Tuesday, February 22, 2011

When it Rains it Pours

Sometimes you have one of those weeks where everything seems to go wrong. Paintings don't seem to turn out right. Inspiration is hard to find. Nothing seems to go your way. Fortunately for me, I am not having one of those weeks, although, God knows I've had them often enough. These past twelve days have been great.

"Swept Away" SOLD
In the past week and a half I have sold two paintings, a few drawings, got 3 commissions, and I am licensing 5 of my "Nature" series paintings for prints with an art consulting company. Inspiration was also high. I finished my "beehive" painting and was more than satisfied with the results. I also started my first of the three commissions on Friday and finished it yesterday. It was a little nerve-racking to email the client with the image for approval, as it always is, since they could hate the painting or have many changes. But I had nothing to worry about. The client was extremely happy with the results and that left me feeling fantastic.

These are the kinds of days that I, as an artist, live for. Great inspiration AND sales are two things that are hard to beat, and sometimes hard to come by. It is days like this that make the "hard" months worth it. Whenever I get down about sales or feel like my work isn't as good as it should be, I try to think about days like this and remind myself that things can turn around pretty quickly. Things do get better.

"Positive Identification" SOLD
In this economy I realize that sales are hard and it's difficult not to attach our self-esteem to the number of paintings sold. But despite this, I can't let that get me down and keep me from doing what I love and what I am good at. These past couple of days have proven that good days do happen. People do enjoy my work. I can make a career from my art.

I am always happy and grateful to those who love my work enough to purchase it and hope that I have many more weeks like this!




 Pre-waxed version of "Beehive", 16"x16"

Pre-waxed, finished commissioned painting. 14"x14"


2 comments:

  1. Good for you, Jhina! You deserve it all. You are a hard worker and are determined to make a go of it. In the end, that does pay off. Plus (a big plus) your work is great!

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  2. Thank you Nancy! It's always nice to hear good things like that from artists I admire!

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