Sudbury artist Carmen Martorella has been painting since grade school, but she’s always looking to improve her skills.
So when a friend of hers started a 365-day project, committing to completing one painting a day for a full year, Martorella figured that was a great idea.
“I thought, ‘What better way to become a better artist than to apply yourself daily and make a commitment to yourself that you're going to do it and follow through?’” she said.
“So that's when I started. I said, ‘Yeah, I think I can spare an hour a day’.”
Martorella, the owner of the Art & Soul Gallery in Sudbury’s Uptown neighbourhood, began her Project 365 journey exactly a year ago, Nov. 5, 2024, having shared her daily paintings with followers on Instagram, Facebook, Linkedin and Tik Tok.
She said she thinks she did improve techniques and explore her creativity through the project.
If you’d like to check out the paintings Martorella produced over the past year, she invites you to a celebratory art exhibition Nov. 15-16 from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. at her gallery, located at 6 Baker St., to view all 365 paintings.
Project 365 was a long journey for her, as she painted during her travels to Florida, Nashville, Italy and London. She’s painted on buses, planes and in cars.
Martorella also painted close to home, in Sudbury or at her cottage at Mattagami Lake near Timmins.
She’s painted with pool water and sea water — that “worked OK, but it was granular,” she said — with limited brushes and paint palette. Most of the pieces are watercolour, but some are acrylics, and one piece is even tile art with a sand technique.
Some days Martorella found herself painting at 10 p.m. when she didn’t have enough time during the day. “This was manageable, as long as you plan your day well,” she said. “You have to incorporate it in your day.”
Because large paintings would take too long to complete, all of her Project 365 paintings are five-by-seven inches.
In some cases, Martorella did plein air paintings, while in other cases, she painted from photos — she was always on the lookout for likely subjects.
“I was more out there with my phone and taking pictures of what I saw so I was more aware of my nature and surroundings to see what I could paint,” she said.
Subjects vary, but her very first and one of the latest images are both fall scenes, fittingly, given the time of year she began and is finishing her project. She painted the Blue Jays logo, given the Toronto team’s recent run for the World Series.
Several patriotic images, including not only the Canadian flag, but also maple leaves with a cardinal, deer and loon painted inside, made it into her project.
A couple of winter scenes she painted for Project 365 have actually been selected for the Sudbury Food Bank’s Christmas card fundraiser, which she’s excited about.
Martorella also captured a couple of iconic Sudbury structures under demolition this year — the “rainbow” hospital (the former General) on Paris Street, which was demolished earlier this fall, and the Superstack as it used to appear before a piece was lopped off the top in 2025.
Her favourite painting is of something many of us would consider decidedly unpretty — a rock cut on the Maley Drive extension.
On Boxing Day of 2024, Martorella was in the car with her husband on Maley, and the sunset hit the rock, so she snapped a photo, and later painted the rock using copper acrylic. “It was just beautiful, spectacular,” she said.
Martorella said she wants to challenge other people to do daily painting as well. “Maybe start with a seven-day challenge,” she said. “I find it really is a good exercise in learning, in discipline, in following your passion.”
If you’d like to learn more about Martorella’s art, you can visit her Facebook page or website.
Heidi Ulrichsen is Sudbury.com’s assistant editor. She also covers education and the arts scene.