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.