More New Work in Progress: Dates in a Life Walking Project 2026

 

In July, I retired from my day job, and changed how I document the number of steps I walk each day on my Dates in a Life Walking Project 2026 year-long painting. Starting then, the background color behind all icons for the rest of this year is now Light Ultramarine Blue. Each month, I am pre-painting the days of each month, month by month ahead of time, and each week I collage on the icons for each day walked.

During the brief time I stopped working but was still on the payroll, the background was Light Phthalo Blue. Up until my last day in the office, I was painting Florescent Magenta on the days I was off such as weekends, vacation, personal, and sick days.

In this picture, you can see the August 1st icon is already in place, a little section of July to the left of August, a little of the Light Phthalo Blue in the diagonal upper right of August. and the Florescent Magenta background paint before that.

New Work in Progress: Dates in a Life Walking Project 202

This is the month of July for my Dates in a Life Walking Project 2026 painting, a year-long painting documenting the number of steps I walked each day. I have documented my steps in paintings since 2016.

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

I use a system of symbols to represent each thousand steps. Instead of showing exactly how many I walk. The black icons represent up to 9999 steps walked each day, red represents 10,000-19,999 steps and yellow represents 20,000-29,999 steps.

In July I walked over 10,000 steps 11 times and came close to that as represented by the circles (9000 steps +) two times, because of hot weather. 

Under some individual days, there is a painted line of color to represent reasons that may lower or raise the number of steps I walked that day, such as snow, rainy, extreme hot or cold, illness, and vacation.

In July, the red lines are for hot days, and the orange is for when I was on vacation, which this time reduced my walking.

The base monoprinted grid is black. Before I retired from my day job, the Florescent Magenta background paint signified the days (mostly weekends, but also including holidays, vacations days, and sick days) when I was not at work, which usually gave me more time to walk for exercise than the days I am at work.

On June 19, I changed the background color to Light Phthalo Blue to signify the days I technically on “vacation” and still on the payroll at work, but actually retired from my day job and my email access ended. On July 1, the background color changed to Light Ultramarine Blue when I was fully retired. It will remain that color through the end of the year.

The second image shows January through July and plenty of room for the rest of the year.

Planning Ahead

 

I'm planning ahead by making sure I have plenty of printed stamped icons for the number of steps I walk each day. In this picture on the middle right you can see black icons for 4000, 5000, 8000, and 9000 drying. On the bottom, to the left of the scissors are the steps I have already walked this week, in red, for 10,000, 11,000, and 10,000 steps for this past Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday. On the bottom left is the key to what the stamps mean, black for under 9999 steps, red for 10,000-10,999, and yellow for 20,000 or more. On the right side, the stamps are lined up in a row, lower numbers at the bottom and counting up by the thousands to the top. At the top of the photo are stacks for stamps ready to be used as needed, and above them, black, red and yellow bottles of fabric paint.

New Work in Progress: Dates in a Life Walking Project 2026

 

Now that it's July, and I have retired from my day job, I am making changes for how I document the number of steps I walk each day for my Dates in a Life Walking Project 2026 year-long painting project.

For this year, when I was working, I was using Florescent Magenta background paint to signify the days (mostly weekends, but also including holidays, vacations days, and sick days) I was not at work, which usually gave me more time to walk for exercise. I painted it after I added the icons for the number of steps by the thousands.

On June 19, I changed the background color to Light Phthalo Blue to signify the days I was technically on "vacation" and still on the payroll at work, but actually retired. I pre-painted those 12 days.

Now I have not only changed the background color again, this time to Light Ultramarine Blue, but I am now going to pre-paint the days of each month for the rest of the year. This paint, and the Light Phthalo Blue, are opaque compared to the Florescent Magenta which is not, so it'll be a very different look for the black on white monoprinted grid of the construction fence. 

The second image shows a glimpse of January through July before I add new stamps through Saturday of this week, and the following weeks and months through the rest of the year.

New Work in Progress: Dates in a Life Walking Project 2026

 

This is the month of June for my Dates in a Life Walking Project 2026 painting, a year-long painting documenting the number of steps I walked each day. I have documented my steps in paintings since 2016.

I use a system of symbols to represent each thousand steps. Instead of showing exactly how many I walk. The black icons represent up to 9999 steps walked each day, red represents 10,000-19,999 steps and yellow represents 20,000-29,999 steps.

In June I walked over 20,000 steps two times thanks to being away and without a car on both days, and over 10,000 steps 13 times because of warmer (but not hot) weather.

The base monoprinted grid is black, was Florescent Magenta background paint to signify the days (mostly weekends, but also including holidays, vacations days, and sick days) I was not at work, which usually gave me more time to walk for exercise than the days I am at work.

Starting on June 19, I changed the background color to Light Phthalo Blue to signify the days I technically on "vacation" and still on the payroll at work, but I actually retired from my day job and my email access ended. Starting in July, the background color will change again when I am fully retired.

Under some individual days, there is a painted line of color to represent reasons that may lower or raise the number of steps I walked that day, such as snow, rainy, extreme hot or cold, illness, and vacation.

The painting 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.

