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We’re a full two weeks into the new year and I’m still pondering the goals and resolutions I’ve set for myself. After going easy in the years since Covid, I realized that I need a push, a more  deliberate effort to advance my creative development and the work I create.

And that there is the first step: Create. More. Art. Do the thing! I need to prioritize studio time and getting to the easel. Can’t promote my artwork if I don’t make any!

This leads me to my next resolution: Set Some Goals. Say them out loud and give them voice. Manifest my success. To that end, I’m aiming for 10 commissions this year. If you’re reading, consider how you could enjoy a commissioned work: a portrait of someone special, of your home or a beloved getaway. I’m also going to make more seashell mosaics. They’re great little pieces that I put together when I need a break from painting and they’re wild popular. So yes, more of those!

How do I know they’re popular? That’s what sells at the local arts event I’ve attended a few times. So that’s my next nudge: do more events! There’s a great local artists association that holds a fantastic open studios event in my studio building and I’ve never participated. Not anymore! Again, DO THE THING.

I had a decent year last year. I redesigned my website and branding materials. I showed — and sold — work at some fantastic events. My portrait ‘Snuggled In’ was featured in an NPR roundup of pet artwork and later took 2nd Place at the Salmagundi Club’s Animals: Domestic & Working exhibit. I joined Threads and am growing a nice following.

Oddly enough, I didn’t feel great about the year as it was passing by. I wasn’t in my studio enough towards the end of the year and it put me in a funk. My confidence took a hit and my headspace was not good. In the spirit of preventing that nonsense from recurring, one final important thing I’ll work on this year is shedding some of the fear that too often holds me back. I avoid the follow through and just end up feeling bad about myself. It makes no sense! I don’t want to be afraid of success anymore.

I think that about sums up the annual peek inside my head. Hopefully I’ll get to revisit these goals and resolutions as the year goes on, to keep myself on track and mindful of what I wanted for myself (and what I thought I needed) when the year began. Until then, to the studio!