Compromises and the Art of taking your time

If there is one thing I am guilty of is always wanting to do everything at once and see instant gratification (aren't we all? Or maybe not). And when it comes to building my art business, it's no different, but I am learning to be patient and do one thing at a time!
I will not deny that it can be frustrating when financial situation dictates the choices I have to make, but looking at the silver lining, I do think it keeps me focused on seeing every step through.
At the end of last year, I needed to reinvest in my online presence and my new website was born. This year, I was faced with a dilemma of putting my eggs in the basket of a large art trade show, or distribute between the studio upgrade and finding some smaller exhibits. Compromises had to be made. I was torn between my strong desire of finally jumping in and exhibiting at Art Source in Dublin or staying a little more conservative and playing it slightly more safe.
In a way, a number of circumstances made the decision for me. I was delighted to be invited to show at two more local Art exhibitions and I received numerous request for Art workshops and weekly classes. So I decided to go with the flow, concentrating in building a nice collection for the shows and investing in a bigger studio space to accommodate not only my paintings but also a classroom.
I feel quite excited about these new projects!! Art Source has just been put on ice though and is already pencilled in for 2020!

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The weight of business decisions

Yes, it is a business...

It isn't a hobby, a past-time, it isn't even a gift. It is a job and a business, it requires over 40 hours a week to attempt to make a living out of it. There is nothing wrong with doing what you love for a living, but I am not fooling myself, it is no easy ride!

The right path

Like every other business out there, my business come under scrutiny (by me, harshest critic). I have to decide what is the best way to go, sometimes it is informed decisions, sometime it can be a shot in the dark, like my last decision...

Since setting up, I have done prints of my paintings, selling them at reasonable prices to a wide audience. It has been my bread and butter, so to speak. The fork in the road came when I had very little time left to do original paintings and the inevitable need to grow the print side of the business threw me a dilemma: I could put all my energy in expanding my "distribution" and live with the fact that there would be nothing left to grow the original painting side of things.

Or I could choose status quo, but this is a risky strategy in business.

To say that the idea of abandoning painting for printing and distribution was leaving me cold is an understatement. The feeling I get for selling one original painting is not even equalled by the sale of 500 prints. I was at a lost as to what was the right thing to do.

What ifs

That's when a business advisor threw me a curve ball. "Why don't you keep the prints just as they are, and give yourself two years putting your time and effort in building you sale of original paintings?" Is what he said to me. 

But what if it doesn't work... Then I can still pick up where I left off and expand into prints if I so wish.

I have taken that on board and I am putting everything into painting, enjoying every minute. Am I convinced? Not at all, I still question the decision everyday, but I have always, to fall back on, the fact that nothing has to be a final decision. It is a fork in the road that can either be a short cut or a detour, only time will tell.

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New look on the world "wild" web

New website, new look

It's live, after a lot of time, very little glitches (there will be time for them I'm sure), my new look website is up and running. I can't tell you the level of excitement!!

It is me, it is professional and I am proud of it and its content. I have a lot to learn yet to maximize the results, but I have learned to ask for help and I have found places where people are there to help starting businesses like mine. My local enterprise board has been very supportive and I hope to keep referring to them for further assistance.

Just in time for Christmas, one last push for the last minute shoppers before a well deserve break, even if I do say so myself 😊 

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Get online they said!

Get online, they said!
This year, is the year I've put over 30% of my time on my online presence. Building a branded instagram account, expanding a facebook page and finally, working on a better website (yet to come, hopefully in the next couple of months).
It makes and awful lot of sense of course. I can reach many more people at an increased frequency on social media sites. Unfortunately, these take a lot of time to yield collectors and sales. A fully operational ecommerce website is the next step, because frankly, without sales, there is no business. It is costly and time consuming, but done at the right time in this process I think it can bring me to the next level.
Vlogging and live video post
Sorry, I had to draw the line there for now. I can write, I can post pictures or videos of painting process, I can even put photos of myself from time to time (apparently very important to put a face to the artist I'm told), but the camera is not for me. It has been with me for many years, I actually think it stems from family gatherings, at the infancy of the amateur video camera, where Christmas parties became hours of self-consciousness, being unknowingly stared at by these little black boxes people were holding. Will I change in time? I doubt it. I'll stick ti writing for now anyway!

