Now that the New Year is upon us, my mind begins its annual tradition of looking back over the past year while at the same time thinking ahead to the coming 12 months. What will be the same? What will be different? Will I succeed in fulfilling whatever goals I set for myself? Or will I end the year feeling there was more I ‘could’ or ‘should’ have done?
I guess the most obvious ‘takeaway’ from 2020 is just how deeply the Covid-19 Pandemic affected all of us, in both similar and very individualized personal ways. From my own experience, hubby and I stayed at home more than ever, and basically avoided anything to do with gatherings of other people. The term “Covid Hermits” comes to mind.
As for personal art goals for 2020, that concept quickly flew out the window with the onset of the Pandemic! Feeling a bit despondent at first, with the restrictions imposed on us all, that overpowering sense of ‘aimless floating’ very gradually began to morph into the eventual dawning realization that I had more time to spend on thinking about and creating artwork!
When the pandemic first hit, one of my first thoughts was that I would be out of luck for portrait commissions, thinking that people would be guarding their pennies with tight fists because nobody knew what would happen next. But I did a bit of advertising anyway, and managed to secure a handful of portrait commissions, for people and pets, and turned out an interesting variety of works for customers, as well as a satisfactory number of personal art projects.
So, with last year’s lessons still fresh in my mind, and looking ahead with a mixture of somewhat hesitant optimism, I sat down today to compile a list of Art Goals & Ambitions for 2021. The list includes such ideals as increasing productivity for both commissioned work and personal projects, increasing research for several historical art projects I’ve had in mind for some time, increasing my online presence, and researching more ideas for self-marketing. Then of course there’s that matter of an instruction book on Coloured Pencil painting which I’ve been working at haphazardly for several years, and the ongoing challenge of developing more art-related products to sell at the local Craft Gallery.
How many of these loose goals I’m actually able to accomplish over the coming 52 weeks remains to be seen, but at the very least, this time next year it will give me an actual ‘guide’ to use when I review whatever this year 2021 happens to throw our way.
So, with those words now under my belt and off my chest, I turn to the current status of the Artist Trading Cards I mentioned over the past couple blog posts. The first set of 6 are now completed, and are ready to start mailing out, 1 per week, to other participants in this project.
Here’s how the finished sheet of 6 cards looked prior to their being cut apart into individual cards. Each 2.5” x 3.5” image is an independent miniature painting, showcasing portions of larger paintings I’ve done, and they are identified on the back with painting title, signature, and a brief description of the meaning of each image. The next 2 batches are ready to start.
So, until next week,
Stay safe and enjoy art
Sharon
