The 100 Muses Project
And the Gift of Art.
I believe the end of a year does a funny thing to our minds. We begin to reflect on where our time has gone in the past 300 and something days while we dig in our closet for our favorite sweater and that pair of fuzzy socks that we are sure still have their match.
Maybe it's just me, but something tells me I am not alone in this. It has happened to me pretty much every year of my adult life.
And last year was not the exception. So as fall started to wind down and the streets began covering themselves with oak leaves, my mind started mulling over past projects I had started and never finished. I wondered if it was time I picked up the brush again and finished another piece, perhaps a big canvas, or a set of canvas panels that I could later frame and cover a wall with. It went like that for a few weeks until I finally decided to listen to the voices in my head. Pun intended.
And I sat down, pen and paper in hand, and wrote all the ideas, all the possible projects, and so forth.
Like I mentioned before, the end of a year started playing tricks on me, and I started to consider just moving on, forgetting about the entire thing, and simply enjoying the holidays.
But that was not the answer. And I know this because the calling got louder and louder until it finally took shape in my mind. It was time to make my 100 Mini Paintings Project.
Just to give you a little context for this: back in the day, when I was painting daily and exhibiting my work around my area, actively entering contests, and selling at craft shows all the time, I always wanted to make a collection of 100 mini paintings. Even to this day it is hard to explain why, but I guess I just wanted to see 100 paintings done by me all together.
At that time, my best sellers were chicken and hen paintings, so I thought about painting 100 chickens. That would have been fantastic. But this time I was coming back to my practice after a 10-year hiatus, and I just didn't feel like painting 100 chickens anymore.
So I decided to paint what I like most, and that is women and flowers. But I wanted this to be something special, so after lots of consideration, the project finally took shape in my brain, and the 100 Muses Project was born.
The concept behind the project, and the motivation really, was that the original paintings were not to be sold. Instead, I wanted to give them as Christmas gifts to women in my family, friends, and my community.
This project really excited me. It got me out of bed at 5:30 a.m. every morning to paint before the day got busy. My goal was to finish all 100 pieces before Christmas, so I had about six weeks to do this.
As always, I underestimated how much work this was going to be, and it was a bit exhausting if I am honest. But it also was exhilarating, and I was filled with curiosity. I wondered every single time I cracked open a new canvas who this one was going to go to, where this woman was at that moment, and if she was going to like the gift.
I cut it close, but I finished the same week of Christmas, and I was able to go and visit friends I hadn't seen in years, and to see the tears in my sister's eyes when she opened her door and I told her she was one of my muses.
As these little moments started piling up day after day, I knew that I had made the right choice and that The 100 Muses Project was not just an art project. It was a message of hope and love for the 100 recipients.
Something I was not really expecting was the messages I started getting from strangers who had received a muse during my outings around town, where I approached strangers in grocery store parking lots and gifted them a muse.
One in particular still gives me chills to think about.
I received an email from a man who wanted to let me know that his wife, who was suffering from stage 4 cancer, arrived home from the grocery store with a big smile on her face that day. When he asked why, she showed him the small painting she was holding in her hands and happily told him that an artist had approached her and gifted her the painting, and that it had made her very happy.
He wanted me to know that my gesture was well received and had made his wife's day.
I also gave away one mini painting from the collection on my TikTok account as a thank-you gift to one follower to celebrate my first 1,000 followers.
The girl who won the painting later messaged me to tell me that she had been scrolling when my post appeared on her screen. I was asking if anyone wanted to participate in the giveaway, and all they had to do was tell me in the comments the name of their favorite flower.
She said she had to stop and write "sunflowers" because it was her birthday month, and her late brother always sent her sunflowers for her birthday. She said she was missing him a lot.
She won the giveaway, and I was amazed when I realized that, while choosing which painting to send her, I had picked one of the few paintings with sunflowers.
This project has really changed the way I see art, creativity, and inspiration.
I firmly believe now that art is not just pretty things one hangs on the wall. Art is a way to communicate feelings, to remember precious memories, and to make our lives richer and a little brighter.
I now create with intention, with purpose, with the receiver in mind, and I thank God every day for the gift of art.
I've turned this precious collection into art prints. You can browse the collection here and pick the muse that speaks to you. BROWSE THE 100 MUSES PROJECT COLLECTION HERE