This project just came about. The last few years I have done a 100 day project beginning on my birthday. This year I was expecting to do a 100 day project while away, beginning two days after my birthday when I woke up on Maui. It turned out that away was not going to happen anytime in the near future, so I needed a new project. 100 Sunrises on Maui was not going to work in Ottawa. I had asked around for ideas from friends before settling on sunrises, but someone else had suggested squares of chocolate. That felt good to me, but taking 100 squares of chocolate to Maui, that didn’t seem like a good plan. So when Maui wasn’t going to happen I went back to the idea of 100 squares of chocolate.
I am fairly certain the friend who suggested the idea was suggesting I eat a square of chocolate every day for 100 days. That seemed a bit too…. boring for me. My usual 100 day project is a bit more artsy than that.
So I thought on it. Really there wasn’t much time to think as my birthday was fast approaching, like in a few days, so I needed a plan. Looking around my house to see what I had, since COVID-19 was closing stores and making me not want to shop, I had to come up with something I could easily do over 100 days.
Then it came to me. Chocolate Squares. But not just the chocolate part of the chocolate bar, a square of the chocolate wrapper. It could be a tasting project and an art project combined. Whoa. But how?
So, mulling it over in my mind I finally decided on the basics. A square of the packaging the chocolate bar came in, with a piece of the chocolate. So everyday I would choose a bar of chocolate, choose a square from its wrapper, and taste the chocolate making tasting notes as I go.
Sure. Sounds like a plan. Let’s make it 365 days instead of 100, because why not? There should be time! (Though if I do travel to Maui within the next year, I am not sure what I will do, but I will cross that bridge if and when it presents itself.)
So there it was 365 Chocolate Squares #365ChocolateSquaresCC, and ta da, off we go on a year long art project. Eeek!
I started the project March 21, 2020. Even then I still wasn’t 100% sure how I wanted it to move forward. My partner had picked up a canvas, that was a bit bigger than I had expected, and I ordered some more paint. I waited until the weather was nice and painted on a sunny day when the windows could be opened wide. I went with a brown as a base and ironically, it is called Chocolate Therapy. Funny eh?
Then day one came. I chose a bar. Figured out how big the squares should be. Cut out a square. Took a few photos, trying to decide just how I wanted to document this project. Ate my square of chocolate. Took tasting notes. Done.
Oh, wait. 364 more days to go.
Over the first week I smoothed out the details. I realized a 2 inch by 2 inch square was too big for some packaging of chocolate. So, 1.5 x 1.5 inches was also added. I debated smaller but its not fun if you can’t see anything. I cut out squares in a piece of card stock to help me see and choose which piece of the wrapper to use. I made squares of cardboard to trace the right sizes. I took hubby’s scissors because they cut better. All in the name of art.
I had thought I was going to put the squares onto the canvas in the order I ate them, in nice straight rows, measuring as I went. Cutting the squares made me realise they are all a bit unique in shape. Some materials cut way better than others. My initial plan of using an Exacto knife and a ruler? Not so idea on a folded box that I may not want to flatten and take apart. Also, those pencil lines, sometimes I needed to trim a little extra so you would not see the line or an indentation.
So now what?
My artsy side cried out for random. No plan, just paste them as I go. Let my eyes and hands decide the right place on the canvas for each piece. So, going with my gut, that is what I decided on. No structure!
I ordered glue, and waited, and waited, and waited for it to arrive. It finally arrived and then sat in the house a few days before I would open the box, because COVID-19!
Yay, I could finally put the squares onto the canvas. But that part I am going to leave for my next post.
I will however leave you with a peak at the canvas, well a piece of it, it is a pretty big canvas.
I’ve created a page on my website that will have a weekly update on the project. I’m really excited at how it is looking, and I can’t wait to see it evolve over the year.
You can always head over to IG where I post photos of its progress that often show up in my stories or to check out the highlight reel there #365ChocolateSquaresCC.