OhMyGoodnessThisChallenge. At the beginning of June, I'd just come back from Hawaii, and the thought of doing 30 watercolors in 30 days seemed a fantastic way to get warmed up for the Urban Sketchers symposium in Porto.

So I started off strong -- *really* strong -- and then the doldrums set in. I found myself fishing for ways to make the challenge more interesting: using up random papers from my studio like Yupo...





...finding inspiration on television...



...even painting while riding in M.'s cargo bike.





Let's be real: I was bored.

But I kept trying.



And as the 30th drew near, I came up with lots of excuses not to paint. And then yesterday it all came pouring out. With a waterbrush, in the car:



At a cafe:



From photos:











Until I did, finally, make it to 30.

What I (re)learned through this challenge: (1) I get bored easily. Look! A bird! (2) I'm super competitive. (3) I procrastinate like a boss. (4) And when the deadline looms, I get it done.

Thank you Marc, Suhita, Liz, Uma, and Anne-Laure for putting me through this (excruciating) (awesome) month. I am truly grateful.