The Van Gogh Challenge

70 Card Pickup, Anyone?

My Instagram and Facebook followers have had a taste of this already, but here’s the full scoop.

I’m doing an online 70 day Art Challenge hosted by mixed-media artist Kelly Hoernig.

This challenge is inspired by a story of Vincent Van Gogh creating 70 paintings in 70 days. 

Kelly Hoernig has offered this challenge as an online course running from May 15th through July 23rd. 

For $10 you can sign up to receive a creative prompt for each of the 70 days, and to share your results in a private online group to see what others come up with.  You also get access to exclusive videos and other goodies. 

You can use any medium you wish. Take only 15-20 minutes a day, and make something.

The key is to get the creative juices flowing and 

keep at it every day.

As you know, I have already committed to doing a collage a day for the entire year. 

By doing small collages for this challenge, I can do two challenges at once! 

(Can I get some extra credit for that?)

I'm no stranger to a daily art practice, so I decided to keep this one small and manageable. 

I'll be doing my tiny daily collages on the backs (or fronts) of playing cards.

I prepped a bunch of cards with a base layer of paint so that I can jump right into the collage each morning without having to wait for paint to dry. 

We are on Day 18, and I have my first 17 collages to share. 

Here's where I started… 

The prompts for days 1 through 8:

Circles

Brush

Yellow

Cup

Heart

Salt

Create

Neutral

I'm backing the little collages with my business card. It's the perfect size, and gives the collage a little extra reinforcement.

And here's how far I've come…

House

This little house of cards has a door and windows that open, revealing the back of the card as well as what's inside.

Feather

The feather is from my Hispaniola Amazon (an endangered parrot) named Kuka. My parents got her when they lived in the Dominican Republic, and she is over 50 years old.

Pencil

I went for pencil skirts! 

The skirts are cut from fabric, paper, and recycled paintings; the legs are from the web.

Purple

A mini color chart mixing teal and violet, getting all the shades in between.

Pot

Did you think I was going to paint pots and pans?

Stamp

Samples from my stamp collection, and a cut paper postmark. 

The word "stamp" is stamped on, naturally.

Soft

I used the soft color names of these glass tiles. 

The tiles themselves are hard, creating a little conceptual contrast.

Wish

A hand-drawn dandelion.

White

A three-dimensional collage spray-painted white.

For more info on Kelly Hoernig, she has lots of great courses and videos on her website. She teaches bookmaking and altered book classes, nature drawing and painting, collage, and mixed media art. You can still join in on this 70 day challenge. Check her out and sign up for her blog to get news about upcoming projects.

I'm sharing my 70 days of mini collages on my Instagram and Facebook. 

Follow me to see more updates on this challenge and all my other creative endeavors.