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Making Art a business

It has been a while...
Should be the start of all my posts, but here's the thing, I can only speak the truth: I am a solo worker. It takes me tremendous efforts to remember to blog, remember to post on social media, remember to keep it personal, and even harder is to talk about myself and what I'm up to.
And that is all part and parcel of making Art a business.
So as other people must drive themselves to work and maybe sit behind a desk, I must give myself some drive and sit myself behind the desk for some reflection on what will I write next. What will I announce next? And what if nothing particularly interesting happened that week, what if I've been bogged down in commissions with nothing I can show the world?
So for the past year, I have worked on making social media a habit, leaving this blog aside for a bit. But here I am to pick it up again and give it my all.
Making Art a business is no mean feat. One must accept that there is thousands of artists out there.
For me, instead of being discouraging, I get great inspiration from the journey other artists have been on and where they are now. And observing them is part of the process in determining where I want to be.
It is hard work, this business thing, hours spent on paperwork, research, account, hours spent not painting!!! But between all of that, things are getting clearer and directions are appearing to me little by little...
To be continued
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Art or Craft, are we splitting hair?

I have come to ask myself the question because, living in a small rural Irish village, I have used the outlet of "crafts markets", "Christmas crafts fairs", etc. to promote and sell my art.

The very first year, I attempted with paintings and limited edition prints, but one thing was clear, people were there to spend a few quid yes, but not to make an investment in an expensive art piece. In fact, in the several years I have taken part in those fairs, I have only ever sold 1 original framed painting. And although I used these outlet as a general promotional tool as much as anything else, it is still supposed to be a revenue making exercise. 

Being flexible and inventive is what I had to be.

I started hand painting miniatures that could be used as ornaments (and many more things I've tried, but with time, I realized that I needed to stay focus and not multi-task in other mediums and styles).
And now comes the question, are these Art or Craft?
I never do the same painting again on canvas, but for my little miniatures, I reproduce the same pictures (now they never really are exactly the same but close...) as many times as it will sell. Would that qualify as craft and not art...
I've looked up a few descriptions, some say Art is all about expressing emotions, while craft is a form of work with a tangible output...
Or that craft, historically anyway, is associated with the production of useful objects and art with useless ones!!
Others say that in craft, there is a planned, known outcome...

 I'm none the wiser really, and I'm not sure it matters.
The reason I've asked myself the question in the first place, was that my miniatures have evolved from simplistic little ornaments, to mini oil paintings deserving of their rightful place in a frame... and was I taking anything away from them by not giving the exclusivity of a "one-of" piece... and how should I price them then...

But really, it only comes down to what the customers are willing to pay. Would they pay a premium price for a 4" painting because it's a "one of". You may get two different types of customers in Art galleries, the investor (the clue is in the title) and the art lover who has money and buy because he loves what he sees. In the craft market, there is only the one who loves what he sees, maybe somewhat influenced by the fact that it is handmade. Those are my customers and my only concern when creating for them is to make something they will like at the price they will want to pay!

So call it crafty or arty, in my quest of becoming an artist (one who's actually making a living at it!), it all boils down to what is commercially viable, full stop!

Giving back has given me even more!

Giving time for free??? Right! And where am I suppose to find that "free" time to give it?!

I won't be preaching to you, but just share one of the experience I have had recently. You see, I believe that the old cliché is quite true: giving gives more to the giver than the receiver! And I also believe it to be even more true for artists.

