The 100-Day Project: Art as Postpartum Self-Care

March 8 2026 - The official start of my very first 100 day art practice.

Did I just have a baby a week before deciding to starting this art commitment? The answer is yes.

Is this a good time to be taking on another new commitment in my life? Also yes.

You might be asking me- Shouldn’t you be simplifying your life while in this season of change? Perhaps… but hear me out on why I think postpartum is the perfect time to take on a 100 day art practice. And if you're also in a season where 'new commitments' feel impossible, here is why I'm considering doing it and you could too! 

This decision was rooted in wanting to establish some postpartum self-care that will be low effort but high reward. 

There’s something that’s well known in the motherhood world called the “fourth trimester”. Essentially it is the first three months after you give birth to a baby.

According to whattoexpect.com “The fourth trimester is a period with drastic physiologic changes related to the body's return to its nonpregnant state” 

My first experience in the fourth trimester with my first son back in 2023 was really tough on my mental health. The combination of hormonal changes, lack of sleep, steep learning curve of motherhood, physical healing and all the changes my body went through, sent me into a period of high highs and low lows. There was no familiarity or feeling of normalcy in sight. It was a very disorienting season of life, to say the least. 

Knowing what I know about my first experience I wanted to try and have something that was like a gentle anchor in my day to day during my postpartum season for this second child. While I was still pregnant, I heard about the 100 day project.

The 100 day project is a free global art project that takes place online where individuals commit to creating for 100 days. Any creative medium goes and typically creatives documents and share the journey online. (https://www.the100dayproject.org/about)

When I heard about the 100 day project I thought this could be something I could try and incorporate in the "fourth trimester" to help ground me in something outside of newborn baby related responsibilities. For me I wanted to do this so that I have some intentional postpartum self care in my daily life.

To make it a low stress to high fun ratio, I gave myself a few gentle guidelines: (Feel free to also use these if you want to do your own art challenge!)

My Fourth Trimester Creative Guidelines

1. Decide on a timeframe: I decided to create for a period of 100 days, to roughly coincide with the length of the fourth trimester. (Feel free to choose a period that works for your season in life! Your life, you make the rules!)

2. Release the pressure to be perfect/ no self judgement: I was very adamant to myself, that I do not have to create every single day if I simply do not have the capacity. This is meant to be fun, and not another way for the inner critic to put me down! (Same goes for you!)

3. 5 Minute Rule: I only have to create for 5 minutes. It can simply be a doodle or incomplete sketch. There is no pressure to create finished masterpieces, or sit down and make art for hours on end each and every day. 

4. Make “Bad Art”: I gave myself permission to experiment with different styles, motifs, materials etc that are outside of my comfort zone. It’s ok to make “bad art” because it's all about creative exploration. 

5. Follow your spark: Don’t worry about sticking to one medium - explore mediums that I feel inspired by and that is within reason of balancing new born/ family life. Different mediums for me could be watercolors, pencil crayons, digital art, photography, sewing. (Feel free to explore your own mediums!)

I’ve never done the 100 day project, and so I will share my progress on my blog as a complete beginner. I’ll share my rough drafts and lessons learned as I go through this journey. 

Here's a sneak peak of an art snippet I worked on during my first week of the 100 day art project!

If you find you are also in a season of change in your life - perhaps you can consider taking on a creative challenge. 5-10 minutes a day to do something that feeds your creative itch. Maybe its knitting, journaling, writing one sentence, doodling with your kids crayons - use those 5-10 minutes for what fills you up creatively! If this is something you are considering taking on -please let me know what your creative outlet will be in the comments!

If you want to see the unpolished sketches and the honest behind the scenes from this 100-day experiment, I’d love for you to join my email list. It’s where I’ll notify you of the next blog post as well as share the personal, quiet moments that don’t always make it to the main site.