NM Wildflowers & the #100DayProject

Studio adventures.

I’ve decided to participate in #the100dayproject this year. Well, actually, I’ve decided to participate in #the100dayproject quite a few times before, and have always either derailed almost immediately, or just blew it off all together before starting.

The #100dayproject is an online art and creativity challenge hosted by Lindsay Jean Thomson on the Substack site the100dayproject.org and the Instagram account @dothe100dayproject. To participate, you select a creative activity that you plan to repeat each day for a pre-announced 100-day period (usually beginning early in the year). For example, you might draw a self-portrait for 100 days, write a haiku, or do a yoga sun salutation, to name a few popular options. After completing the creative action each day, you then share that day’s activity, usually on line. Most participants use Instagram, but personal blogs or newsletters are other ways to document progress. This year’s start date for the event is Sunday, February 23.

The project is the original brainchild of famed designer Michael Bierut. He enjoyed a short daily creative ritual of sketching a random photo from the New York Times in his sketchbook. In the late 1990s, he formalized this habit into his syllabus for the graduate-level design class he taught at Yale. Students were required to select and repeat an action for 100-days straight, documenting the results, and creating a presentation of some kind to share with the class during final critique at the end of the semester. Some students presented films, others self-published ‘zines or books, or performed choreography or music. I remember seeing an article he wrote about it in Communication Arts (IIRC) early in the ‘00s.

In 2013, artist Elle Luna re-invented the 100-day project concept by using Instagram as the documentation platform, using the hashtag, #the100dayproject. It immediately became popular, and in 2017, Lindsay Jean Thomson joined Luna in co-facilitating the event. Today, Thomson is the main organizer of the annual challenge.

I wanted to try again this year, but only if I could do something that would really align with my larger goals and focus for this year. The obvious answer would be to just fill out one page in my sketchbook everyday, but I was feeling kinda blah about it, tbh. In the past, I’ve had grandiose notions of thematic projects that would culminate in an art book or a portfolio or. . . You can probably guess that those castles in the air never got built!

Eureka! Inspiration for my version of the 100-day project hiding in a drawer.

Earlier this week, I decided to do a few minutes of drawing, but went looking through my drawers instead. I re-discovered a box of oil pastels that I picked up on deep discount somewhere at least a decade ago, but had never used. Intriguing! The 100-day project event is the perfect organizing bin for having an excuse to explore all those cool supplies I’ve picked up on sale over the years, but have never really made use of because the learning curve seemed too steep, or I couldn’t figure out an immediate way to incorporate them into my art practice.

I’m really excited about participating in the project now. You can look for a brief weekly summary with photos here on Substack. An art pal in California is also planning to participate via her Substack—I’ll link her page once she begins posting.

Are you thinking about doing #the100dayproject this year? What’s your opinion of this type of mass-participation, online, creative challenge—yay! or NAY?

See you Sunday!