Update: Dates in a Life Project 2019

I'm one month in working on 2019 The Dates in a Life Project, a year-long painting project documenting the number of steps I walk each day. Above is a detail of January's steps.

Last year I worked on the Dates in a Life Project 2018 with a different way of documenting each day. I rounded up 2500 steps to 3000 (as an example). 

This year I'm documenting everything in fractions of 250 steps. As an example, after 2000 steps (which would be the icon with no paint), I'm painting colors to show as close as I can to 2250, 2500, 2750, and then up to 2999, instead of then rounding up to 3000 steps. 

The painted colors will change each season. Winter is Teal Blue, Spring will be Green, Summer will be Yellow, and Autumn will be Indian Yellow Hue. 

The black icons represent up to 9999 steps walked, red represents 10,000-19,999 steps and yellow represents 20,000-29,899 steps.

To keep track of my steps, I use the Health app in my iPhone.

I notice as I write this that I made a mistake on January 31st. The solid black square is for walking less than 1000 steps, which I did do when I was sick on January 17 (722 to be exact!), so I am collaging the 1000-1999 icon on the 31st so it'll be correct. On the 31st the temperature never got above 9 degrees and it was unsafe to walk outside. I'm looking forward to warmer winter temps this weekend so I can walk outside again.

The Dates in a Life Project 2019, which measures 37.5" x 33.5" unless I crop it somewhat before the end of the year, is created with monoprinted textures of a construction fence as the background, handstamped rubber erasers on fabric which are collaged on the background grid, as well as handpainting and stitching on stiffened fabric.

Look for updates each month.

On Exhibit: Playing with a Full Deck

Over 25 years ago, I was invited to be in an exhibit that included a book entitled Art Quilts: Playing with a Deck of Cards. I quickly said yes, and was one of the 56 artists involved in this project. There are 52 playing cards and 2 Jokers, all made as art quilts.

I created the Two of Clubs in 1994. This piece was created by hand stamping hand cut 1" rubber erasers with fabric paint on one piece of fabric. Because there was no piecing or applique, making it required full concentration, and it took a few tries before I made a perfectly stamped piece of fabric. While I'm still working with grids, my work has totally changed in the past 10-15 years. 

The show was organized by Sue Pierce, and was first exhibited in 1995 by the Smithsonian Institution Traveling Exhibition Services (SITES).

I have very fond memories of attending the Opening Reception at the Renwick Gallery.

An exhibit of Playing with a Deck is at the Visions Art Museum in San Diego, CA from today through Sunday, April 7, 2019.

Update: Dates in a Life Project 2019

Since I'm two weeks in working on the Dates in a Life Project 2019, it's a good time to think about how to document my walking in 2019, and tweak my previous plan from a week ago, at the beginning of January.

Last year I rounded up 2500 steps to 3000 (as an example). This year I was planning tracking steps by fractions of 250 steps walked, 2250, 2500 and 2750, and then rounding up to the next thousand if I was 100 steps away, but I've changed my mind.

Instead, I'm still going to document everything in fractions of 250 steps, but after 2000 steps, as an example, I'll paint colors to show as close as I can to 2250, 2500, 2750, and then up to 2999, instead of then rounding up to 3000 steps. 

The colors will represent the different seasons. Winter is teal blue, Spring will be Green, Summer will be Yellow, and Autumn will be Indian Yellow Hue. 

The black icons represent up to 9999 steps walked, red represents 10,000-19,999 steps and yellow represents 20,000-29,899 steps.

To keep track of my steps, I use the Health app in my iPhone.

The Dates in a Life Project 2019, which measures 37.5" x 33.5" unless I crop it somewhat before the end of the year, is created with monoprinted textures of a construction fence as the background, handstamped rubber erasers on fabric which are collaged on the background grid, as well as handpainting and stitching on stiffened fabric.

Look for updates each month.

New Year, New Dates in a Life Project

It's a New Year, and time for a new The Dates in a Life Project.

At the end of last year, I finished Dates in a Life Project 2018, year-long painting project documenting the number of steps I walk each day.

I really enjoyed working on my 2018 project, and I've begun working on the Dates in a Life Project 2019, this year in a horizontal format. As I begin the year, it measures 37.5" x 33.5" but I may crop it somewhat before the end of the year.

I prefer to walk for exercise outside, as time permits, in addition to whatever other walking I do as I go about my day. My goal was to walk as much as I can every day. 

To keep track of steps, I used the Health app in my iPhone. 

I'm using the same system of symbols to represent each thousand steps. The black icons represent up to 9899 steps walked, red represents 9900-19,899 steps and yellow represents 19,899--29,899 steps.

Last year I rounded up 2500 steps to 3000. 

