Thursday, October 4, 2018

Update: Dates in a Life Project 2018


Now that September is over, I’m 3/4 of the way through my Dates in a Life Project 2018. 

This image shows what it looks like through September 31, 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 to represent each thousand steps. Instead if showing exactly how many I walk each day, I’m rounding up or down. As an example, 2000-2499 steps equals 2000, and 2500-3000 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 10 days in September vs. 15 in August. We got over 8" of rain in September which made outside walking a challenge at times. I also started to adapt my walking times because the sun was starting to set close to 6:30pm. Walking is going to get more challenging as winter approaches and the sun sets even earlier.

In September I finally had an opportunities to walk over 20,000 steps, which was on September 15th. I walked 22.596 steps, which is 8.4 miles. The yellow symbol on the far right side of the piece represents that accomplishment. I hope that I can do it again at least one more time before the end of the year. 


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 after the end of October.