   

I might be alone in this, but yet probably not, as a "trying" artist, I live with what I will call a complex of usefulness! The need to justify what I do, the need to be useful beyond providing people with nice pictures...
And it is in that frame of mind, stumbling between that selfish need and some generosity thrown in, that I started a project this summer with people awaiting to be lawfully accepted in this beautiful country that is Ireland. We painted a mural, and what a beautiful result. I hope it gave the people who took part a great escape for self-expression, made them forget a little the situation they find themselves and their family in, and simply gave them a time to enjoy...

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Nourishment & discipline, all a piece of cake!

To continue on from my previous post on preparation: "It's all about the means and the end", once I have my work space prepared and my working head on, I'm talking nourishment. Nothing to do with a specific diet here, although always good to look after yourself, but it will include some edible details.

NOURISHMENT:

First start with yourself. Not giving a cookery or a healthy lesson here, but being hungry will only give you an excuse to escape from the grip of the blank canvas syndrome.

-Plan to start work after breakfast, or lunch.

-Bring along a cup of tea or coffee, or whatever else comforting, I do, so I won't use that as an excuse either!

Nourish the ambiance and your mind, make yourself feel good by what you're wearing, listening, looking at, etc.

-Don't just stagger out of bed into the studio. For me, to feel like it's work, I need to look like it's work. So I pay the same attention to getting ready as I would to go out to work (nearly).

-Put some good music, TIME WASTING ALERT, have playlists at the ready!

-Hang some stuff on the walls. I opt for my own stuff, keep me in the right direction, a white board not overloaded with to-dos, a big calendar, and some inspiring quotes. Change it around now and again.

DISCIPLINE:

If you want to make it work, treat it like work. Coming and going as you please sounds great... for a hobby, it doesn't work with a career.

-Set days and times, sticking to them helps as well!

-Have set break times, leave nothing to time wasting temptation

-Turn off the evil that are social media

-Plan your day from the start: To-do list don't are proven to be ineffective by the simple fact that they are overwhelmingly disorganized. Without being too strict, using a timed diary is brilliant. Allocating approximate time to different tasks to be done will put you under a light pressure and get your productive juice flowing. I fit in phone calls, email and other internet bits and bobs at the start of the day and have a clear finishing time on it as it has potential to spiral out of control.

What are your own tips? Share them with me below I'd love to hear them!

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It's all about the means and the end

Sat down in front of a blank canvas, going cross-eyed, tortured in the realization that inspiration does not come from a divine intervention... We've all been there!

Putting on some well chosen music, feeling a little uplifted, it's a good start, but it probably won't be enough and we know it. I've known it for a long time yet I still sometimes forget that creation needs preparation, nourishment and a certain amount of discipline. I thought I would share a few tips which help me, might help you and will put us all back on the right track!

PREPARATION:

From preparing your work space to preparing your work subjects, there is a lot that can be done to avoid wasting precious time and become more productive.
I personally find that if my studio is cluttered and in a bigger mess than usual (lets be honest here, it's never that tidy in there), I need to sort the mess out before I get to work and even often get distracted in the process. The solution? Well to keep it tidy in the first place would help, as for the rest of the house, but as we all have lives to live.
-Incorporate a tidy up of the studio in the general housework time instead of eating on precious creative time.
 -Fit in, once a month, a bigger clear out, keep the regular tidying up simple using files and boxes that can be sorted out once a month.
For me, it also corresponds with my monthly inventory of stock and material, which means I kill two birds with one stone, and that I have a clear head and a clear work space at least for one day every month!
Preparing the actual work subject is equally if not more important to be efficient. Many a time I have gone up to the studio and started rummaging through hundreds of images in search of the one I would like to paint... after a few hours, I might have deleted a few pictures, but I am no closer to finding a subject for painting and obliged to abandon the day's session having wasted too much time.
-Sort out pics as they come out of the camera!
If you are very organized that will work best, dealing with a small amount of pictures every time.
-Have a "TO PAINT NEXT" folder on your computer desktop, limit the number of pics to less than 10 in this folder. If like me you are of the indecisive type, limiting your options will always work best!
-Be ruthless in your selection. With experience we know what will not make for a good painting, DELETE!
-Have different size canvas prepared. I prime my canvas and boards with acrylic, often bold colors. I like to have a few prepared in advance, again saving time not watching paint dry!
-Have sketches made of your "TO PAINT NEXT" pictures. If you have already worked out your composition, sketching the canvas will be a piece of cake.


