but it came to me much more naturally. Almost like learning to trust your intuition in any area of life.

I kept finding myself with a brush in hand—early in the morning, during Leona’s naps, and late in the evening—I was painting more finished works than ever before. I decided to finish off the last 100 days of 2020 with the 100 day project. I would complete 100 tiny watercolor painting—2.5″ x 2.5″. The entire collection would be based off of intuition—creating tiny original compositions using references in my mind. By day 9 a landscape emerged from the page, created from nothing except the references in my mind. They continued to unfold. Once in awhile I would take inspiration from a specific place but most of the composition emerged organically. What I realized is they all reminded me of some time and place that has made a lasting impression.

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In those moments that I was isolated during the pandemic I found myself traveling through space and time to many treasured memories that brought me hope and a feeling of possibility. When it came time to decide what I would paint for the 25 Days of Minis 2021 Collection I decided to go back to the idea of these landscapes and dive a little deeper. I gathered resources from my travels and began thinking about why these moments matter so much to me. What do they actually signify? Why do they light me up? Much like traveling, I’m currently slowing down quite a bit to care for a newborn. In the quiet moments before Viola was born I traveled back in time to places that bring me hope, possibility, and a sense of peace. My goal was to recreate those feelings for my collectors. I hope you enjoy!