For the month of October, I created a painting each day that followed the phases of the moon. In the realm of social media, October has prompted artists to do various month long challenges in different mediums. Part of the challenges entail working with certain parameters in place. I knew I wanted to make small works on paper of the same size and offer them at a more accessible price point.
How I settled on the moon I am unsure of; like the best ideas it just came to me and felt like the right thread to follow. I have found it best to not question such moments of inspiration and I usually find myself gazing and admiring at the moon each month anyway. It is something I’ve looked at intently all my life but have painted just a few times.
My mother was the first person to make me aware of the moon in a big way. She would find a story or interaction each month that demonstrated people were acting crazy because of a certain power it had. Throughout my childhood during each full moon, my mom would take us out in our country squire station wagon (yes this one), open the sunroof, then proceed to drive around our neighborhood while insisting we all howl at the moon. I thought this was a completely normal activity until probably middle school where I realized that other families did not do this.
In this month of observation I certainly learned more than I knew previously about the shapes, light, and position of the moon but the biggest takeaway was unrelated to these things. I’ve never depicted a subject matter that was so wildly received by viewers of my paintings. It made me realize that many others too are looking at the sky with the same sense of wonderment throughout the month.
At some point during this project, someone reached out asking me to “claim” a moon to mark an upcoming special occasion. This inquiry was followed by multiple additional requests commemorating birthdays, anniversaries, and special locations. To see people take these small moon paintings and connect it to their own life experiences is really the greatest gift I could have asked for in this.
While most of the moon paintings have sold, there are still a handful available. I will also be offering moon painting commissions ongoing; if you have a special upcoming day that you would like to commemorate you can book a commission at the link below.