NEXT: Nourishment and discipline

Make or break, or the artistic prostitution

Your options are: make it work or wait for the big break

The odds are definitely unfavorable when you wait for a big break in the Art world. I don't have a number for you here, but I would certainly not bet on it. Stacking against you even more if you haven't gone the traditional education way and have to call yourself Self-thought (I have to).

You can go with the flow, I did for years, selling a couple of paintings here and there, not having the credentials to get into galleries, not getting the credentials for failing to get into galleries. I could have gone on tipping away, banging on closing doors in the hope one would open, and even then, there was no guaranty a success would happen and last.

Then someone said "why don't you paint the landscape and sell it to the tourists"

But I don't do landscapes, I thought, this would go COMPLETELY against my integrity as an artist, that would be like, like... artistic prostitution!!
Now, I wasn't all that offended really, I just had never envisaged doing Art for what the customer would be looking for and my ego may have rebelled slightly against the fact that it made perfect sense (how had I not thought of that myself!!)

And so I painted my first landscape in many years...

And another...

I was strangely surprise that my style could still translates in landscapes, I made them into limited edition prints and off I went to the shops and the rest of that part of the story is history...

But then I kind of lost myself, painting after painting, I didn't realized that I was taming more and more, becoming "generic", unrecognizable and to my eyes, well ordinary...

I put this painting up reluctantly, not because it is particularly ugly but only because despite my signature, this is not my painting, it is not me.

It is one thing to tweak art to suit the demand but if it's not you than is it worth trying to break with it?

I revisited the same subject, to make a point, I am stubborn like that... It is still in the drying room but I will show it soon, to make a point.

The lesson to be learned here is you can do the city streets (painting that it), you can do the country lane, dress it in red, dress it in blue, the only thing that matters is that skin deep it is all you!

Apologies, that's quite terrible as rhymes go, but you get the point right, cause that's all that counts, that I made my point!

Putting some money on it!

You have researched your subject and inspiration for hours, maybe days. You've been out here and there, trying to capture something special on a camera, something that would just be the starting point... Then you've pondered, and sketched, and pondered again (over several cups of tea), to finally put down on canvas. And you will spend hours, again maybe days, occasionally weeks, working to achieve a perfect masterpiece, which too often it isn't, but you start again anyway. 

And somewhere along this repeated, long process you accumulate and choose some worthy pieces, the ones you would be proud to show and hopeful to sell!

But how do you put a price on that?

It certainly not an hourly rate. And if you go too cheap, you're out of a really good potential market, one that is difficult to enter but could mean making a living out of your art. If you go too high and don't get your big break, you've priced yourself out of a wider, certainly less active but excessively more accessible market! Talk about Catch 22.

I've adopted the slow pace small steps approach personally. I was not in a position financially to wait for the big break, it had to sell and it had to sell NOW!! So I started with small paintings, smaller prices. Some other artists commented at my very first show that my paintings were too cheap but in reality, as I pointed out to them, they were more expensive than theirs proportionally and more importantly: they were selling. To balance it out, I always had a bigger painting on show, proportionally priced again, clearly showing that my paintings were not cheap... they were only small!

As the time go on, I put the prices up slightly every year and I also increase the size by a few inches. And I intend to keep the same strategy as long as it sells.

Some might say that to sell in galleries, the prices have to be higher, it still works my way though; galleries want big paintings anyway!

The once-a-year diary

Oh dear, yes let's hear it, it has been a shameful 8 months+ since my last entry. Apologies, personal life has got in the way and it will probably happen again, but hey, let's enjoy the moment where I remembered I had a blog without making me feel too guilty.

