With more than 100 images created since he began his Image a Day blog for Island of Culture 2014, artist Juan Moore reflects on the project’s first four months.
‘The image a day blog has now been up and running since January 1st and is still going strong; recently we hit the 100th image milestone. It's been really interesting to me to see how far-reaching the blog is; not just people from the island are looking at it but it also gets views from all over the world, from the UK and the USA to Bulgaria, Malaysia, Mongolia, China and even as far away as Vanuatu, (which I had to look on the map to find out where it was).
‘The blog also attracts anywhere from around 100 to a high point of 400 views per day; recently the blog hit 13,000 views, which has surpassed my expectations.
‘In terms of producing the artwork every day, it's been surprisingly a lot of fun, My whole artistic career has been based around producing work for sale or for commission, so this project has really been great in that I can experiment and use mediums I wouldn't normally use. The project began in January with paintings, because that's what I've done for the past eight years, but it has moved into mixed media work and printmaking and on to digital artwork, an area I've been interested in for a long while but never had the time to fully explore.
‘People ask me how I come up with an idea every day. Well, there is no easy answer. Sometimes an idea just pops in there; sometimes I'll take a walk or have a bath and I can work something out in my head. Other times I have to start drawing and arrive at an idea through experimenting or doodling; it varies from day to day.
‘I have also visited all of the island’s high schools, where I set up and produced a painting in front of all of the classes that passed through the art department on that particular day. I think it was a success and the students enjoyed it, and I must say the island has some very talented students across all of the high schools.
‘As for where the project goes next, who knows? I'd like to go and produce work at different locations, such as local businesses. I know we have WOSAT (Western Open Studios and Art Trail) coming up in Peel where I will have a stand and be producing an image-a-day artwork there, so if you're about for that, come and say hi.’
Juan Moore:
http://imageadayiom.blogspot.com
