A Painting a Day

Being productive can be a challenge with all of the minutia of daily life. Then pile on events, responsibilities, unpredictable happenings, and just plain old being tired, creativity can go way down to the bottom of the list and those paints and pencils lie there collecting dust.

I few weeks ago I saw an interview on a great web site called Creative Insurgents. The hosts, Cory Huff and Melissa Dinwiddie interviewed Jolie Guillebeau, an artist out of Portland, Oregon. She told her story of struggling to be and feel like an artist.  By giving her self a special 100 day challenge, she began to overcome her self doubt. She committed publicly to paint a painting a day for 100 days. It really helped jump start her career.

I have experienced the struggle, not only to be productive, but to discover my identity as an artist.  When I began this blog it was all about being an illustrator. Now I realize I just want to embrace being an artist. Illustrating is all a part of a bigger picture for me. So, I am going to take up the challenge too.  Beginning September 1st, I am going to post a watercolor painting a day. I have picked animals as my theme, as I have done some pet portraits and really enjoyed it, plus it is a way for me to reconnect with what made me love art as a child.  Animals, horses in particular, where my favorite subjects. Seems like a good place to start.

The paintings will also be for sale, beginning at $1 for day 1, $2 for day 2, $3 for day 3, and so on.  You get the idea!.  If you see a painting you like, please send me an email at lauraparkhurstillustrator@gmail.com. I will provide this information with each painting. If you really like my work, please be sure to share it with your friends and family because they might enjoy an original piece of artwork too! You can also follow me on Facebook at this link. I will be posting there too.

Thanks for coming by.  I hope you will come again on the 1st of September and on the days following. And I hope you enjoy my work!  I would love to hear from you.