New Year! A Clean Slate!
Happy New Year 2025!! Wishing everyone a great start to this new year!! It’s like a brand new notebook (or sketchbook) that hasn’t been written on yet! So fresh! So clean! So new! Oh the possibilities!!
Resolution? No thank you. I’m not one for resolutions. But I do like the idea of a clean slate. And this year, for the first time, I’m thinking of business and art goals (or wishes). What do I wish to accomplish this year? If I were a better business person, I would’ve already had this planned out last November. But here we are. 😆
A couple of blogs ago, I recapped what I had accomplished since I retired last March. And it was a good exercise in that it helped me appreaciate HOW MUCH I’ve actually done for my little art world biz. In the same spirit, let’s bullet point what I would like to accomplish on this brand new year. Here we go:
Increase the number of “friends” (or subscribers as the pros like to call them) on my email list. Any suggestions?
Figure out a new FREE incentive for said mailing list. Also open to suggestions. Last year, I had been giving away a screen wallpaper with my artwork for mobile phones. I’m thinking maybe I should change that up this year perhaps with a downloadable e-book. Maybe with graphic design tips? That seems boring to me. But it’s my subject of expertise. Maybe free templates? Like for business cads? That seems more interesting. I don’t know. I’m just brainstorming here…. Comment below with suggestions.
Update my website with recent artwork. This is totally do-able. But still time-consuming.
Pay more attention to my instagram account. Start posting artwork consistently. Even just once a week would be an improvement!
Consistently upload art to the shops I already have.
Maybe enter a design challenge on Spoonflower? I hear it helps get you views on that site.
Draw more. They say we artists should have a daily art habit. But I’m more of an intuitive art person. I draw or paint when the spirit hits me. So I’m inconsistent with my actual art production. Though I confess, I’m a much happier person when I do draw or paint. So I should do it more often. Even when the spirit is dormant. I did a drawing challenge a couple of years ago. I had an art prompt and I drew something every day for most of the year. It resulted in a fun collection of doodles and drawings. And it was fun. I’ll do something similar this year. I will sign myself up for 75 Art with Genna Blackburn. I’ll be drawing something every day for 75 days. This drawing challenge starts January 22. I’m READY!
A few of my friends have been requesting greeting cards. So, I’m on it. I’ll be creating art for greeting cards. I’ll do the basics like birthday, thinking of you, wish you were here, miss you, congratulations… but are there any other specific ones I should also include? Comment below and let me know.
I think these bullet points are where I should focus my attention this year, especially that first bullet point.
Sharing this time-lapse video of creating this Happy New Year graphic.
Personal goals? Here are a few I’d like to put out into the world so they actually get done! C’mon universe! Help me get these done!
Fun goal. Or more like wishful thinking. This year my husband and I will be celebrating our 15 year anniversary. I would like to take a trip to celebrate! Even a little one. Maybe to Big Bend or maybe to Hawaii or maybe to Canada or Iceland or Europe!!!!! I probably need to calm down. Keep it real. Breathe.
Health. I also need to lower my bad cholesterol and those pesky triglycerides (are those the same thing?). With age comes stupid bad cholesterol. At least that’s been the case for me. Never had a problem with cholesterol. Now I do. So, I need to eat more veggies and more fish. Less beef. Boo. Continue with yoga and walks around the hood. Yay!
Challenging goal. This year my sister and I need to clean out the storage that holds furniture and things that belonged to my parents. We no longer need to hold on to those things. However, we will hold on to those things which still hold joyful memories for us. We are off to a good start. We’ve blocked out a week in July to do that.
OH! Also a challenging goal. Less brain rotting! (Yes! Please dear lord baby Jesus!) Less social media! And I’ll probably be consuming less news for the next four years.
New art update. Maybe I should make this a consistent section on my monthly blog. Just post artwork in progress. I will call it “NEW ART! PARTY TIME!! EXCELLENT!” Just kidding. I’d probably get sued. If you read this far, you get to help name this section….. What should we call it? Comment below.
Here are some letterings i’ve been working on to include in greeting cards. Work in progress…
