7 Month Recap

7 months. Yesterday I found myself in a bit of a funk. Not too badly because life is so good. But, sometimes, it happens. It’s been seven months since I retired from my day job. And for some reason I was thinking “and what have I done with my life??”. As we often do when self-doubt creeps in. So I made a list. In the last 7 months I have:

  • Created give-away stickers with contact information. Sidenote: Before I even retired, I thought I should print business cards for my new art business. But I thought business cards were old school and boring 😬. So I created some water bottle stickers (from Sticker Mule) showcasing my art and listing my website as my “contact” information. I’ve been proudly giving those out instead.

  • Completed and copyrighted 10 illustrations and 10 repeat patterns.

  • Completed 6 Halloween themed repeat patterns.

  • 6 more patterns are in progress (floral themed). That’s a total of 22 different patterns!!!

  • Started a Spoonflower shop.

  • Restarted posting on Pinterest.

  • Started a mailing list (which involved figuring out some tech).

  • Started a monthly newsletter (also involved some brain work figuring out the tech).

  • I restarted my blog and have been consistently writing and posting it for the last 7 months.

  • Completed my portfolio. Phew!! (If you’re an art director, send me a note! Let’s work together! 😃)

  • Started pitching to companies for licensing opportunities.

  • Last but not least, I was invited to submit artwork to the Mississippi Latinx Art Association. In November the Mississippi Latinx Art Association is having a one day exhibit and sale of artwork no larger than 8x8 inches. I completed six watercolor paintings for this exhibit. And I’ve already sent them off. 

Not bad!! In these past 7 months, I have been very busy doing the things necessary to have an art business. Reminder to myself that this is a long game. Need to keep pushing forward and stay consistent with all these bullet points. Besides, no doubt I have enjoyed doing all this work for myself and not for “the man”. Haha!!

Watercolor. Let’s go back to the art submission request (that last bullet point). I still have a hard time identifying as an artist. It’s challenging to shift my mindset to “artist” after 33 years of working as a graphic designer (which is a creative career, but NOT at all like being an artist).

Sidenote: I acutally address the difference between designers and artists in my very first blog post. Go back and take a read if you’re curious.

Back to watercolor. So when my friend Tommy asked me to submit artwork to the MS Latinx Art Association for this one day exhibit and sale, I wasn’t sure what it meant. Who, me? Submit art? What art? It took some introspection to figure out what art I could submit. Hellloooo, ink and watercolor. That’s what I do when I’m not digitizing art for repeat patterns. See below for the pieces I submitted. Will report back to see how the exhibit went.

If you’ve read this far, you’re a superhero. Thanks for following along as my art journey progresses. 

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Grateful for travel.

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Pitching, not the belly-itching kind.