Hello, and welcome to The Painted Presence. I’m Effy Wild and as with MOST of my creations, this one was born out of equal parts desperation and inspiration.
Let me explain.
In early October of 2025, I had a retinal detachment in the only good eye I have left, and as you can imagine that sent me into a bit of a spiral. I’ve had surgery, and the detachment has been repaired, but while I recovered, I needed to retrain my brain to stop seeing all the artifacts (the scar, the floaters, etc.) that were crowding my field of vision. The very best way to do that is to use your eyes as you normally would, but with breaks.
Ten minutes is about the right amount of time to be focusing on something during this “retraining” period, and that, my loves, is how The Painted Presence Project was born.
What It Is
The Painted Present Project is a thirty day challenge wherein I will paint *in silence* on the same substrate for thirty days in November of 2025.
Every day, I’ll float into my studio with a cup of tea, light a candle, and make some marks for ten minutes. No more, no less. And because I am a neurospicy person who has difficulty with silence, I’ve decided to go the extra mile with this and do this *in silence*.
This site will start its life as a record of that experience. After the experiment is over? Who knows what it will become.
Folks who are in my classes over on Into The Wild (my teaching network) or Patreon are getting video content every day throughout the course of this challenge. Folks who are subscribed to my YouTube channel will be getting video updates weekly or so. There may be stuff going up on TikTok. There will definitely be posts going up on Instagram.
If you are up for a challenge and you want to join me, I’ve got you, fam! Here’s the project PDF which contains everything you need to know to join in.
Find all The Painted Presence Project Studio Diaries Posts Below
Ta Da Day!
Well, I did it. Thirty days of painting in silence for ten minutes each day with no pressure to finish the painting. And it’s a good thing there was no pressure to finish, because she is, indeed, unfinished. 🙂 Thankfully, I’ve carved out some time this…
MORE GALAXY!
It’s clear to me on this, the twenty-ninth day of the project that our girl will NOT be finished on the 30th, which is fine, because a finished painting wasn’t the point! Today was all about making some moves I wanted to make TOWARD finishing without…
Just A Little Touch
Today was one of those “I know what I’m doing here, and I have a list the length of my arm to slay because it’s MONTH END omgDOOOOOOM, so I’m just going to take a few deep breaths and get it done.” days. I have to say, I haven’t had…
Leave Tomorrow A Wee Prezzie
Today had a way less “don’t ask me, I just work here” vibe than the first couple of weeks of this practice, and much more of an “I know exactly what’s next, let’s heckin’ go!” vibe. And I’m loving it. Let me explain. 🙂 Yesterday’s move to black out some of the…
Making Space
Confidence, I’m learning, is cumulative. The risk you take one day (like yesterday’s massive changes to the face) builds the courage you need for the next, or at least, that seems to be what arose for me since today, I felt truly emboldened by yesterday’s choices. I’m…
Know That You Know Things
NOTE: I had a hella busy schedule yesterday and while I painted for ten minutes, the rest (editing the video for Patreons, writing the post, taking screen shots of the process) fell through the cracks of SO MUCH TO DO. There will be a second post later today with Day…
The Forward Nudge
DAY TWENTY-FOUR The hardest part of a creative practice like this one can be showing up day after day, especially if you, like me, have pushed yourself beyond what you’d normally do. Sue commented on this yesterday on Patreon, asking me if I’d have stopped by now if…
Connection > Rushing
We all have days that start with the “LET’S GET THIS OVER WITH” energy. When external deadlines like a live class, a big appointment, or a messy house are pressing, the drive is to rush through your creative practice just to tick off the items on the…
Pavlov’s Painter
There’s been a bit of an intentional pivot in the way I talk about my process here and on my socials, because I noticed that I was getting swept up in the “omgdoom” of it all (which, fair, right? Because omgdoom is VALID right now). I’ve…
Devotion Is In The Details
DAY TWENTY-ONE I hope, if you’re following along, that you’re seeing a pattern emerge here. Not every day requires a massive act of chaos or a dramatic breakthrough. Some days, the deepest, most powerful work is quiet, and I’ve slipped easily and…