"It all comes back to the writing. These pages feel like home. I've filled journals upon journals upon journals. I capture all the in-between moments on these pages. The ones I would easily forget and gloss over. But these are the moments that matter. These moments make up my life. And so I will always continue to write and write and write. To remember. To reclaim. To rediscover. (January '17)
Yesterday marked the final day of #the100dayproject. For the past 100 days straight, I've shared excerpts of my journal entries from over the years and paired them with a watercolored piece that I painted that day. I took my watercolors and materials with me when I traveled. Even when my schedule was jam-packed, I made sure I carved out some time for my art. I have never been so committed to a project before. I noticed the pressure increasing on myself as the project was coming to a close.
This last piece taught me the greatest lesson. I wanted my 100th post to be amazing! To end with a bang! To be perfect! Which is so counterintuitive to everything that I had learned before. When I put pressure on myself to create, that's exactly when I feel jammed up. When I get stuck. I went through three rough drafts of the backdrop colors and thought, "This is so ridiculous. I've never re-done a piece of work to make it look a certain way." It didn't feel good. I reminded myself that it should 'feel like play.' So I took my fingers and started smearing the paint around, half out of frustration, half out of artistic angst, and then let it dry.
I came back to it after an hour and saw it differently. I noticed the purple blob that I once felt had ruined the entire piece could actually be the spotlight for something else. Something like a silhouette. And a feeling of pure joy jolted through my body, and I painted how I felt.
I've learned that art has no rules. What we think are mistakes at first can actually be the catalyst for something else- something much more delightful, joyful, and free. This is a lesson that extends far beyond watercolors. Something that I teach my clients every day. It just so happened that it showed up in my art, on Day 100, and allowed me to understand its beauty and meaning in a whole new way.