Happy Holidays!*

I have been wondering whether or not to even say anything, but if I am going to blog about my art business then I should blog about it all (or most of it anyway).  I started to type a post and then I stopped, then I started, you get the point.  Around the time of my last post I had a couple of major set backs. It happens. I have also been dealing with a couple of personal issues that have been rather time consuming, one of which is a new medication for depression. That in itself was a huge decision for me.

Because of these business and personal related set backs I am rethinking what I am doing. I tried not to jump in with both feet with this business. I have a tendency to jump with out looking and I wanted to take this slow and do it right. Of course my nature won out.  I want to do everything all at once and when I can’t it becomes suffocating.

So I am taking a deep breath, regrouping, and slowing down. I’m trying to breath and realize this is my journey and I will only be at the beginning once. I do appreciate that fact but sometimes I get a bit impatient.

Over the next few days I am going to reasses my short term goals and write down a step by step plan to get there. Plans make me feel better.  I am going to take what I have learned so far and prioritize my marketing needs.  I am going to focus on painting everyday and save money towards marketing, framing, and contests. It will be slow going, but hopefully only for the next year or so.

Next summer we are moving back to Chicago so I am hoping to get a better paying day job, one that will give me money left over after my student loans. I am also hoping to have enough paintings for a few smaller shows.

Of course I will still be reading books and sketching and posting. Now that I know what needs to be done and I have mentally prepared myself and I am looking up. Sometimes it takes me a bit to wrap my head around a new direction. I have to let go of the old plan or lack of one.  I have to recharge and regroup for a new line of battle. It also takes me awhile to see what that new line should be or if it’s even worth continuing. But of course this battle is.

I know these set backs and changes are going to happen quite often, especially at the beginning.  They are like switch backs on a mountain hike. It doesn’t look like you are getting any where, it seems like you are going in the wrong direction, but eventually you come out at the top of the climb.  I also know that I will process them how I process them. Some might take me a couple of days, others a few weeks.  I need to push myself through these times and just focus on the painting until I can forge ahead with a new plan. So my goal for the New Year is to stop wasting time.  I need to paint. I want to paint. I am going to paint. Every day for at least two and a half hours (the length of one of my old classes) I will work on a painting. The rest of the day I can work on anything else that needs to be done, but in 2010 painting comes first.

*I say happy holidays because I like to include everyone and because there are a lot of holidays during this time, like Thanksgiving and New Years, not just Christmas.  It has nothing to do with being politically correct as some know I am not want to do.  So Happy Holidays, I hope the season brings you love, joy, and a bit of peace.