Katie Jeanne Wood

Mixed Media Artist - daily painter of portraits, flowers, abstracts and birds

To be continued – 5 minute painting day 31

Katie Jeanne Wood - 123117 Painting in ProgressWork in progress
5 minute painting
day 31
daily painting: 365 day art project
Day 167
Painted and written on Dec 31st, 2017

I’m thisclose to calling this painting finished, but I need some time to play with the layers a bit without being interrupted by the timer. I want to get it to the stage where I love it, and I’m at the “really really like it” level at the moment. I don’t want to rush through it just because I’m starting a new theme tomorrow, and end up having to revise it down the road. This will be continued next month.  

So, this concludes 31 days of 5 minute timed painting experiment. I’m sighing a sigh of relief because even tho I learned so much from doing the experiment, I’m ready for it to be over. The past week hasn’t been all rainbows and lollipops, as you can probably guess from my struggle with the center line of this painting. It felt like things came to a standstill for several days in a row. No progress was made, and I was getting increasingly frustrated with the timer, and having only 5 minutes a day to work on this rather large painting.

My hands are UP in the air for one final time, as if surrendering to the great timer gods up in the sky. Time is up, timer. Adios! It’s been quite an interesting month, but I can’t say I will miss you, and all of your restrictions. 

New theme starts tomorrow. I can’t wait to share with you what I’ve picked for January. Eeeeeeeee!! 

To recap quickly, here are my progress shots from December..

Katie Jeanne Wood - Progress shots 5 minutes of painting a day

And here are the two paintings I completed:

Katherine Jeanne Wood - Summer At the Cottage floral paintingSummer at the Cottage
Available here
Prints are available here

Land of Opportunities
11×14 acrylic abstract on canvas
Prints are available here

Katherine Jeanne Wood - 11x14 Abstract Painting Land of OpportunitiesI love how the sides turned out. 🙂 It gives the painting a finished look, so it doesn’t have to be framed. 

 

The results – 5 minute painting day 30

Work in progress
5 minute painting
day 30
daily painting: 365 day art project
Day 166
Painted and written on Dec 30, 2017

My thoughts on the month of December, as the days are winding down..

I started this 5 minute painting a day experiment with others in mind, not thinking I was going to learn anything from it myself (was I ever wrong about that!). I wanted to prove that it’s possible to paint every day, even if you’re busy working 9 to 5. I found out, yes, it definitely can be done. As someone who works anywhere from 12 to 16 hours daily, I found time to squeeze in 5 minutes.

The trick is to stop complaining (because it’s taking up precious time), make a commitment, show up, and get to work. I realize it was probably easier for me to do this because I work in my studio, and not outside the house somewhere. Still, I do believe it can be achieved if you set your mind to it. No one will ever convince me otherwise. We all have 5 minutes a day that we’re wasting somewhere that could be put to better use.

Katherine Jeanne Wood - Pink roses floral paintingAvailable here
Sold
Prints are available here

Now on a more personal level..

I was painting larger than I normally do this month (because if you’re going to challenge yourself might as well go big), and some days I couldn’t believe how much my painting changed in just 5 measly minutes. I’d think WOW! I can’t believe I did all that in so little time. Some of you noticed, also. 

With the timer ticking, it was as if I became a different artist. I noticed I moved much faster than I normally do, and with precise, deliberate strokes of the knife or brush. This doesn’t happen if I have the whole day splayed out in front of me to paint. If I think I have all the time in the world then I need all that time, plus more. 

Katherine Jeanne Wood - pale blue sky landscape oil paintingLandscape oil painting
Available here

My final and biggest takeaway from the 5 minute painting is this..it has forever changed the way I think about the daily painting project. By only painting 5 minutes a day, I realized that I’ve been spending too much time and energy on this project. I now know I need to lighten up, stop taking it so seriously, and go easier on myself. No more demanding I finish a painting a day, as I did for 120 days prior to this. I don’t want to go through my days feeling overworked, and exhausted all the time. 

One more day, and then the timer gets put away. I’m looking forward to the new theme for January. 

