The push for numbers is still going, slow as treacle, but it’s going. I spent two days going through hundreds of emails and actually making a solid list of names, emails and whether the artwork has been returned. It was amazing how many people, even early numbers haven’t sent theirs back. The achievement of making a list I could keep track of, instead of a wibbly wobbly chock-a-block inbox was skewed by the idea that I’d have to chase up these people who’ve seem to have forgotten.

However, some interesting people have written in lately and spurred my interest in this some more. I realised, that I shouldn’t wallow in my own number-giving-out-ness, but that I should do right by you all. The contributors. The people who I said early on, this is about bringing you all together for this goal. So I put it to you: What do you want to hear about? There are a number of themes which I can work a story around, there are sky images, water images, grass, animals, non-artist and message images. Those themes come immediately to mind, and we could all hear about why those artists chose the images they did. To me, they’re all interesting, but which would you, the fans, like to hear about? Maybe an entirely different suggestion? Whatever seems like a good idea to you, I’ll say yes to. I want to write some more, to let you know you’re all involved. So let me hear it.

Firstly, it’s been mentioned before, the number 123,456 is a ridiculous goal which can never be reached. In that regard - and I knew this before it started - the project will fail. To begin with, even from day 1, I would’ve had to send out 340+ requests for numbers per day. Per day. That includes the first day when no-one knew about it. By the end of month two in the Count High project, not enough numbers were sent out to even crack two days worth of proper number sending outs. That 340 per day has ballooned, it’s become bloated and distended with age and now rests at an incredible 450+ per day.

And with that, I became disillusioned. I realised each day, the project would be climbing an ever sharper hill. That is until I decided to give up. I thought, I’ll collapse the website and disappear without a trace, but that would’ve been incredibly detrimental and embarrassing to the next project I intend to start up. So that’s when Count High got its second wind.

Because 123,456 is a stupid goal, I decided to change the goal. The project is called Count High. So that’s exactly what I’ll do. Come Hell or high water, I’m going to encourage artists and non-artists alike to count as high as possible. 123,456 is no longer a goal, but a capping stone. We’re all going to create artworks, we’re all going to collaboratively count as high as possible and if we don’t get to 123,456 then, so what? We still counted as high as possible. If we reach that number before April 13, 2009 then we’ll stop early. Unlikely, but still, it sounds reasonable.

So from now on, I’m going to write to anyone who impresses me. If I hear a song I like, I’ll write to the band and invite them along. If I see a chalk side-walk guy whose doing something neat, I’ll let him know about this. I’ll write to Facebook groups, I’ll seek out the artists. If someone writes an interesting blog post which I find by accident, I’ll say to the author, “Thanks for the article, I enjoyed it” and to show my appreciation, I’ll let them know they can be a part of this project. I’m going to do this every day. No matter who, where, why or when, I’m going to post, write, talk or mention the Count High project at least five times a day. And I’m going to keep on doing that until the time is up, because I want to see how high we can go!

The above images (click for bigger) were created by the students in grade four of Carpenter Elementary School (in Deer Park, Texas) over the course of three hours (split over two days). They were all hand-made with markers, pencils and map pencils and a few were created digitally. While most of the children hail from Deer Park or Pasadena, some are from as far as Mexico and the Philippines. They are all aged between nine and twelve and as you can see the artworks are as diverse as the children themselves.

To find out how the project came to fruition and to see the children with their artworks, click here for more.

Lydia (Contributor 15) is a cartographer from the Netherlands. “Yes,” she assures me, “that small country between England and Germany, famous for its tulips and cheese” as if I could confuse it for that other Netherlands. Cartography is the study, creation and upkeep of maps “Nowadays, these maps are all stored and edited on the computer. For those interested, we use the CAD sofware Microstation.” Outside of that, Lydia’s interests range from the flute, to scrapbooking, to writing, to encaustic art.

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Of those, and including every other, there are strange recurring themes which continue to pop up in the art works. I’ve shown some of the pieces so far (and will continue to do so) but for the most part, entries have been kept hidden - except when the artist publicly displays their piece elsewhere, which is, of course, always welcome. The point I’m hoping to eventually make is, for the most part the artworks have been created individually, with no input from myself. These individual creations, made by artists all over the world, they all connect in strange and unexpected ways.

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I have some ideas, but they are a small fraction of the ideas which could be thought. Give me ideas, post in the comments, email in - everything needs to be done to make this a success, so even if you think “He’ll never go for this idea” send it in anyway because I’ll do it. I’ll post to that art forum, I’ll write to that radio show. In case you’re wondering, I did write to David Attenborough.

So you tell me. What’s your idea?

Anita Scripter (Contributor 190) began as a doctors assistant doing angiograms, which she went on to do for twenty years. “I was living back at my parents house, not working,” she says “when the dr my mother worked for hired me and taught me to do angiograms.” A process which involves “[taking] photographs with special Zeiss cameras and after injecting fluorescein dye into a vein. I taught myself the film developing and took over that part of the job too.”

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