Day 1: My paintings. First Post! Blogging virgin no more!

This blog will document the 365 paintings I will be doing before July 6, 2010. I'm starting this blog on August 18, 2009 and hope to catch up, but the purpose is to discuss the pictures which will take additional (unplanned) time.

First off, if you're just here for the pretty pictures, I give you permission to skip around. I'm writing text in long-form for those who want to know more about my process. The highest compliment I seek is "You have inspired me to create art."

I didn't invent the 365 idea, but I'm taking credit for my hard work.

I first heard about "Thing-A-Day" projects from a guy I met at the Small Press Expo in Bethesda, Maryland in 2006. He had written a comic book with 365 panels and I thought the idea was brilliant. I said, "I want to do something like that."

Along the way, I'd seen Jonathan Coulton, an excellent Nerd-Era songwriter had done a 52 songs in 52 weeks, and I saw a couple of exhibitors at Artomatic (guerilla art show in Washington DC) who had done "thing-a-day" projects. There was also a guy on ebay a couple years ago selling his thing-a-day paintings. (a well-rendered fork here; a well-rendered salt-shaker there)

I missed most of Artomatic this year, only making it for the last 2 1/2 hours of closing day ... as I was running around, trying to absorb as much as possible, there were people taking their artwork down from the walls. One guy was about to tear down a sign, just as I panted by and I said, "wait! I need 20 seconds to look at your exhibit!" I'm not sure if he was smiling from amusement or annoyance, (social cues? not my forté) but the sign in his hand read, "These are some paintings from my thing-a-day project." As always I said, "some day I want to do that."

Fast forward to two days later. The wife's out of town for her sister's birthday week, I'm sitting on the sofa, bonding with the dog (who thinks the wife smells better), and I say, "I am going to paint 365 paintings now." Did I mention I have been diagnosed with Attention Deficit Disorder? Projects like this are difficult for folks like me.

What I hope to get out of this project is:

• better self-discipline
• A structure to my day around which I can build better habits
  
• learning about art (dropped out of art school in 1986)
  
• self-expression
• finishing old ideas
• I make my living with my body, which is aging, and I'll want to make a living with lower-impact endeavors
• a better portfolio
• fun!
• sell my artwork (but not all of it!)
  
• make friends, contacts, and business connections

Thank you for visiting! I welcome you to visit again and again as I forge ahead with the project.

(view my commentary on this painting in Day 2's post. I didn't want to inundate you)