Highlights from my 24 hour Paint Jam

the angels intention. 24 x 24  acrylic and graphite on board

free to be.  5 x 7 acrylic on board

jane thinks of tears. 15 x 15 acrylic on arches

precious little monster 6 x 6 mixed media on clay board

 When the idea of a painting for 24 hours, videoing it and posting progress was brought up to me by my friend, Whitney Ferre, I thought it sounded like a great idea. I thought it would be, not only, a fun experience but the idea of that much time in the studio with my brushes in hand, just thrilled me.I agreed to participate, right away! 

Before I knew it, March 6th, the day of 24 hour paint was upon me. I began to fret. What if everything I painted came out ugly? How was I going to video all of it? What if I was a huge failure and could not even make it the whole 24 hours?
Yes, all of these crazy questions reared their ugly head. That tiny nagging voice that likes to begin a dialogue in your head at the most inopportune moments. The one that likes to whine and fill you with doubt. I ignored it. I spoke out loud as I cleaned up my studio. I to myself, "It's okay. Who cares if it's not perfect? Who cares if the paintings come out ugly? You love to paint so just do whatever and have fun. Martin Scorcese is not directing this. The only way you can fail is if you don't give it a try and follow through." Whiny voice quashed.

Thank goodness the love and desire to create, pretty much, takes over and the good always outweighs any possible negative or even the concern about the outcome...
The images above are the paintings I created over the 24 hour period. Each one is so much different from the next. I, of course, had a million ideas and imagined that I would get so much more done than was actually possible.

I ended up having to split my 24 hours up just a bit due to the fact that I drive my kids to school forty minutes away. I did not want to drive them across town after pulling an all nighter ( I am not 20 anymore!) So I got a few hours of shut eye, took them to school and came back and jumped back in. All together I made fifteen videos and four paintings. I feel it was worth every second and I would do it again in a heartbeat (only, next time it must start on a Friday)!

I went into this project just thinking it sounded like fun. Which it was. But it was so much more than that. I really learned a lot about myself. I feel I had a bit of a creative breakthrough during the whole process. It gave me the opportunity to watch myself in a way that I never thought to do before. I feel that I can see my true style beginning to emerge. Even though the works I created during this session are not very cohesive, I can still see myself fairly clearly in each one. And during this 24 hour period, I really got to think about what I like, what makes me happy artistically and why. I think, that is worth it's weight in gold.

I hope too, through all of this, that it may somehow inspire you to do something that you never thought you would (or could) do! 

Live Artfully!

xokp

P.S.

If you would like to see any of the videos please visit my YouTube channel

*Also please come back and visit my blog on Sunday March 11th for my Yard yART Sale! 

I will have all of the artwork I created PLUS lots more AND art supplies too for sale at yard sale prices!