Oftentimes we artists put too much stock in inspiration.  We wait patiently for it to grace us with its presence in order to do our creative work, and we forget that inspiration favors the disciplined and those who show up every day to work.  In his excellent little inspirational book The War of Art, Steven Pressfield quotes Somerset Maugham who said,  “I write only when inspiration strikes. Fortunately it strikes every morning at 9 o’clock sharp.”

 The annual Fun-A-Day project challenges artists, musicians, designers, and otherwise creative folks to produce a piece of work every day for the month of January, then show their projects to the world when the month is complete.  The idea was first conceptualized in Philadelphia by the Art Clash Collective, but since the first show in 2004, over twenty other cities have organized their own community Fun-A-Day projects and group shows.  The Philadelphia Fun-A-Day show will be on display at Studio 34 this Friday and Saturday, February 10-11 but Tim Gibbon (check out his Side Arts artist profile, too!) was kind enough to give us all a sneak peek of his project!

Last year Tim made 31 gouache paintings for his Fun-A-Day project, but this year he wanted to take the opportunity to try something new.  He was inspired by a friend of his who did a die cut project and married the idea of making die cuts with his past experience wheatpasting gig posters.  Tim expressed his desire to help spruce up some of Philly’s more bleak and neglected areas with his project.  “I liked the idea of a doily being used to cover something up,” he told me, and thus his wheatpasted die cut doily project was born.

On the last Sunday in January, I tagged along with Tim as he wheatpasted hand cut paper doilies around our neighborhood in West Philly – yes, we discovered we’re practically neighbors!   As soon as I saw the pile of doilies in the backseat of his car, I was reminded of the classic art project of cutting out paper snowflakes.  And with that in mind, I next imagined Tim’s floor covered by the tiny snowflakes of paper that were cut away from the negative space!

Tim quickly pasted a few doilies in spaces he’d already scoped out along Baltimore Avenue before heading towards Market Street.  As we drove, we looked for more good walls. “The perfect wall is an eyesore in need of a little beautification,” he explained.  Color is also a consideration because the white doilies need the contrast of a darker background in order to pop.

In between pasting a large doily near the El, I asked Tim if he were normally a disciplined person.  He paused and then laughed, “No, not at all!  That’s why I like Fun-A-Day.  It gives you motivation and imposes structure.”  As we chatted further, Tim remarked that Fun-A-Day was also fun (if you will) because “it’s not intimidating.  I have a lot of friends who aren’t artists but still participate.”

At the end of the run, Tim was looking for a home for one last cut out of the repeating phrase “MORE LOVE“, a new die cut version of a design he has wheatpasted before.  We pulled over to take a closer look at a possible wall, but it seemed recently painted or at least like someone was taking care of it, so Tim decided to pass.  As he put his car back in drive, a cop car pulled up beside us, and the officers rolled down their window to ask what we were doing.  Tim explained that he was working on a neighborhood beautification project and hanging up some doilies he made.  The officer replied, “Well, ya’ll need to be making a lot more of those, then!”  We wished them a good day and chuckled as they drove off.

“I’ve never had a problem,” he said.  “People are usually happy to see what I’m doing.”  We both agreed, though, that if he had been using any spray paint, the officers most likely would not have been so lenient.  “I thought about making some stencils for my project, but decided against it,” Tim added, which is a good thing or else his Fun-A-Day project might have cost a lot more than some Xacto blades and hand cramps.

Seeing Tim’s project in action got me so excited to see more of the work created during Fun-A-Day this year, so I know you all must also be looking forward to the opening of the show at Studio 34!  Hop on the 34 trolley this Friday night (February 10) and say hello to me, Tim, and many more creative folks from 7PM to 11PM.  OR stop by on Saturday (February 11) at 5:30PM for a special open mic reading and 7:30PM to 11PM for the main event.