Now 1900-2900 steps equals 2000, and 2900-3900 steps equals 3000 steps. The only rounding up I'm doing this year is if I'm 100 steps away from the next thousand.

To be more accurate in my visual record keeping, I'll be adding color to show fractions of 250 steps walked, 2250, 2500 and 2750 (as an example).

The painted colors to show the fractions of 250 steps will represent the different seasons. Winter is teal blue, Spring will be Green, Summer will be Yellow, and Autumn will be Indian Yellow Hue. 

Last year the colors represented bad weather conditions like rain, snow and ice, or extreme heat, being sick, recovering from surgery, being on vacation, and a few other things.

The Dates in a Life Project 2019 is created with monoprinted textures of a construction fence as the background, handstamped rubber erasers on fabric which are collaged on the background grid, as well as handpainting and stitching on stiffened fabric.

Look for updates each month.

New Work: Dates in a Life Project 2018

Happy New Year!

The Dates in a Life Project 2018 was a year-long painting project documenting the number of steps I walked each day. 

I prefer to walk for exercise, as time permits, outside in addition to whatever other walking I do as I go about my day. My goal was to walk as much as I could every day. 

To keep track of steps, I used the Health app in my iPhone. 

I worked out a system of symbols to represent each thousand steps. Instead of showing exactly how many I walked each day, I rounded up or down. As an example, 1500-2499 steps equals 2000, and 2500-3499 steps equals 3000 steps. 

The black icons represent up to 9999 steps walked, red represents 10,000-19,999 steps and yellow represents 20,000-29,999 steps.

The colored squares have different meanings about reasons I may have walked more or less on those specific days. White means snow or ice, extreme cold is blue, extremely hot is red, very rainy all day is teal blue, being sick is Indian Yellow Hue, recovering from surgery is yellow, being on vacation or away from home is green, and working on election day is purple.

The solid white squares highlight Saturdays and Sundays in columns. I usually (but not always) had more time to walk on the weekend, after I caught up on sleep and had more energy to exercise.

This piece measures 33" x 39" and was created with monoprinted textures of a construction fence as the background, handstamped rubber erasers on fabric which are collaged on the background grid, as well as handpainting and stitching on stiffened fabric.

I really enjoyed working on this in 2018 and will do it again this year. Look for updates about Dates in a Life Project 2019, as I document my steps in a horizontal format with a different way to log them each day.

New Work: 12 x 12 x 12 December 2018

I've been working on my 12 x 12 x 12 series since January 2007. 12 x 12 x 12 December 2018 is the last piece in this 12 year series. 

It was created with a photo of the springs inside of a mattress made by Posture Products Inc in Massillon, Ohio on June 17, 1954. The mattress was one of the many items I found when I emptied my mother's home in November before it was sold.

Also in this painting is monoprinted fabric from a construction fence I had hanging out in my studio, and there are also pieces of fabric scraps from the yearlong piece that documents how many steps I walk each day. You can see what that piece looked like at the end of November.

In November, I created a 12 x 12 x 12 painting that that incorporated photos of the cotton batting inside the same mattress. You can see it here. 

Over the past 12 years, I created 144 paintings that measure 12" x 12" on 1" board. This project gave me time to create one piece each month. It was a wonderful opportunity to experiment with an idea, or technique, or a combination of both, and it was good to do it on a regular basis, no matter what else is going on in my life. Sometimes I liked the paintings and sometimes I didn't, and that's OK.

Now it's time end this series, and try something new with no time, media, or size restrictions.  Starting in 2019, I'll be doing work that's more experimental. Stay tuned.

Update: Dates in a Life Project 2018

In one month, at the end of December, I'll be finishing my Dates in a Life Project 2018. 

This image shows what it looks like through November 30, 2018. The Dates in a Life Project is a year-long mixed media painting documenting the number of steps I walk each day.

I have a system of symbols that represent each thousand steps. Instead if showing exactly how many I walk each day, I’m rounding up or down. As an example, 1500-2499 steps equals 2000, and 2500-3499 equals 3000 steps.

Black symbols represent less than 10,000 steps walked on a given day.

The symbols in red represent 10,000 or more steps, which I was able to walk on 5 days in November vs. 7 in October and 15 in August. In November it not only rained a lot but the sun was setting around 4:30pm or so, which limited the amount of time I had to walk outside each day. 

It's going to get even more challenging walking outside as winter approaches and the sun sets at around 4pm, and if it snows or is icy, that'll be an added challenge.

Dates in a Life Project 2018 measures 33" x 39" and is created with monoprinted textures of a construction fence, combined with handpainting, stitching, and collaged fabric, on stiffened fabric.

To keep track of steps, I use the Health app on my iPhone. It's not always accurate, but I continue to use it anyway because I don't want to buy a FitBit.

Stay tuned for an update, and a look at the finished piece soon after the end of December.