As a girl of 7, Kathryn Hempel wrote a note to herself that she never forgot.
I want to be an artist and paint the sites of the world.
But a busy life as a film editor, partner in an international company, wife and mother of two children kept Hempel from pursuing art on a regular basis.
Then as a sort of New Year’s resolution, Hempel made another very public declaration.
I want to create a piece of art every day for a year.
On July 2, the half-year mark, Hempel will have made good on the resolution she shared with friends on Facebook.
“Someone said an audacious goal is a good one,” said Hempel. “I love resolutions. I don’t always keep them.”
On this one, she is making good.
She started with a painting on Jan. 1, but the idea of spending a part of each day creating did not occur to her until the next day, when she completed another painting. She posts her work each day on Facebook with a growing number of followers tracking her progress.
Hempel’s work has covered a range of styles, from meditative line studies to journalistic records of her days.
Her family is supportive and even nag her a bit when it’s getting late in the day and she has yet to work on her art.
“Sometimes it’s like 11:30 and I’ll say, ‘Mom, what are you going to do?'” said her daughter, Daisy Warner.