"So Why Exactly Are You Doing This?" Hot 100: Completion!!

Every have this thought?...

"Why am I doing this?"

How does it usually turn out?  

For me, it is usually a pre cursor to some sort of regret.  (A residual of catholic education perhaps? Probably not but who really knows?  Maybe another non-art blog topic but not here, not now)  Suffice it to say, I think we all ask that when the success (and/or legality, morality, etc) of what we are doing is in doubt.

But NOT today. This is a celebration of success!

So, what is it I actually did that I am so happy about accomplishing and more importantly why should you care?
I just completed my HOT 100, or actually 103 to be exact.  Woo-hoo! If someone told me that I would make 100 paintings in a summer even just last May I would have bet against it, especially since I was becoming a stranger to my own studio.

Better yet, I think I also figured out some ways to generalize my strategies to do it again and in a way that others can use them too.  I want to remember not just the why but also the how so I can do it again!

Today's Stretch Goal to Tomorrow's Reachable Goal
(Stretch=intense attempt   Reachable=challenging   Comfort=some effort)

C'mon man,  almost there...

Well in this case, I am delighted to have a positive outcome and learned some cool stuff about producing and promoting my paintings along the way.  I just completed a stretch goal that frankly I was not certain I would meet (of course that is what makes it a s-t-r-e-t-c-h in the first place.  If I didn't want stretch, I would have called my series the "Hot 15" or something else as lame and uninspiring as that.)

Even better and more lasting, I learned some things along the way that will inform my art production to do it again as a reachable goal thereby making room for my next stretch goal. 

Sorry if I am sounding like a teacher, it's because I am one.

Thankfully, being the dorky teacher that I am, while working in my tiny, tiny studio I took notes that are great to refer to now.  I will use them and my new body of work to come up with some written explanations and ideas about Hot 100 to take this to my next level of stretch goals.

Meanwhile I will be posting these insights here to fine tune, firm up and clarify my ideas with the hope that some of it may inform your creative process whether it is in the garden, kitchen, wood shop, office or sewing room.

Best, Kathy