Hey There! I’m Xan – an artist, writer, and performer currently living in the Northwest and working on the ongoing art/self-examination project A Thousand Days of Enso.

Currently I support myself with my art, and Patreon helps me pay the bills and put food in my mouth with the things I share on the internet. All of my work is currently posted for free online, and Patreon is really just a way for you to drop a coin in my hat each month and make it easier for me to buy paper and ink for A Thousand Days of Enso, other art supplies, and living expenses so I can make and post more art.

What is A Thousand Days of Enso?
A Thousand Days of Enso is an extended art project involving painting the enso every day for 1,000 days after taking a photo of myself. I'm doing this as a way of chronicling my life over the next three years while challenging myself to do art every day. The enso is said to be representative of the individual at the moment of painting, so by juxtaposing an enso with a photograph each day I hope to create an internal and external portrait of myself during this time frame. As the project goes on I will also share various posts about my transition, health, what I learn about sumi painting, thoughts, and other subjects that come up over the thousand days.

Why are you doing this? Why a thousand days?
Over the last few years I have been struggling with health problems that have made it difficult to do almost anything, including the things that mean the most to me like art. Because of this I have found myself rather lost artistically and wanted to create a simple long-term project that would combine physical, emotional, and artistic healing that spanned a set length of time as a personal challenge. My goal is to explore the changes of the next three years through the enso and daily notes.

When/Where?
I will paint the enso every day starting April 1, 2017, and post the enso and associated photo on Instagram and Patreon, and in a gallery on my website. Other posts will be more random, but some aside from the monthly blog post will likely become scheduled depending on my ability and feedback from patrons and followers.

Will you be doing anything else?
I will continue to make other projects and art pieces alongside the Thousand Days of Enso as I am able. I’ll post them here and on my DeviantArt and/or tumblr and welcome feedback about which projects you are excited to see more of. The more patrons I have, the more projects I can devote my time to here. :)

What if I want to help support you without becoming a Patron?
That's no problem! You can Buy Me a Coffee instead of being a Patron, or even buy me some supplies or something from my wish list or maybe a book. Every little bit helps!