Work in Progress: Dates in a Life Project

I'm past the halfway point working on my Dates in a Life Project, documenting the expiration and purchase dates of my family's milk purchases in 2017.

The written dates are the expiration dates of our milk bottles.

The white painted lines in-between the stitching mark how many bottles of milk were purchased that day. If we bought one bottle there's white below the day. If we bought a second bottle, there's white to the left of the day, and if we bought three, there's white to the right of the day.

I recently added white fabric in the empty squares in the Sunday, Tuesday and Thursday columns, the expiration days of the milk company we commonly buy our milk from. 

I'm considering adding lines of thread or thin yarn to show when we actually purchased the milk and what the expiration date was. The lines in the photo above were added in Photoshop as a sketch. They are not actual lines. I haven't made any definite decisions about adding them yet. 

Check back for more updates.

New Work: 12 x 12 x 12 July 2017

This month, I was able to work on 12 x 12 x 12 July 2017 more leisurely than previous months, thanks to a lighter schedule.

I created this piece with a large piece of monoprinted construction fence fabric, some scrap "holes" of a fence pattern that was left over from previous artwork. and white acrylic paint.

Even with a lighter schedule, I'm really enjoying my home studio. Not having to drive, and being able to squeeze a few minutes in when I have them, is a wonderful convenience!

I've been working on my 12 x 12 x 12 series since January 2007. It has given me time to create one 12" x 12" x 1" piece on board each month, no matter how many other things are going on that month. It's a wonderful opportunity for me to experiment with an idea or technique or a combination of both.

New Work: 12 x 12 x 12 June 2017

I finished my 12 x 12 x 12 June 2017 one day before the end of June because of a busy schedule. It's made with a base layer of fabric monoprinted of a construction fence, and acrylic skins made from photos of my birthday cake layered on top of the fabric.

A little more than a week ago, I celebrated a milestone birthday. To celebrate, I collaborated with The Sleepy Baker. She made the cake and iced it in multicolored buttercream icing, and we worked together to add design elements so the cake would look like one of my paintings. Yay!

I invited friends and family over to my house for a piece of cake, and my photographer took pictures of the cake and it was served.

Now my wonderful birthday cake is forever documented in a painting.

July and August should be much less busy. I'm planning on enjoying my home-based art studio, and work on a number of new paintings.

I'm now halfway through my eleventh year of working on my 12 x 12 x 12 series. It has given me time to create one 12" x 12" x 1" piece on board each month, no matter how many other things are going on that month. It's been a wonderful opportunity for me to experiment with an idea or technique or a combination of both. Looking back over what I created over the years, some of the pieces have been really good, and others not so much.

Work in Progress: Dates in a Life Project

I'm halfway through the year working on my Dates in a Life Project, documenting the expiration and purchase dates of my family's milk purchases in 2017.

The written dates are the expiration dates of our milk bottles.

The white painted lines in-between the stitching mark how many bottles of milk were purchased that day. If we bought one bottle there's white below the day. If we bought a second bottle, there's white to the left of the day, and if we bought three, there's white to the right of the day. The details hopefully explain everything.

I am still thinking about what I want to do inside the empty squares. I have some ideas but I haven't made any decisions yet. 

Check back for more updates throughout the year.

New Work: 12 x 12 x 12 May 2017

12 x 12 x 12 May 2017 was created with very little time left in May, due to an increasingly busy schedule.

This piece is a collage of scraps of monoprinted and painted construction fence fabrics, with additional paint in a few areas. Just like the past few months, I also layered some scrap white fabric in the "holes" of the fence pattern because I like the semitransparent look of the layers.

I am SO glad my studio is home now because I never would have been able to make this piece if I had to drive to a studio. The convenience of a home studio is the only way I can grab some time to make art. I foresee June also being busy, but I hope to make my monthly piece with more time to spare than this month.

It's almost halfway through my eleventh year of working on my 12 x 12 x 12 series. It has given me time to create one 12" x 12" x 1" piece on board each month, no matter how many other things are going on that month. It's been a wonderful opportunity for me to experiment with an idea or technique or a combination of both. Looking back over what I created over the years, some of the pieces have been really good, and others not so much.

Work in Progress: Dates in a Life Project

It's been a few months since I've posted about my Dates in a Life Project, documenting the expiration and purchase dates of my family's milk purchases in 2017. Above is the piece as it looks today, April 29, 2017.

January 2017

The written dates are the expiration dates of our milk bottles.
The white painted lines in-between the stitching mark how many bottles of milk were purchased that day. If we bought one bottle there's white below the day. If we bought a second bottle, there's white to the left of the day, and if we bought three, there's white to the right of the day. The details above and below hopefully explain everything.

February 2017

March 2017

April 2017

I am thinking about what I want to do inside the empty squares, but I haven't made any decisions yet. I do have some ideas though. Check back for more updates throughout the year.

New Work: 12 x 12 x 12 April 2017

Similarly to last month, 12 x 12 x 12 April 2017 was created with scraps from my Dates in a Life Project that were collaged over monoprinted construction fence fabric. 

And just like last month, I didn't have a plan when I started except that I knew I wanted to use the white fabric with the cut out circles.

I really liked how the different layers of white fabric looked semitransparent when applied over the multicolored fabric in March and I wanted to work on that idea again.

Like February and last month, I decided to use pencil, instead of paint, to highlight shapes. I like how subtle the pencil lines are.

It's really good that my studio is home now! The convenience, along with my hectic schedule, is the only way I can grab some time to make art.

This is my eleventh year of working on my 12 x 12 x 12 series. It has given me time to create one 12" x 12" x 1" piece on board each month, no matter how many other things are going on that month. It's been a wonderful opportunity for me to experiment with an idea or technique or a combination of both. Looking back over what I created in the past ten years, some of the pieces have been really good, and others not so much.