Mission Accomplished!

"Flashy", acrylic on 16" x 20" canvas

Day 365: “Flashy”, a cityscape

For my final piece, I finished up a cityscape I’d worked on a little bit previously. As I went over neon signage for the 5th or 6th time yesterday, it occurred to me that these flashy lights were probably from Broadway. I looked it up before I went to bed, and sure enough- “Condor” is San Francisco’s Original Gentleman’s Club. “Excellent,” I thought- “I’m finishing my project with titties.”

So I suppose it’s no surprise that my anxiety awoke me at 8 am today knowing I needed plenty of time to finish this up, considering I’d painted over the entire left side of it last night (you read that right- it was spiting me and I had to start over). I’ve wanted to paint this photo I took awhile back for a long time because it’s so bright and colorful. It’s ultimately color at the center of my art universe. I found a quote that I really enjoy:

“Color is my day-long obsession, joy and torment”- Claude Monet

I know exactly what he meant. And though I’ll still probably go in and add a couple of dabs and dots here and there when I see “Flashy” in the daylight again tomorrow {and update this with a better photo}, it’s essentially finished- just like this project!

I am relieved to have actually made it through this thing- to be honest, I did doubt that I’d actually get something made and posted every single day when I began. Through a wedding, the birth of my nephew, a trip to the emergency room, an audition/callback for a reality show, job changes and the many ups and downs of daily life, I’ve managed to take photos, make drawings, carve linocuts, put together jewelry, stitch fabric, craft sculptures, write poems, paint… and paint and paint and paint and paint…. and post new work every single day for a year. Please excuse me while I toot my own horn. *Toot-tootle-toooooot!!!*

I have learned so much about myself as an artist- I’ve honed my technical skill, discovered unexpected sources of inspiration, played around with my aesthetic, conquered new media and even sold quite a few pieces along the way.

I have learned so much about myself as a person- I’m more tenacious than I thought, I’ve found that artmaking is in fact therapeutic and essentially meditative for me, and I feel so very aligned with what I consider to be the universe’s purpose for me.

And I am eternally thankful for my friends, family and fans- who have been here for me with words of encouragement and support when I found myself sulking or beating my head into my studio table. I’d like to say a special thanks to my husband Rob for never getting upset over the long hours in the studio or at the computer, to my faithful camera for making it through sticky wet paint hands and the occasional tumble, and to you guys- my blog readers- who have really made this journey feel worthwhile with your thoughtful comments. Thank you so much!!!

ArtProject2010.info will continue as my art blog, so while I won’t be back with a new piece tomorrow, I will be back soon. 🙂 Happy New Year, everyone!