The second image shows January through June and plenty of room for the rest of the year.

New Work in Progress: Dates in a Life Walking Project 2026

 

This is the month of May for my Dates in a Life Walking Project 2026 painting, a year-long painting documenting the number of steps I walked each day. I have documented my steps in paintings since 2016. 

In May I walked over 10,000 steps 19 times thanks to warmer weather, and more sunlight after work. On May 20, the high daytime temperature in eastern Massachusetts was 47 degrees and it rained just about all day. I didn't have wearing long johns on my bingo card for May!

I use a system of symbols to represent each thousand steps. Instead of showing exactly how many I walk. The black icons represent up to 9999 steps walked each day, red represents 10,000-19,999 steps and yellow represents 20,000-29,999 steps.

The base monoprinted grid is black, with Florescent Magenta background paint used to signify the days (mostly weekends, but also including holidays, vacations days, and sick days) I was not at work, which usually gives me more time to walk for exercise than the days I am at work.

Under some individual days, there is a painted line of color to represent reasons that may lower or raise the number of steps I walked that day, such as snow, rainy, extreme hot or cold, illness, and vacation.

The painting 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.

The second image shows January through May and plenty of room for the rest of the year.

New Work in Progress: Dates in a Life Walking Project 2026

This is the month of April for my Dates in a Life Walking Project 2026 painting, a year-long painting documenting the number of steps I walked each day. I have documented my steps in paintings since 2016. 

In April, I walked over 10,000 steps 12 times thanks to warmer weather, and more sunlight after work.

I use a system of symbols to represent each thousand steps. Instead of showing exactly how many I walk. The black icons represent up to 9999 steps walked each day, red represents 10,000-19,999 steps and yellow represents 20,000-29,999 steps.

The base monoprinted grid is black, with Florescent Magenta background paint used to signify the days (mostly weekends, but also including holidays, vacations days, and sick days) I was not at work, which usually gives me more time to walk for exercise than the days I am at work.

Under some individual days, there is a painted line of color to represent reasons that may lower or raise the number of steps I walked that day, such as snow, rainy, extreme hot or cold, illness, and vacation.

The painting 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.

The second image shows January through April and plenty of room for the rest of the year.

New Work in Progress: Dates in a Life Walking Project 2026

 

This is the month of March for my Dates in a Life Walking Project 2026 painting, a year-long painting documenting the number of steps I walked each day. I have documented my steps in paintings since 2016.

I use a system of symbols to represent each thousand steps. Instead of showing exactly how many I walk. The black icons represent up to 9999 steps walked each day, red represents 10,000-19,999 steps and yellow represents 20,000-29,999 steps.

The base monoprinted grid is black, with Florescent Magenta background paint used to signify the days (mostly weekends, but also including holidays, vacations days, and sick days) I was not at work, which usually gives me more time to walk for exercise than the days I am at work.

Under some individual days, there is a painted line of color to represent reasons that may lower or raise the number of steps I walked that day, such as snow, rainy, extreme hot or cold, illness, and vacation.

The painting 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.

The second image shows January through March and plenty of room for the rest of the year.

New Work in Progress: Dates in a Life Walking Project 2026

This is the month of February for my new Dates in a Life Walking Project 2026 painting, a year-long painting documenting the number of steps I walked each day. I have documented my steps in paintings since 2016.

I use a system of symbols to represent each thousand steps. Instead of showing exactly how many I walk. The black icons represent up to 9999 steps walked each day, red represents 10,000-19,999 steps and yellow represents 20,000-29,999 steps.

The base monoprinted grid is black, with Florescent Magenta background paint used to signify the days (mostly weekends, but also including holidays, vacations days, and sick days) I was not at work, which usually gives me more time to walk for exercise than the days I am at work.

Under some individual days, there is a painted line of color to represent reasons that may lower or raise the number of steps I walked that day, such as snow, rainy, extreme hot or cold, illness, and vacation.

The painting 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. 

Below shows January and February and plenty of room on this painting for the rest of the year.

Cold and Windy

 

17 degrees without wind would have been OK for walking outside because the sun is out and I was bundled up, but even with holding my scarf to protect my face, it hurt too much to walk more that two blocks. I am hopeful that the daytime temperatures will be much better after today. At least that's what the 10 day weather forecast is showing. 🤞

New Work in Progress: Dates in a Life Walking Project 2026

This is the month of January for my new Dates in a Life Walking Project 2026 painting, a year-long painting documenting the number of steps I walked each day. I have documented my steps in paintings since 2016.

I use a system of symbols to represent each thousand steps. Instead of showing exactly how many I walk. The black icons represent up to 9999 steps walked each day, red represents 10,000-19,999 steps and yellow represents 20,000-29,999 steps.

The base monoprinted grid is black, with Florescent Magenta background paint used to signify the days (mostly weekends, but also including holidays, vacations days, and sick days) I was not at work, which usually gives me more time to walk for exercise than the days I am at work.

Under some individual days, there is a painted line of color to represent reasons that may lower or raise the number of steps I walked that day, such as snow, rainy, extreme hot or cold, illness, and vacation.

The painting 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.

Cold and Snow!