 

 

Slightly off kilter – 5 minute painting day 29

Floral painting in progress - Katie Jeanne WoodWork in progress
5 minute painting
day 29
daily painting: 365 day art project
Day 165
Painted and written on Dec 29, 2017

The way of success:
Visualize the end result,
Plan, Take action, Persevere,
Re-plan, Take action, Persevere.
– Jonathan Lockwood Huie

Today all I had time to do was get the center line straightened out. It still appears to be slightly off kilter to me, but I can live with it. I don’t want to waste any more of my 5 minute sessions trying to fix it. If I need to, I’ll deal with it in January when I won’t have such a time crunch going on. 

I listened to Jimmy Eat World – Integrity Blues and Super Whatevr – Kathrin With a K while painting today. 

 

Sometimes it pulls on me – 5 minute painting day 28

Work in progress
5 minute painting
day 28
daily painting: 365 day art project
Day 164
Painted and written on Dec 28, 2017

The line, it inks across the freshly fallen snow
Where only those embracing coldness would go
In whistles and in whispers and sometimes in howls
It sings to me sweetly from trees and in vowels

Really struggling with that center line, and I used up all 5 minutes of my time trying to straighten out the right side. I thought I could eyeball it, but it’s still not where I want it to be. I’m pretty sure I’m going to pull the L square back out tomorrow to fix this hot mess. 

I’m just pulling on a line, on a line
Oh I’m just pulling on a line
I’m just pulling on a line, on a line
But sometimes it pulls on me

Great Lake Swimmers

I realize the line they’re singing about isn’t the same line I’m writing about, but I thought of this song when I was painting today. 

Center – 5 minute painting day 27

Work in progress
5 minute painting
day 27
daily painting: 365 day art project
Day 163
Painted and written on Dec 27, 2017

Win as if you were used to it,
lose as if you enjoyed it for a change.
– Ralph Waldo Emerson
 

That !@#%%^$%^ center line. Arrrgh!!
hello. 
 
 

Dark little cave – 5 minute painting day 26

Work in progress
5 minute painting
day 26
daily painting: 365 day art project
Day 162
Painted and written on Dec 26, 2017

The lighting in my studio leaves much to be desired. My studio faces north, and it resembles a dark little cave. I have the overhead light on all day because it’s too dark in here to work otherwise. Since there’s a window directly behind the easel, and the paint is still wet when I take the photo each day, I’m constantly getting a reflection of the window on the canvas. I’ve been turning the easel slightly to try to avoid the glare, but it’s far from an ideal situation. I’m pretty sure 2018 is going to be the year for me to invest in some proper indoor lighting, so I can take better photos, and perhaps, a new camera, also. 

Blue lobster – 5 minute painting day 25

Work in progress
5 minute painting
day 25
daily painting: 365 day art project
Day 161
Painted on Dec 25, 2017

It’s funny how my paintings look different to me in a photo versus in person. I didn’t see a blue lobster when I was standing in front of the painting, but I saw one immediately when I looked at this photo. haha! 

Reading: Isabel & Reuben Toledo – very interesting story in Kinfolk.

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Pink chickadee bird painting by Katie Jeanne WoodAvailable here
Sold
Prints are available here

Watching: Have you seen the trend on Youtube where people record a one second video every day for a year? It sorta reminded me of the 5 minute painting I’m doing..how both concepts are squeezing life out of a ticking clock. I watched a couple videos last night, and it’s surprising how much you see in only 1 second intervals. This young lady’s was my favorite.. About 2017 // 1 second every day for a year. 

Happy New Year – 5 minute painting day 24

Katie Jeanne Wood - 122417 Painting in ProgressWork in progress
5 minute painting
day 24
daily painting: 365 day art project
Day 160
Painted on Dec 24, 2017

Happy New Year, everyone. I wish all the best for you in the upcoming year. If you’ve supported my art business in any way over the past year, I thank you from the bottom of my heart. I appreciate your patronage more than you’ll ever know. I couldn’t continue to do this without your help. 

 

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