I can hear the wheels of the automobiles so far away
Just moving along through the drifting snow
It’s times like these when the temperatures freeze
I sit alone just looking at the world through a storm window
John Prine
Way back in January I stumbled upon an Instagram post about #the100daysproject; an annual, online, worldwide initiative to encourage creatives to commit to one hundred days of art-making.
It seemed like the perfect way to help create a daily studio practice, as well as lend some structure to days which essentially all felt the same during this extended period of pandemic restrictions.
I knew myself well enough not to choose something ‘too big’ or too open-ended. Something with clear boundaries, not too many creative decisions and requiring only a few minutes a day to execute.
I’d already been playing with the idea of incorporating ideas from the world of fibre art into my abstract paintings, and decided upon a mash-up of two classic patterns; the knitted ‘temperature’ blanket and the quilted ‘log cabin’ square.
Each day I’d look at the weather forecast, noting the expected high, whether or not there’d be sunshine and if precipitation was on the radar. These three data points (scientific training stays with one forever…) dictated the colours of the marks to be made (various blues, cool to warm, for temperature; yellow for sunshine, grey for cloud; and graphite for precipitation, white if it was dry). I then made three marks on the wooden panel, following the outward spiral of the log-cabin quilt pattern.
I only needed to make a decision as to which tool to use to make the marks. Or so I thought. Turns out there was still lots of room to exert some creative control; how thick should the brush strokes be? Should they overlap the previous days’? Wouldn’t some scratching through thick paint look lovely? How about breaking up the lines with some patterned stencil work?
These small decisions, along with the serendipitous choice of several transparent colours, led to a piece with lots of variety, layers and areas of interest. It draws the viewer in and raises many questions. A way better outcome than I had hoped for!
The meditative process of creating the work gave me lots of time to think about what it meant to me. Here are some of my reflections:
- a short burst of regimented painting often led to a longer, more creative studio session
when I let go of expectations, surprising things can happen - the more I integrate other interests into my paintings, the more interesting my paintings become
- the simple act of making three prescribed marks each day gave me the feeling of having a little more control in an out of control world
- working with limitations is a great way to boost creativity
- the shapes of the squares remind me a lot of the windows that so many have had to view the world from this past year
- by choosing to spiral outward from a central point, each square creates the feeling of expansiveness, counteracting the tendency to withdraw inwards that I’ve struggled with through the winter
- the title, “Storm Windows” pays homage to a favourite songwriter of mine, John Prine, who died of Covid complications last summer. I often listen to his music while I paint and this piece, in particular, felt relevant to my 100 days project
Have you ever participated in #the100daysproject? What did you learn? Would you do it again?