Still a wanna be artist, yes, still excellent at procrastination, absolutely!
At the end of 2015 I was faced with a dilemma that tormented me (ok that might be a slight exaggeration, I don't torment easily), let's just say that I flirted with the idea of going solo. And what I mean by that is I contemplated the possibility of leaving behind the part-time work and putting all I have into the Art business.
I pondered for some months, I did, especially being between contracts, it would have been an easy transition (but I'm sure a rough ride) It is only a couple of weeks ago that, having a job offer I couldn't refuse, thinking of my young children still not in full time school, and also being a bit chicken Maybe!.. Well, I chose the status quo. Suits me for now. I know the same dilemma with visit me at the end 2016, but one thing at a time and I'll paint that bridge once I reach the river.

In the meantime, I have reasonably set my resolutions for this year at only 3:
1-Enjoy every moment with my young ones (so, so cliché. I do love a good cliché)
2-Paint, paint, and paint again.

And most importantly:
3-Weekly entry on the blog, Facebook and webpage! It's all under control, I have it written down in my diary (not this one, well yea this one but also my other diary (very well chosen Christmas present), the one I consult and follow everyday. almost.

À bientôt!!

My life without my computer

Disaster strikes, my laptop goes on strike. It's not the first time it's happened, after all he is getting on, in computer years that is. The last couple of times, it's cost me, so when a friend offered to have it repaired by a friend for cheap I handed the machine without a second thought.
Through the long and difficult 10 days without my precious lap warmer, I did have second thoughts (and third and fourth), worried that it would never come back to me the same as before. The agony was made only worst by my fruitless attempts to work from my "smart" phone; it is either way too smart for me or just frecking stupid (pardon my French!), because I just had to give up, frustrated and helpless!

To cut a long (read boring) story short, I got it back, in full working order. I would have thought that after so long, I would spend 48h straight pianoting but instead I realized I had got used to not having it and it took me a bit of time to make it's acquaintance again (that or I was just holding a grudge for having been let down so unexpectedly!)

During all the spare time I found I had while he was gone, I got thinking at how much I depended on technology for everything:
I wasn't able to research, or print, or shop for stocks. I wouldn't have been able to supply my stockists if I needed to. I got worried as to when was my last backup, and what wasn't backed up!!
I was stuck when it came to banking (who goes to the bank anymore!). I couldn't get my godson a birthday present, as he lives in Canada and I normally order something online to deliver directly to him, and it was too late to send something from here...
I couldn't market, update my website, take online orders as efficiently...
And I am sure I forget plenty of things, but very importantly, I wasn't able to post on here and that's my excuse for this month!

I am thinking of a second device, because when it comes to doing business, one just cannot go any amount of time without a computer these days!

Positive sides though: I got a whole load of reading done, watch boring television, and certainly got a few more hours sleep!

To beat or not to beat... yourself up over missed deadline!

I have a small, young family. Most things revolve around them, the rest has to fit in, somehow! For the past 2 months, as I mentioned in the last post, bugs have got the better of us. After the children being afflicted, it was my turn. Don't you just love childcare years!
While it is exhausting looking after sickly kiddies, you can still pull out of the bag some energy to get things done. When it's yourself taking to bed rest, it's another story entirely.

So, I put my hands up, I am still now working on things I hoped to finished in March, and time is constantly ticking in my head. That's when I thought: what is the best thing to do now? Beat myself up or not?

If I take a casual approach on the whole thing and take no notice of my missing deadline, not fulfilling my objectives, well then does it subtly makes me believe I can allow myself to pretty much miss them whenever, under whatever excuse?
In that case, what is the point of setting them in the first place?
I could fool myself and think that when the deadline will involve a stockist, a customer, I will then be able to meet it, it will be more important, more motivating...
Or I could think that I'm unable to keep to deadlines and therefor I shouldn't make any promises on delivery time frame, etc.

