30 Paintings in 30 Days: The Finale

Here you go, a silly video I made in between laundry loads. It's in order, day one through 30. You also get a better idea of the sizes of each painting -- almost all much smaller than I usually do.

This is what I learned: I keep myself really busy, distractedly so. I think it's residual from when my Charles was at work all the time -- easier to stay busy than to be lonely. But, I'm starting to be better with organizing my own time. I have a stack of comic books waiting to be read, and January was my planned time to dive in and catch up. Instead, I took up this challenge at the last minute. I'm really glad I did.

It would have been so easy for me to give up. I had so many really good reasons to in January. For example, David Bowie and Alan Rickman's deaths the same week as my aunt's service really sunk me into a depression. I decided to stick it out, and when it comes to me painting, this may be the first time I've really kept it a priority no matter what else was going on in my life.

Not every painting was terrific. Some are destined to be painted over, but I finished. I've let myself get derailed so often in the past, especially when it had to do with being creative, NaNoWriMo and a semester of voice being two that quickly come to mind. I'm so grateful that Sheila Cameron presented me with the potential for this challenge, and to my more mature mind (?) for finally allowing myself to let creativity be a part of every day.

It wasn't always fun. Many times it was a bit stressful, but I proved to myself that I could take up a challenge and see it to its conclusion, and I think I've improved my painting just a little bit along the way.