P10K: Day Four

An acquaintance of mine died during Hurricane Irene. She didn't die directly from the hurricane--she only didn't wake up from the aftermath of the storm. I am on a neighborhood watch in my neighborhood and I look after 10 elderly women. They range in age from 52 to 92, all of them live alone with the exception of Nina and Daisy Espirito who are sisters (ages 86 and 92). Nina, aged 92, did not wake from her sleep after the hurricane passed through NYC.

I share this situation with you because I wanted to create a two page spread in my personal art journal dedicated to Nina. I wanted to highlight two of her many anecdotes regarding her long and storied live. Normally, I would have fussed and fretted over the layout and many times, it would simply remain in my head. Working on P10K made me realize--art pieces, many times, are works in progress. In other words, Michelangelo performed many drawings and sketches before painting the Sistine chapel. DaVinci painted over previous painting before finalizing a finished portrait. Why would I think that I could produce, instantly, a work of art?


I trace this mentality to my lack of artistic play when I was a child. I never really experimented artistically when I was growing up. Everything had to be a finished, perfect outcome. Coloring outside the lines wasn't permitted, grass was always green, trees had to look like trees or the drawing paper was thrown away. Before P10K, I never would have shared a work in progress--especially, one that I wasn't initially pleased with.





Here is the first rendering of the spread. I like the background colors and textures and I like the quotes that I have chosen to use. I don't like the daisies or the printing on the right side of the page. The beauty of the project is that it isn't completed. I can change it, rearrange it, color over it, add to it. I know that this sounds simple but to me it really is a revelation. I am producing this spread for MY pleasure. I'm not going to sell it, I'm not on a deadline and this isn't a commission. This is for ME. As long as I am pleased with the process of making something that pleases me--then that is the transformative nature of art.

10 minute journal project--2 hours
Nina Espirito layout--2 hours
Blogging--1 hour