60 Paintings in 30 Days. Whose Bright Idea Was That?
What happened when Chris and I decided to make more time for painting — and accidentally gave ourselves a third full-time job.
Chris and I are both artists at heart, but finding time to paint purely for ourselves isn’t as easy as you’d think.
Chris works a full-time job, and my days disappear into preparing for painting classes, updating our website, staffing the local gallery, packing orders, and wrestling with social media algorithms.
We both kept saying we wanted to paint more. And we both kept saying we’d start tomorrow. You know how that goes.
So we made a deal: paint one original 8x10 painting every single day for 30 days. Thirty paintings each. Sixty altogether.
And just to make sure we couldn’t quietly abandon ship on Day 4, we announced it to everyone on social media.
Ahhh, the magic of public accountability. 😂
The Painting Wasn’t the Hardest Part
Coming up with a new painting concept every 24 hours was tough—about every three days we’d look at each other and ask whose ridiculous idea this was.
But painting every day? We loved that part.
What caught us off guard was the production routine behind the scenes. We weren't just painting; we were balancing a tripod for filming, hoping it wouldn't flop mid-reveal into a wet canvas, editing clips, writing captions, and posting every single day.
Some days I was wiping oil paint off my knuckles twenty minutes before a video was scheduled to go live. Nothing turns a relaxing creative session into an Olympic sprint quite like a daily posting deadline!
Chris is a natural in front of the lens. Me? I used to freeze up trying to talk about my own art on camera. But after a few days of bloopers and Chris doing his absolute best to crack me up mid-take, I stopped taking myself so seriously.
When a follower commented, "Y'all are a hoot!" I took it as a badge of honor.
Apparently, Creativity Likes Constraints
One of my biggest takeaways? Creativity thrives when you stop overthinking and just pick up a brush.
There were days I’d walk over to my easel with zero plan. I’d lay down a glowing sky, and suddenly the canvas would call for a sharp mountain ridge, an enchanted evergreen line, or a secluded barn hidden in the trees.
Working wet-on-wet is incredibly freeing that way—if a mountain doesn't feel right, you literally blend it out and turn it into a mist-covered hill.
Chris paints with that same bold momentum. One afternoon, he mixed leftover paint sitting on his palette—lavender, Indian Yellow, and titanium white—and turned what could have been waste into one of the most stunning winter mountain scenes of the entire challenge.
The Puppy, the Apples, and Progress Over Perfection
Life didn't pause for our 30-day challenge.
Our puppy routinely demanded attention in the middle of intricate brushwork. And then came the day an entire bushel of fresh apples arrived at our door, needing to be turned into homemade BBQ sauce immediately.
Yes, BBQ sauce. In the middle of an art challenge.
I cheated a little that day and used an 8x10 canvas I’d finished right before the challenge started. And guess what? Nobody called the art police. Nobody demanded an audit of Day 18.
Progress, not perfection. That’s a lesson worth keeping long after the paint dries.
A Little Wild. A Lot Bright.
By the end of the month, our studio walls were completely covered in 60 fresh 8x10 oil paintings—glowing night skies, vibrant autumn trees, wild rivers, and magical landscapes full of light and color.
When I paint, I want to capture that feeling of enchanted wonder in nature—the kind of view that makes you stop in your tracks. Chris wants his pieces to bring instant joy and bright energy into a room.
And seeing the comments from people saying a canvas reminded them of a childhood road trip or their grandparents' farm proved that art does something magic: it brings a little piece of wonder right into your home.
Explore the Wild & Bright Collection
All 60 original 8x10 oil paintings from our 30-day adventure are officially live on the website!
Each piece is a one-of-a-kind original, painted by hand right here in our Tennessee studio, and ready to hang. Plus, we’re offering free worldwide shipping on every single original canvas to make bringing art home completely stress-free.
👉 Shop the Wild & Bright Collection Here →
Thanks for following along, laughing through the bloopers with us, and supporting our studio.
And if we ever announce another 30-day challenge... please remind me about the apples.
Anna & Chris