I love setting goals. I am one of those people who writes them down and posts them up on my wall and by the end of the year, I almost always accomplish all of my goals.

This can be a difficult personality trait for an artist. I can want to create 52 amazing paintings. I can want to sell them all. I can want to win awards and get into prestigious shows. But with creating, sometimes goals don’t always go the way you planned.

Last year was one of the most challenging years I had as an artist. When I look back, I accomplished quite a lot!

2018 Art Year in Review

• March- Attended Jeannie McGuire watercolor workshop in California

• April- San Diego Art Show.

• June- Calvin Charles Gallery closed.

• Created my first 2 online art classes!

• July/August- went to Paris and London and explored every museum I could.

• September- Whidbey Island watercolor workshop- amazing!

• Several custom commissions completed just in time for Christmas presents.

So why was it challenging you ask? 
Because I want to grow. I want to push my art to new levels. I want to explore and be better. But I don’t know how to do this. 
What do you do when you don’t know how to reach your goal?

And then it came to me. An analogy. 
You know how a band produces an album, and they go on tour, and they play it all over the country and all over the world?
When they are done, they need to take some time to reconnect to their creativity, so they can create their next artistic work.

They go back to the studio.

Musicians, writers, artists of all kind, take a time out from the production, the marketing, the selling and they carve out some space and some time to create.

That’s what my goal is for 2019. I’m going back into the studio. I’m going to paint whatever I want to paint. I might paint with watercolor, I might paint with oil, I might draw. Who knows! I just want to reconnect with my creative self and explore and change and grow. And I’m hoping that when the year ends I will be able to look back on a thrilling journey of exploration and expansion. 

Happy New Year everyone!