Doug Rutherford

Well, another 24 Hour Play Writing Challenge, hosted by Nakai Theatre, is over. By my count, this is my tenth.

I approach these with the same outlook, namely that I’m never going to make as much progress as I planned. Frankly, expecting to write a complete play in such a short period of time is unrealistic. I have written first drafts and frameworks for plays in that time, and have often used the event to edit existing works in the mill.

This was my approach this time around. As per usual, I did not accomplish everything I had hoped, although I did manage to complete a full first draft. Much of the draft is pretty rough, needing some additional dialogue as well as having some removed. More importantly, there was a transition that I have be agonizing over for months. At 4 AM, the way to make this just clicked and, if there were no other benefits of the Challenge, this made it worthwhile by itself. In short, I think this year was a success.

I hit a bit of a milestone today. I never really thought it would go this far, but I did the 100th painting of the day this morning.

I suspect that I, like many, didn’t think the lock down for COVID19 would last any real length of time. But, it, and the activity I chose to fill it, has gone on. It probably will for some considerable time.

I spent the last two days wondering what I would do for the 100th one, and decided to paint one of my favourite places. This is Mount Vanier at Kusawa Lake. It is plainly visible from the campground, craggy and textured, and appears different throughout the day as the light changes. I picked a picture I shot in late evening in August of 2016.

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Several people have asked me about my social media postings on doing a painting a day. Here’s a bit of an explanation.

The Coronavirus lock down and physical distancing has led us to trying to find activities to keep ourselves busy. The stress and uncertainty have played havoc with the mental health of most of us.

A friend, who is a professional artist, attacked this problem and challenged herself to paint a small (4×6 or 5×7) watercolour each day.

The challenge intrigued me, so I decided I’d give it a try.

Before we go much further, I will preface this with the following disclaimer: I am not a professional artist, and have only been painting, after a 45-year break from oil painting, since December. My wife is highly allergic to fumes, so I decided to try paining in watercolour instead.  I’ve had two lessons.

My hope was that this would give me some structure to this time and allow me to improve my skills.

I decided to try to do a local painting every day.

I have missed a few days, but not many. Sometimes, you just don’t feel up to it, given the current situation. Lately, the siren call of nice weather and a backlog of yard work has interfered.

So, I hit my photo collection and started painting. Yes, some have been duds, but some have turned out nicely.

I’ve had to turn to internet pictures for additional details when my shots didn’t have what I needed. Some local photographers have also been kind enough to allow me to do one of their photos when I found the subject interesting and didn’t have a photo of my own.

This little project has had a few benefits:

• I usually need something to do, or I will get into trouble. Idle hands are the devil’s toolbox and I’ve managed to stay out of mischief… so far.
• I am getting rather good a fixing my painting mistakes, because I have made more than my fair share.
• I have made it a point to learn the actual names of some of the mountains I’ve just taken for granted. In a reverse of how it seems to work, I’ve even managed to learn the English name of a mountain I only knew by its Tutchone one.
• Most of these are not finished. Some could use touching up or adding a bit more detail, but I can get to that later.
• Most importantly, of the places I’ve lived, this is the easiest place to find a beautiful piece of scenery to paint every day. We are lucky to live here.

My paintings can all be seen on Instagram, @doug.rutherford.

I don’t know how long this challenge, or these circumstances, will last (so far, I’ve done 89 paintings). But, if the lock down has gotten you down, you can find something to pass the time. Just do something you enjoy. You don’t have to great at it. I’m proof.

I have been reasonably busy painting recently. A friend decided to do a small painting a day as something for structure during the COVID-19 lockdown. I decided to follow suit. Here’s a few.