Suddenly I feel very uncomfortable with the uncertainty of everything...

I could beat myself up and work overtime, into the small hours of the morning to catch up and, just guessing now, end up worn out by the whole thing by next month and miss all of the following month's deadlines... Not very productive, defeats the purpose.

So I will adopt my favorite position in most situation: a happy middle ground.
I will reschedule the things that are not as urgent, will prioritize to an inch of my life, and will get on with work as I would normally, allowing overtime whenever I feel like it, or if an order needs completion.

My motto always remain: after all good work comes enjoyment, but good work only comes from enjoying the process!

The struggles of the Part Part-time Artist

Well it's been a while, and that just goes to prove my point: it is hard to be a part-time artist. This month's excuse was children sicknesses. Next week could be work overload from the part-time job, and next month something else again. Juggling between looking after young children, working three days a week and finding time for the Art business is just something that requires a strict discipline, I understand that now, it took a while to accept it.

Making creative time sacred

There's a huge difference between doing something because it has to be done, or doing something only IF there is time to do it (There will never be time to do it!). And the only way the wannabe artist will become one is to make creative time something that MUST be done.

For me the solution was to have a planner, on the wall, that was pointing it's finger at me every so often, sending me with my marching orders straight to the studio. I was able to allow three evenings of studio work, that's about 7 to 9 hours per week. Not a lot, but since I can't afford daytime work yet (it will come soon, once the kids are in school every mornings), I still wanted to give myself some evening ME time. I often do more, especially when I have some deadline or special commission, but at least, when I do take the night off, I am guilt free.

Work that can be done with children running around should be done when children are running around!

Researching the internet, making simple updates to a website, flicking through magazines, looking for inspiration, updating your accounts, in addition to all the household chores can, in general, be accomplished when children are around and without completely neglecting them!!
If it is another employment that is taking your time, use your breaks to sketch a bit, browse pinterest, update your Facebook page. I am lucky enough to have a part-time job which requires me to be very creative so I am constantly getting the brain in right gears and I am fully hands on as well. But if it's not the case, a few minutes here and there through the day is all you have so make the most of it.

The 3 P's:
Planning, planning and planning

I mentioned above my week planner, I also have my year planner on which I try to always have the three months ahead planned out with 4 to 5 general objectives per month. For example, for April I intend to
1.revisit and review my stockists
2.Complete my 1st quarter review
3. Make product samples
4. Look into SEO and into business set up
May and June have different objectives, but I haven't planned out everything further ahead than this because things take shape as I go along. That keeps me focused.
I also have a To-Do list which is always with me. That planner is for specific things that have to be done in the days ahead. At the moment: -finish Dublin painting, -Print store signs. -Deliver prints to... and -Blog (Check!! That's the most satisfying thing about lists and planner, when you get to score them off!)

Making all the spare time count

That's not to say work all the time, but for me, I find very little satisfaction in just sitting watching tv. That's my spare time (normally an hour before turning in) and I'm allowed to do what I want and since I enjoy my work, I choose something that is easy, relaxing and pleasant. I do enjoy a good net browsing (even if they say it's not good before bed), or looking through art magazines and books, or browse all my photos for the inspiration for the next painting. Whatever it is, if it has a creative side it will count, and I am less tempted then to browse the internet when I should be productive in the studio!

Dear diary... where do I start?!?

Well, from the beginning might be a good idea...

I said 10 years didn't I? Well that's just ten years of contemplating that maybe somehow, someday, it might be possible to be a full time artist... That was a lot of maybe's underlined with plenty of if's. Before that, I just didn't think it could ever be anything else than a hobby. And my work was eclectic, unrefined and I wasn't practicing with enough discipline and regularity to improve it! See for yourself!

