I'm a painter from Richmond, Virginia. In December of 2004 I decided to make a painting everyday. I made a cigar box easel and carried it with me everywhere I went. When I saw something interesting I would stop to paint it. When the painting was done, I would post to my blog which, at the time, was titled A Painting a Day. My subjects were often everyday scenes which is to say they ranged from the whimsical to the sublime. For me, painting is a meditation on the extraordinary in the ordinary and on the alchemy between paint and subject. Annie Dillard's wonderful book Pilgrim at Tinker Creek was an inspiration for this blog. She wrote:

"There are many things to see, unwrapped gifts and free surprises. The world is fairly studded and strewn with pennies cast broadside by a generous hand. But- and this is the point- who gets excited by a mere penny? If you follow one arrow, if you crouch motionless on a bank to watch a tremulous ripple thrill on the water and are rewarded by the sight of a muskrat paddling from its den, will you count that sight a chip of copper only, and go on your rueful way? It is dire poverty indeed when a man is so malnourished and fatigued that he won't stoop to pick up a penny. But if you cultivate a healthy poverty and simplicity, so that finding a penny will literally make your day, then, since the world is in fact planted in pennies, you have with your poverty bought a lifetime of days. It is that simple. What you see is what you get."

I made a painting each day from 12/10/2004 to 4/1/2006. After that time I started making them less frequently. There may sometimes be a long space between posts as I prepare a group of paintings to present together. I will revisit doing a painting a day in the future. Most of the paintings here are postcard-sized oil paintings which I auction on eBay.

See my press blog for more information about A Painting a Day, or read some of my posts about it here.

Enjoy!

Duane