2018-2019… Reflections and Resolutions

I’ve been seeing all these posts by my friends, reflecting on the year of 2018 and their hopes and goals for the year to follow. I’ve really enjoyed reading these posts and realized I haven’t even said peep on here in months. I guess my 2018 goal of posting more often wasn’t quite met!

I usually take holidays from my sLs Artistry office from end of November until beginning of January. Meaning I still do art and look at art every day, but I take a break from my website, social media, selling and don’t take new commissions. I’m actually writing this post earlier than I’d expected. Why do I take so much time off at the end of the year? Well for one, I need the time to work on projects that are gifts or commissions for the holidays. I am a stay-at-home mom and my toddler always comes first, so I also like to take this time to make the holidays special for her and to spend it with family. I have limited kid-free time and so right before Christmas it all ends up being used to fulfill gifts and commissions. My daughter’s birthday is January 6th and it seems to sneak up extremely fast after Christmas, and that is why it takes me an extra week to return from holidays.

2018 was somewhat eventful and full ups downs. I am proud to say that I accomplished most of the goals I set out for myself earlier in the year. I made headway on my online shop (though maybe not as much as I would have liked), I helped curate and took part in my second group gallery art show at Pope Mountain Arts titled Reflections, I hosted for PMA at the Farmer’s Market and sold my art at a handful of small business markets, I made a lot of headway on my Celestial Secrets series (even found a title for it!), I had a very successful art vault auction, and I grew and broadened my artistic skills. My family pitched in for me to get a 6 month subscription to Sketchbox and it really helped me explore and grow as an artist. I produced over 40 pieces of art in 2018, which is amazing considering how very little time I spent on it. The summer was basically a write-off as we were blanketed in smoke from the wildfires that ravished BC; which triggered my asthma to go from a mild annoyance to several ER trips and new inhaler medications I have to take daily. We were displaced from our home for a week due to the fires and my paintings ended up stored away for a while, just in case the fires decided to take a turn for the worst.

I also lost my laptop to an unfortunate coffee accident early on in the year, which put a serious hole in my plan to finish my online shop and create more blog posts.

Here are most of the pieces I created in 2018:

I see 2019 as a big year for me as an artist. Here are the goals I hope to accomplish this year;

1. Finish Celestial Secrets
2. Publish an art book of the series
3. My first solo show (Spring date)
4. Add shipping and expand online shop
5. Attend more business markets
6. Open more Pet Portrait commissions
7. Add to my stock on hand
8. Help PMA with their newsletter publication
9. Write more, paint more, draw more!
10. Another art vault auction
11. Buy a new laptop
12. 2020 Calendar

I feel that these are perfectly obtainable goals and I am excited to head into 2019 with a fresh work ethic!

Goodbye 2017… Hello 2018!

I keep seeing memes and hearing comments abut 2017 being a dreadful, insane year. 2017 was chaotic, indeed, but my year was amazing. My year started off with the birth of my daughter and catapulted from there. I adjusted to motherhood quicker than I expected. We lucked out with an amazingly calm, happy baby girl who made my introduction to motherhood easy. I love my daughter with all my heart and she makes our family and home complete. That being said, I knew I had a challenge ahead of me, as well as an opportunity. I’ve  always been working or consumed by something that has limited my ability to take on my artwork as a career. I had just started to gain momentum when I became pregnant and it felt like all my creativity (and energy) was zapped out of me. We made the decision that I would leave my job at the recycling depot and stay home to take care of our daughter. This has given me the opportunity to focus on goals to reach with my artwork.

It’s been a challenge, to say the least. Abby comes first above all else, so I’ve had to learn how to break down my goals into smaller ones that are easier and more tangible for me to accomplish. I’ve had to learn exactly how much I can expect from myself and what was too much pressure. It’s easy to get frustrated, to feel like I’m moving so slowly through my artistic journey, but it’s a speed I will have to maintain for now in order to balance my responsibilities.

In May I started to plan my first art show, and in October the Other Worlds Art Show ran from (Friday) October 13th until Halloween at Pope Mountain Arts. I was joined by Anna Pitcher, Heather Witte, Erika Gardner and Erin Stagg. Four lovely ladies that I had a pleasure to get to know as fellow artists and friends. The show was a whole new experience for me. It was the first time I had ever shown my artwork and it was the first time I’d ever spearheaded such a big project. It was a lot of work, a lot of fun and a labor of love. I enjoyed the whole process from start to finish and it’s something I’d love to do again. Opening night was a huge success, over 60 people in attendance for opening night (which is a lot for our little town and an event like this), and a lot of pieces were sold that first night. I continue to receive comments about the show from those who saw it or those who had heard about it but didn’t make it to see it.

I found this amazing desk for FREE on the local buy n sell page. It took three men to move it on a snowy day and they were barely able to maneuver it down the stairs into the basement and around the corner into my art studio. I love this desk! It is big, spacious, has a built in light box (something I’ve wanted for years!). It is solid and creates this massive space for me to work in.

I have big plans in mind for my art studio for 2018. I just ordered a new scanner (I’m extremely excited about this) and am going to set up an office space in my studio (finally) where I will be able to scan all of my work, even the oversized paintings!

Early in December I attended my first pop-up-shop. There is a couple of ladies that arrange them for local businesses to sell their crafts and wares. This was a new experience for me, as I’d only ever sat at a table at these types of events as either an educator (recycling) or volunteer (humane society). This was the first time I was putting myself out there to actually sell my art. The art show gave me a little bit of experience on this, but this was on a smaller, more personal level. It was a slow day, unfortunately, but it gave me ideas on what I’d like to do at the next event I do.

 

I started to offer gallery quality prints for the first time this year. I currently have 4 available to order. “Escape”, “Lion Love”, “Polar Portrait” and “Watercolour Shark” are available to order. I have limited prints of “Lion Love” and “Escape” available to buy locally (Fort St. James). I am able to ship directly from the company I order the prints through to your door as well! They are currently $25 each (plus shipping).

I order them through a company called Finer Works, and they have so many types of paper, canvas and products available to print on. I am excited at the possibilities that this company and my new scanner will bring in the new year!

 

 

I have limited original paintings available for purchase on sale at the moment. None of these paintings have scanned copies and are 100% unique!  One of these pieces found it’s home all the way in Texas, USA! You can find those available in my shop.

Which brings me to… the new shop! It’s a work in progress. I still have some things to do to figure out the shipping costs, so until that’s done I’m only offering local pickup. There is a new set up to view the options for my custom pet portraits available through the shop now! You can select the style you would like to order and the type of pet. This form method to order a custom pet portrait is set up to work! It is still a good idea to reach me through Facebook or email to inquire about a custom pet portrait though, as I will require more details than what’s offered on the shop (and reference photos).

I had a few pet portrait orders at the end of this year when I opened them back up. A couple of really fun pieces to work on, and there are a couple more still on the back burner for the new year. Commissions will be opened again January 7th 2018.

I have a lot of things planned for 2018 and I hope it brings a lot of new challenges and adventures!

Love Birds in pastel pencils with a watercolour wash on recycled Bristol paper. This drawing was a Christmas gift for my grandmother.