30 Paintings in 30 Days - Day 30!

"Jen (Jen)" - mixed media on canvas paper, 16" x 20".

Hooray!  Thirty paintings in thirty days.  Which followed fifty-two paintings in thirty days in Ireland. Which means it is time for a few days off and a bit of a rest.  This is the fourth 30 in 30 challenge for me, and I can honestly say it gets a little easier each time.

Why do we do this insane challenge?  For one, it is a huge discipline builder.  It instills the daily commitment to paint.  It is also an effective way to disempower the dreaded inner critic.  There isn't time to fret over each piece when you're creating one a day.  You simply focus on the piece, do your best, and move on to the next one.  This challenge also requires a daily posting of the art, which is a spectacular way to get over worrying about what others might think.  By the end of the month, you're just happy to have something to post before you collapse into a heap on the sofa!  It is also a wonderful way to get feedback on a wide range of work in a short time.  It always surprises me how people resonate with a piece I might not like as much.  It reinforces the idea that our job as artists is to create the art, not to judge it.

Each time 30 in 30 comes around, I add one other component to the challenge: a self-portrait.  This is something artists generally avoid, shun and refuse to discuss (cue covering the ears and shouting "la la la I can't HEAR you"). Of course, this  means we should do it more often.  So I end each 30 in 30 with a selfie of sorts.  This time it's me and me!  And in my painting pajamas to boot.  Now, I don't actually wear fuzzy bunny slippers here in south Florida.  But artistic license allows me to wear them in my self-portrait.   Maybe next time around I'll let myself wear a fancy hat. :)