After attending the art fair, I was super inspired and motivated to paint and further my art career (after I took a nap that is...it was a long exhausting day of looking at art!), as is usually the case after I have been around what I find to be inspiring artwork. It also got me thinking about my goals and I figured now was a good time to check in with myself to see how I was doing and where I needed some work. It's always good to have periodic check-ins with oneself and see how things are progressing. So here is a summary of my goals for the year and a commentary of how I've been doing:
1. Support myself financially through the sales of my paintings. While I am by no means supporting myself in the lifstyle that I have grown accustomed to, I have been in the black all year. I have not spent more money on art supplies and art related materials than I have made through selling my art. Hopefully this will continue and I won't have to dip too much into my savings account once my teaching paychecks stop coming in.
2. Make a name for myself and my art. I think I am well on my way with this one. People are starting to notice my art and are starting to recognize my style. It was nice to have people at open studios tell me that they saw my artwork at a gallery or online and wanted to see more. I also had people email me and tell me that they saw my work at the art fair. I think this blog is also helping with that.
3. Have at least 5 galleries represent me by the end of the year. I have two pretty big ones so far and two art reps/ consultants so it's looking pretty good. I still need to continue to submit, submit, submit though. I try and research and submit to at least 5 galleries a month and need to continue with that practice.
4. Write a blog post every two weeks and mail out an e-newsletter every month. I have since revised the blog goal to writing at least twice a week. I never thought I would have anything to say when I started this blog, but so far, I've been able to keep up with this goal. As for the newsletter, it goes out almost every month. Sometimes they are filled with a lot of news, and other times I am just letting people know about what new work I have completed.
5. Paint a minimum of 15 hours a week. Uh, yeah, definitely surpassed this goal, especially lately with the show that I have been preparing for. Once I am no longer teaching, I should also have no problems with this. I plan to be painting at least 5 hours a day, 5 days a week.
6. Network with other artists and visit galleries and museums more often. I have been trying to do this, but I have to admit, I'm not very good at networking. I need to be better about this. I tend to get shy around people I don't know, and especially around people I admire. It's time to get over that. I have made a few really good friends with some artists and they have been very supportive when I've needed that extra boost and have had a wealth of information on topics I had questions about. This is great, but I need to continue making connections. I have a mini goal of handing out 5 business cards/ postcards to people I meet and adding at least 5 new names to my email list per month. It really should be per week but baby steps...
I think overall I am doing okay with my goals. I still have a long way to goal but periodic check-ins will help me keep on track.
Images: "First Pitch", 12" x 12", oil and encaustic wax on panel
"Nap Interrupted", 12" x 12", oil and encaustic wax on panel
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