Can an artist create a compelling work in a single day? In this film, artist Josephine Halvorson attempts to make a new painting in Thomaston, Connecticut, conscious throughout the day that her effort might result in failure. Choosing as her image the mural of a clock, Halvorson’s obsession with time is both literal and metaphoric, reflected in the subject matter, the hours passing by, and the additive process of her brushstrokes.

“I love stuff that shows you how it’s made,” says the artist, “I haven’t found a way to paint in successive days on the same surface that doesn’t feel like concealment.” As the painting continues, Halvorson struggles with the oppressive summer heat, dwindling light, and the mental struggle to realize her ambitions. “Such a huge part of making art is having these high expectations and not reaching them,” she says. The film follows the artist from a residency at Steep Rock Arts in rural Connecticut to, several months later, her studio in Brooklyn’s Navy Yard where the fate of the painting is ultimately determined.