Acrylic on Equinox Brewery Paper Coasters
Goal: To create one piece of art each day for 365 consecutive days
A balance of light – sun and moon
One not overreaching the other
Shared time in space
For one long moment
Before a season turns
8 x 24″ Acrylic and ink on paper
Goal: To create one piece of art each day for 365 consecutive days
Connected beams
One atop another
Building their way up
To the sky
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12 x 12″
In order to not completely ruin my old work table, I have been putting scraps of canvas under my cut paper work. The other day I noticed an incredible design that was being created as the x-acto blade marked one of my pieces of gessoed canvas. The pattern was fantastic. I liked it so much, I hoped I could simply stretch the marked up canvas around a frame and call it done. But because I had also cut through it in some areas, this was not possible. So I hung on to the tattered piece, waiting to use it in something else.
Yesterday I pulled out the canvas and created this non-representational piece. The work feels quite different from my typical approach with its geometric, bold red areas, but it has grown on me. I’d like to say I hope to create more of these, but strangely, I haven’t been able to get the marks to show up again.
Original piece available for purchase.
20 x 36 (I think. Need to double check the height when I get back to the studio). Acrylic on canvas
It’s interesting to look back on life and all the things we’ve experienced and chosen to do. Sometimes the direction we take is well thought out and planned. Other times it is spontaneous as we roll with the punches and perks of life. In one step we move left, and in the next right. Some of us know where we are headed. Others of us are simply there to enjoy the ride.
Of the thousands of paths to choose from, somehow we all make our way.
Original work available for purchase.
Goal: To create a piece of art each day for 365 consecutive days
The elephant wasn’t as big as she’d imagined he’d be. She wasn’t sure if this was due to the elephant actually being somewhat small for a pachyderm, or if the room was overly large. Either way, it was a pleasant surprise. A small elephant in the room seemed much more manageable than a large one.
Original painting is available for purchase.
11 x 14″ Acrylic on paper
She was born to perform. Give her a song she’ll sing it, a line and she’ll act it. Dress her in a red tutu and watch her flit across the stage. It is something to behold – watching her imagination play out. The world, it is clear, is her stage.
Both a print and original of this piece are available for purchase. Please contact me micah@azzlsoft.com if you’re interested.
Goal: To create one piece of art each day for 365 consecutive days
I happily dug into my stash of Sierra Nevada paper coasters, again, to create day 71’s work. To begin the piece, I taped the coasters together, similar to day 48. I’m a fan of this process for a few reasons:
1. When you lay the finished squares together, you see a larger work
2. Each individual square is its own little work of art
3. I really, for some odd reason, like the leftover marks from where I pull the tape off.
This coaster making go-round, I opted for a bright pink and orange color palette. Using my trusty ink pen I drew some foliage, and added a smidge of green to complete the piece. I really dig the work and think beer pints are going to feel right at home on these bold little guys.
On a somewhat separate note, I found out that coating the coasters with varnish is a great way to make them last. So I am making a bunch of new sets, which I’ll have to share when I get finished. I’m also starting to make prints of the originals. The slideshow has an example of one of the prints on a ceramic coaster tile – although it’s a wee bit hard to see w/the glass on top of it…
Original piece available for sale at https://www.etsy.com/listing/103992812/pinks-and-oranges-mixed-media-originalsCoasters using prints of this design also available https://www.etsy.com/listing/103999594/pinks-and-oranges-printed-coasters
14 x 42″ Acrylic on canvas
Since this whole, making art every day for a year thing started, I’ve barely put brush to canvas. For day 65’s work though, I pulled out the acrylics with an aim to create a large scale abstracted piece.Two things in particular inspired the work:
1. I recently sold one of my favorite pieces. I LOVE that this happened, but the bare wall where it once hung seems, well, really bare. I was missing the work a wee bit and so it felt good to create something with a repeated circle pattern:
2. I really liked day 64’s delicate little piece. There was something about the stippling-esque approach that appealed to me. I wanted to explore something similar, on a larger scale.
I gotta say, I am super happy with the way this puppy turned out. It combines both painterly and drawerly (made up word) approaches.
Side Note: Some of you have wondered if I actually get these big pieces done in one day. The answer is sometimes. I started this one late Sunday afternoon, worked on it all day yesterday and put finishing touches on it this a.m. I create smaller pieces as well on those days to use as my daily work.
This piece available for purchase at https://www.etsy.com/listing/103540907/foliage-and-dew-abstraction-acrylic or by contacting micah@azzlsoft.com
~5.75 x 2 x 3″ Mixed Media
Goal: To create one work of art each day for 365 consecutive days
As I was piddling around, trying to figure out what in the heck I was going to create for day 43’s project, I decided to turn on a Ted talk. I chose a presentation by Frans de Waal titled Moral Behavior in Animals. The talk seemed pretty interesting and chimps, which always promise to be adorable, were going to have a role in it.
De Waal had lots of good info, but what stuck with me most was a very minor piece about yawn contagion. Turns out that those contagious yawns we experience are partly due to people being empathetic. De Waal presented a study proving that chimps are not immune to contagious yawns either, helping to prove that they too experience empathy. I was amazed by the whole idea.
I began looking for images of yawning people and came across a picture of a yawning baby. It turns out, that while babies yawn, they don’t experience contagious yawning. This fact got me thinking about the relationship between human and chimp. I wanted to explore the idea of adult chimps being more human than humans at certain stages of life- at least in terms of morality.
This piece available for purchase at or by emailing me at micah@azzlsoft.com
8.5 x 11″ mixed media on cardboard
Goal: To create one work of art each day for 365 consecutive days
I am a titch obsessed with the smell of wildfires. I like to think I have an amazing sense for detecting them via snout. In fact, I would go so far to say my uncanny ability is as near to a super power as one can get. That is why I was shocked to see smoke from an 8,000 acre fire burning outside of Ft. Collins yesterday, long before I smelled it. I fear my super power is deteriorating. But don’t worry, I’m pretty sure I can replace it with another if needed.
For day 42’s piece I used black and red as homage to the smoke and fire taking over the hills outside of Fort Collins. I wound leaves and roots through what made me think of a red, plinko-like design created by painting bubble wrap and pressing it onto cardboard.
This work available for purchase at https://www.etsy.com/listing/101823707/plinko-acrylic-painting or by emailing me at micah@azzlsoft.com
Micah Richardson 