There are inherent problems in trying to paint in the dark. Painting by headlamp can cause a distracting glare on the canvas. Painting under a streetlamp casts a distorting yellow glow on your palette. Some friends of mine introduced me to the idea of a “day-turne”- painting a nocturne during the day. I took some reference photos of my friend sitting in our backyard in full sun in the midst of a field of dandelion puffs. Then, I took that image into Photoshop and skewed the colors towards the cooler blue spectrum you would have with moonlight. The result is “Moonlight Sonata”, 16×20, oil.

Last month marked one year working as a full-time artist! So, what have I learned?

Biting off more than you can chew makes you choke.

When I originally wrote out my business plan, I had a ridiculous amount of goals and objectives. The reality was that I still only had about 40 hours/week to devote to art and I just couldn’t do it all. I put teaching on the back burner for this first year and that helped take off some of the self-imposed pressure. My goals for the remainder of the year were distilled down into the following:
1. To strengthen my national art presence and showcase my oil paintings by participating in at least 12 high-profile art shows or art festivals per year.
2. To gain broader, high-quality gallery representation for my traditional representational oil paintings.
3. To grow my Art Attack project locally and online.
4. To nurture and increase my current patron base for increased sales, local and national recognition.
5. To increase productivity while maintaining a standard of high quality for my artwork.

Stick to the damn schedule!
It’s painful to admit that I am only now getting better at seriously following a schedule. There’s a lot to do besides just painting and without a schedule, it’s SO easy to get side-tracked. I’d like to seek better gallery representation but I am still building that body of artwork to potentially present to a new gallery. If I’d stuck to my schedule from the beginning, I might be in a better position right now.

Just say no.
In the past, I would take every job that came my way, and then wonder why I was still so far from my goals. Learning to turn down paying work is hard. I was invited to hand-paint a truck, participate in some small public art projects, design a logo, and participate in every plein air show within a 100 mile radius, but all of these things fell into the category of “FUN, but not helping me reach my goals”.

Couldn’t have done it without (financial) support.
The reality is that I have an extremely supportive husband who is the consistent paycheck and provider of insurance while I am still getting this act together. I have been able to take some chances- to test the waters with participation in different plein air shows and art festivals, and to invest in my business- because we had that dependable income. I am SO grateful and realize that many artists do not have this luxury while they are first getting started. THANK YOU to my amazing husband, my supportive family, and my friends and colleagues who have been the constant cheerleaders during this adventure. THANK YOU to every person who has purchased my artwork so far- I hope it brings you daily joy. THANK YOU to everyone who shows their support by talking me up to their friends or by through sharing my work with others online.

Now, let’s see what the next year brings…