Happy New Year! Here we are in 2009 and it’s time to solidify some of my artistic goals for the coming year. Some of my artist friends are posting their goals so I thought, why not? I’ll post mine too.
Instead of goals though, I’m calling them plans. Goals seem too with-the-end-in-mind whereas plans, to me, reflect more of a way or a journey for the entire year. I don’t have a lot of numbers in my plans because I don’t really have a good way of determining, for example, how many paintings I want to paint. A couple of years ago I had a goal of painting 2 paintings a week. That was a good goal for me at the time and I learned a lot from painting that much, but this year I’m going to try a different approach.
A couple of nights ago I sat down and wrote down my plans, so for anyone who finds this interesting, here they are:
1. Be thankful that I’m able to paint every day and enjoy the process. This is especially important to remember when I’m faced with a portrait and get that “stage fright” about even starting the painting. I need to keep the process in mind and remember that I’m learning and improving with every painting.
2. Paint the figure from life at least once a week. Except for the month of May and December when things are too busy in this household to do much painting.
3. Try to sell the 25 landscapes and still lifes that I have. I already have 13 hanging at Dwellings and I have a show at the end of January, plus two more planned for 2009 so I don’t think this one will be too difficult. What doesn’t sell this year will hang around and most likely sell next year.
4. Continue to paint commissioned portraits and continue to build up my portfolio.
5. Continue to explore figurative paintings. Figuratives are different from portraits in that figurative paintings are more about a mood or emotion and not a specific person. I’ll put the figuratives I’m happy with in my shows.
6. Attend a workshop. I am already scheduled for a workshop in February so this one is easy.
7. Once a week I need to spend some time on book keeping (keeping track of expenses and income), keep my mailing list updated and general scheduling and marketing. I have tended to do these things when the mood strikes (which is hardly ever) and consequently it’s not a pretty sight!
8. Develop professional material to hand out at shows. This one won’t be hard, I have experience as a graphic designer and I actually love designing and printing printed material. I’ve run out of business cards so I’ll need to start on this one right away.
9. Continue to explore ways in which I can use my work to glorify God. Right now I think this will be mainly in the subject matter and compositions that I choose, though whenever I think I know something, God usually shows me a different path. So I need to keep my mind open on this one and listen!
10. Participate in a holiday market of some kind. I haven’t done a holiday market so this will be a bit of an experiment. I have 4 application deadlines on my calendar for holiday markets to be held October through November 2009. I might even do more than one.
For anyone who knows my recent work, these plans represent a change in direction away from the landscapes I’ve been painting. I have been painting figures and a few portrait commissions along the way but this year I plan to devote my painting time to the figure.
So there they are, now you know what’s on my mind and in my heart to do for the next year!
Nice list, thanks for sharing it-a good reminder to be grateful for time to paint. I love your portraits. Best wishes in 2009.