The 100 Day Project is a challenge to do something – anything – every day for 100 days and document it. Your individual project can be artistic (draw, paint, sketch, sew, photo) or it can be personal (walk, run, meditate). Anything qualifies, as long as it’s repeatable. For many people, documenting it means posting online, especially Instagram (see here).
In previous years, I have missed the start date for the project. I’d see folks posting their updates a couple of weeks in, but was hesitant myself to begin that late, so I didn’t start at all. (Excuses, excuses, I know!)
Doing something for 100 days is meant to test the balance between creativity and routine. Doing something every day, whether you want to or not, whether you have ideas or not, takes discipline.
For background on the project and its founder, Michael Bierut, see https://www.designobserver.com/feature/five-years-of-100-days/24678
This year, I really wanted to do the project. Last year I did very elaborate artwork with lots of pieces/parts and complicated ideas. (See the Envelope series.)
This year, I am focusing on simplicity: basic shapes, simple compositions, minimal materials. A return to basics, of sorts. It’s both freeing and challenging to pull out only a handful of items and limit myself to using only them to create something new.
Plus, I love working in series. When I have an idea for artwork (or anything else), so often the 1st iteration is the obvious one. The easy answer. The good stuff happens when really exploring an idea and digging deep into it!
The 100 Day project started this year on April 3rd and I decided to do 100 days of collage. Cuz…that’s my thing, you know? A friend (Hi Shannon!) gave me this cheerful sketchbook, with a sturdy cover and binding. It’s 5.5 x 8.5 inches, a nice size. Perfect.
Day 1 started with this image to the left. It’s a photo of an accidental arrangement of items that happened on my kitchen counter.
I’d been doing collage in the kitchen and set things down to walk away for a minute. When I returned, this arrangement of the scissors laying across 2 pieces of paper really struck me. Very dramatic! And completely accidental. I hadn’t put the pieces in that order intentionally; that’s where they fell. But I liked it.
So I recreated the image in my little red sketchbook for Day 1 of the 100 Day Project. I couldn’t glue the scissors in the sketchbook (well, I guess I could have but I need to use them!), so I photocopied them, cut them out, and glued the paper version into the book.
For the other days, I have used paper that was in a small pile on the corner of my worktable. (The pile basically fits in a 9×12 envelope.) I’ve allowed myself to add a few buttons or thread, but have not gone trawling through my stash for more paper. Oddly enough, even though I’ve been pulling from that pile for 20 days, it has not diminished noticeably.
I try to finish each day’s collage in 30 minutes, but they often take longer, especially when I add stitching.
After the first 20 days, I am learning that:
- Each day’s collage doesn’t have to be wildly different from the day before. It’s ok to use the scraps from yesterday as the starting point for today.
- Materials are NOT precious! I have SOOOOO much stuff. Boxes and boxes AND BOXES of stuff, a lot of which I have saved waiting for the perfect project.
- A. there is no perfect project
- B. use the stuff
- C. there will always be more stuff
- I favor symmetry. No surprise there. Asymmetry is hard for me. I like to look at dynamic compositions but don’t easily make them.
- It’s ok if today’s collage isn’t perfect. Do another one tomorrow.
- Simpler is better. More pieces doesn’t make it better – it just gets fussy. If I find myself struggling with a composition, it usually has too many pieces.
If you want to keep up with the action as it happens, visit me on Instagram (http://www.instagram.com/lifeneedsart/).
My collages for the first 20 days are below. Click on them for a larger version.
