Goal: New Waves 2009 Show

Today I got a shock, and that's a good thing because for the last few weeks I've been in a deep creative slump. The shock was that I have been featured in Ann Kullberg's online magazine, From My Perspective. You have to be a subscriber to see it, so if you are, please take a look. If you are not a subscriber, maybe you would like to be. It's a superb magazine, featuring cp artists and giving tips about working with colored pencils. 

Well, my slump. It seems like nothing I do is worth doing. Art, I mean. I keep starting things and then giving up. I have a pile of thirty minute things that aren't worth more time. But...I've set a few goals for myself, and that is the only way I can work effectively. My first goal is to enter work in the Contemporary Art Center of Virginia's 2009 New Waves juried show. It is due by October 31, so I have to hustle. Remember the bunny who lived in my backyard a few months ago? I guess he's moved on to greener pastures, but I got lots of close up shots of him and I've been toying around with some sketches from them. So maybe he will be my subject. 

Last week my sister and niece and I went to Florida to see my daughter and her husband. Her friends gave her a baby shower and we had a lot of fun. My granddaughter is due in a few weeks.

Isn't she beautiful?

While we were there, we saw a magnificent group of vultures. I know....vultures? magnificent? Well,  yes. We were only  about fifty feet from a group of about thirty and we watched them glide around and call to each other for a long time. It was one of those things that remind you that there is a greater power and we are all just a small part of the universe.

Tying Up Loose Ends

My studio was so messy even I couldn't find anything, so I've rearranged my canvases and frames ( with a lot of help from Kim) to make more room for me. Today and yesterday I did little things here and there to improve my workspace. Now I can see where things are instead of guessing and looking and guessing again.

Fishing Friends

6x18

This is finished, but I'm very frustrated about how my photos look. Maybe a class on digital photography in the near future?

About the goals I've posted....well, some are achieved and some aren't, but it has really helped me to write down what I need to accomplish, instead of planning mentally and then forgetting. So, I'll continue to set goals each week and post them in my studio so they are out there in my face. No forgetting now!

Serious Stuff

Rebecca's Apples

20x16

This is one I did several months ago, in fact, almost a year ago. Boy, does time fly!
I've been thinking about my goals all day because I promised to post them here today. This is more difficult than I thought. I seem to think in a huge, global way. And then I zoom in on one thing and think of nothing else until I'm distracted and then I'll zoom in on another thing. I'm very easily distracted. 

Right now I need a secretary. But....it's just me. So, here are my goals for this week. They might be changed before long.

Weekly Goals

1. Finish miniatures and the chair with sunflower.

2. Make new labels for finished work.

3. Practice painting at least 5 days.

4. At least one hour a day practice using  Wacom tablet.

Goals to Achieve by November

1. Put my work in one more gallery 

2. Organize business paperwork in one place - a notebook.

3. Find and enter at least one more competition.

I'm still working on a mission statement. All I can say is I want to make the most use of what I have for the good of myself and others.

Goals

Orange and Kiwis

8x10

This isn't a lot to show, but it's all I finished today. Don't ask me where the time goes. I haven't even left the house. My neighbor came over this morning just as I was about to start painting. Well, he stayed for an hour and then when he left I ate lunch and sat here looking at art blogs and then the day was almost gone. But I did put in an hour on this, so I'm trying to keep up my plan of painting each day. 

Oh, yeah.....uh, I did spend some time trying to figure out my new Wacom tablet. 

Yesterday, I saw a post on Susan Carlin's blog  questioning the value of publishing  a mission statement and goals on a blog. She asked for input, and she decided to go ahead and make her mission statement public, as well as her goals. That made me think about doing this, because when I started this blog my intention was to keep a visual journal of my artwork. I wanted to find a way to make myself accountable for making progress  as an artist.So, definitely for me, including my plans and goals makes good sense. In my post tomorrow  I will be ready to share them with you.