I was determined to walk today even though it's 7 degrees and it feels like it's -3, due to the polar vortex and the beginning of a snowstorm that's expected to dump up to 24" of snow in the Boston area through Monday night. I managed one long block and back, and gave up for safety reasons. All of my body was warm except my cheeks and nose. When I held my scarf up to try to protect my face, my glasses fogged up. I tried. Safety wins.

Reaching High to Work on New Work in Progress: Dates in a Life Walking Project 2026

 

It's a new year, and I am working on my new Dates in a Life Walking Project 2026 painting.

I added the icons for number of steps I walked each day this last week, and then painted Fluorescent Magenta paint to fill in the squares on the days I was off from work. Collaging the icons isn't hard to reach, but accessing the top to precisely paint inside the squares is quite uncomfortable for the first three months of the year. I would probably be more comfortable if I stood on a step stool.

New Work: Dates in a Life Walking Project 2025

Dates in a Life Walking Project 2025, documents the number of steps I walked every day from January 1 - December 31, 2025. 

I use a system of symbols to represent each thousand steps. Instead of showing exactly how many I walk. The black icons represent up to 9999 steps walked each day, red represents 10,000-19,999 steps and yellow represents 20,000-29,999 steps.

The base monoprinted grid is Caribbean Breeze, with Iridescent Bright Gold background paint used to signify the days (mostly weekends, but also including holidays, vacations days, and sick days) I was not at work, which usually gives me more time to walk for exercise than the days I am at work.

Under some individual days, there is a painted line of color to represent reasons that may lower or raise the number of steps I walked that day, such as snow, rainy, extreme hot or cold, illness, and vacation.

In addition to walking, this painting also documents three injuries I had last year, falling on back ice, breaking my nose, and also two hairline fractures on my right foot and spraining both ankles, that affected how many fewer steps I walked while I healed.

I have now completed nine years of paintings documenting my walking, and I am looking forward to my tenth year in 2026.

Dates in a Life Walking Project 2025 measures 29” x 36.5” and is mixed media on stiffened fabric.

Dates in a Life Walking Project 2025 and 2024

My Dates in a Life Walking Project 2025 painting is finished. I love looking at it next to Dates in a Life Walking Project 2024 on its left. There are two years of memories (and some stories) that affected how much or how little I walked. Shortly, I’ll take 2024 down, move 2025 over to take its place, and hang the base for 2026 up and start populating it with icons for the number of steps I walk everyday by the thousands. I have completed nine years and I’m looking forward to my tenth year.

Walking Numbers for 2025

For the second time in 2025 I walked over 20,000 steps. The first time on August 23, and again on New Year’s Eve. I promised my podiatrist I would keep my walking in the 1-2 mile range or less from when I broke my foot at the end of September (though I didn’t KNOW I broke it until the end of October). My goal was for it to heal so I could walk as much as I wanted or needed to on New Year’s Eve, when a bunch of us host a free Party on our rail trail. 

Now that it's a new year, I will finish my 2025 walking painting and photograph it.

Below are the number of steps I walked in 2025 and the stats, thanks to the Pedometer app on my phone. It was less than 2024, but not bad considering I had a number of injuries (in addition to my broken foot) last year.

Cold!

I was determined to walk today even though it's 25 degrees and it feels like it's 12, due to the wind, so I bundled up and wore a mask and a scarf to protect my face from windburn.

One more day of documenting my walking for 2025 before I start my 2026 painting.

Walking Paintings - One Finished and Two in Progress

On the wall, my Dates in a Life Walking Project 2024 painting on the left, an almost finished 2025 walking painting on the right, the fabric for 2026 walking with watered down matte medium is drying on the table, and some other work in progress not in the picture. I’m looking forward to being off from work and having time for artwork, movies, and socializing over the next 11 days.

More Work in Progress: Dates in a Life Walking Project 2025

 

This is November for my Dates in a Life Walking Project 2025 painting, a year-long painting documenting the number of steps I walked each day. I have documented my steps in paintings since 2016.

The green paint over the black icons represents my foot injury in late September, where I found through a MRI at the end of October that I have a hairline fracture on two bones in my foot. My podiatrist told me to limit my walking to under 2 miles a day (and wear hiking boots for support) for at least the next month, which I did. I met with her again before Thanksgiving, and she said I could walk more as long as it didn't hurt, which it only does a few seconds every now and then, So, after Thanksgiving I tried walking 3-3.5 miles, still wearing hiking boots, and I didn't have any problems. I am not power walking though, just walking.

The picture below shows my walking in 2025 so far, with room for the rest of the year. The gold background paint represents days off from work, including weekends, holidays and vacations. The red represents walking 10,000 steps or more, and the yellow icon represents over 20,000 steps.

Work in Progress: Dates in a Life Walking Project 2025

As we head toward the end of the year, I am taking advantage of having the week off from work to prepare the final presentation of my Dates in a Life Walking Project 2025 painting, a year-long painting documenting the number of steps I walked each day.

Today, I painted black lines around each month to separate them visually. This photo shows January through September. At the end of this month, I'll share what the painting looks like through November, as I have been doing each month all year.