                                           
With my twenties came the move to Ireland, and the discovery of a place that welcomed art with open arms... but closed Gallery door.
Mistake no 1: Rushing into it.
I gathered a small body of work, with no real quality, with no real unity and sent a rather basic portefolio to some galleries. Unsurprisingly, I only got negative responses and you know what, I would say no myself looking at it now...
                                                                                                                                   

                                                 

 I had somehow got it into my mind that the only way was to get into galleries, and at the back of that same mind, was resolute to die a poor, unrecognized artist!

And let me just go back on the title of this blog, "Wanna be..." I know has the implied meaning of someone who lacks the qualification and talent, and that's where I was, lacking qualifications from lacking practice, and lacking talent for not allowing my hands to do what they wanted to do and over thinking what would make me different, what would make people buy me.

But then I painted these, and for probably the first time I thought; you know what, I could be onto something after all:

 Coming up:
The struggle of the Part-Part-Time Artist

NEW TITLE, NEW CONTENT! What's this all about anyway...

First things first, if it's the first time you stumble on my blog, let me just briefly introduce myself, save you a bit of trouble to search the archives if you're interested!

My name is Jessica Baron, originally from Québec in Canada and now settled in Ballydesmond, West of Ireland for nearly 10 years. I am a painter, or at least a wannabe painter.

And that's really all you need to know about me for now.

I have been wanting to be a painter for the guts of the last 10 years or more, and in the scheme of things, haven't got very far YET.
And that's the whole point of this blog, in which I will share my bumpy road to becoming an artist so far. If you're in a similar quest, I will hopefully somehow offer a few tips, share the traps I fell into in the hope you won't get caught yourself. I will express all the frustrations that pop-up now and again, and the delights that come with the successes, however small and trivial. And who knows, I may someday have to change this title again, when I can call myself a full time artist and drop the "wanna be"!!

So that's what this whole change of direction is all about. I already have a facebook page (http://www.facebook.com/jessicabaronartist)
and a website (http://www.jessicabaronartist.com to take care of all promotional stuff, so I can't see the point in having a third page for the same purpose. And there is still a bit of a selfish reason to it: I believe that looking back on how you got where you are can be of great support in looking ahead at where you want to go!

New year's resolutions 2015 LET's GET DOWN TO IT!

2014 was Good! 2015 will be even better!
Family, business, personal growth, one thing at a time and nothing left behind!

RESOLUTIONS/ OBJECTIVES:

1. Have a detailed yearly plan for the business
2. Refocused on speaking French to my two little ones
3. Organize and re-design the studio
4. Seek gallery representation
5. Have prints in a min. of 8 retail shops
6. Get down to Search Engine Optimization
7. Research and develop more products
8. Get back to running as soon as possible, healthy mind, healthy body and all that!
9. Make a little inspirational trip to Dublin
10. A long overdue visit to Quebec!!!
11. Take part in exhibition/fair during the year and increase the Christmas Fairs to at least 6.
12. Have a quarterly meal out :o)
13. Go to the pool with my little ones more often (I know, I'm leaving that one a bit vague...)
14. Is 13 resolutions bad luck??? say... Enjoy every moment!

What are yours?

NEW YEAR's RESOLUTIONS 2014 REVISITED How did you do on your resolutions??

Well, the moment of truth, before making my new resolutions for 2015, I thought I'd check how I did on last year's ones:

*Write weekly on this Blog :)  OUPSY DAISY :(

*Update website  CHECK!

*New series of 10 paintings for limited prints  CHECK!

*Get limited prints in 3 shops   CHECK!

*Find better value printing services   CHECK!

*Develop 3 craft products and try to find Irish supplies   CHECK!

*Get craft products in 3 shops  Uh-oh!

*Participate to at least 1 summer fair   Naaaa!

*Participate to at least 3 xmas fairs  CHECK!

*Set up business Facebook page and maybe one competition    CHECK!

*Set up an Etsy shop   CHECK!

*Take a course maybe in woodcraft or something like that!   CHECK! but not woodcraft

Well, I think that's acceptable enough. One has to be flexible on the long term plans!

How did you do on yours??

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