The 100 day project and a return to blogging.

This was going to be my first blog post of 2021. But my previous post took precedence because when I was introduced to Baya Mahedienne’s artwork I was too excited not to write about it immediately! 😊

I’d started writing the draft of this one it at the outset of my latest project, and as a form of announcement, but I procrastinated…. yet again. I seem to do that a lot when it comes to my blog. It’s been such a long time since I blogged anything. Do people even blog anymore? More importantly, do people even read blogs anymore?

When I first started blogging back in 2007 that was the only way to get your work and your word out there. Now it seems everyone’s on social media, so who’s going to read a blog?

To tell you the truth, l unpublished this blog a while ago. I didn’t see the point in keeping it active anymore if I wasn’t publishing anything.

But I’ve been through this dilemma numerous times before. Because it feels like I’m talking to myself. So why blog at all? I don’t know. Sometimes I feel like I just need to get my thoughts out there, for my own sake I guess, a way of sharing something in a different way perhaps to give some meaning to what I do, am doing, or trying to do. A raison d’etre.

So why am I blogging today? Well, after a long dry spell where I haven’t been much inspired to create anything specific I am joining #the100dayproject. Yes, I know I tried doing one before and failed miserably getting to about day 27 or 28 of my 100 portraits challenge. To excuse myself I will say that what began as a small portrait a day became a 4-6 hour – and even sometimes a 2-day portrait painting. A bad move for a 100 challenge. This was during our first lockdown last year in March 2020. I was so incredibly inspired and driven during that time. I had already done a good number of small portraits when Sky Arts’ Portrait Artist of the Year began a weekly 4-hour live sitting on Facebook which was amazing fun but which shifted the energy of my challenge making it more competitive, raising the standard of work I wanted to produce. This resulted in me burning out pretty quickly.

Anyway, to get to the actual point of this blog post, I recently -17 days ago to be precise- joined #the100dayproject with the task I set myself of designing patterns for 100 days based on the Greek alphabet.

I chose this project for a combination of reasons…

α) I love creating patterns
β) I love the Greek language and have always wanted to do something creative with the Greek alphabet and/or words
γ) I get to enrich my portfolio of pattern designs
δ) I get to improve my skills with digital design using Affinity Designer and possibly sometimes Procreate
ε) participating publicly keeps me accountable
ζ) it will be interesting to see how my design skills and style evolve throughout this practice
η) and for the fun of it!

So #the100dayproject took off on the 31st January, whereupon I began with the last letter of the Greek alphabet, Ω (omega). The reason I started with the last letter of the alphabet was that someone visiting my Instagram will see the letters of the alphabet in the correct order when scrolling down – but probably also because the letter Ω is one of my favorite letters 😅

I also started uploading my designs to Spoonflower and Vida. At the moment, however, if you are interested in purchasing fabric with my prints you may contact me. I am also open to licensing and collaborations.

A few of my favourite pattern designs so far:

As a fun side activity I am also selecting a Greek word everyday, according to the letter I have used that day. A few examples follow:

You can follow my progress as I continue on this journey of 100 patterns inspired by the Greek alphabet and words on my Instagram or view my gallery on my website.