Wednesday, September 03, 2008

August Goals Update

"Moraine Park Summer"
Oil on Panel
18x24"
2008

Is it really September already? It's been cold up here the past few mornings, and I feel like summer disappeared as Labor Day weekend came to a close. I've been so busy that it seems to have passed me by!! Anyhow, I guess it's time to status my goals and see where I'm at now that we're 2/3 of the way through 2008. It's been a crazy week around here, so bear with me if I ramble.

1. Get my work into three more galleries.

I'm sort of feeling like I'm done with this goal for now. I don't particularily need another gallery at this point, so I don't want to waste a lot of effort on it. I'd rather focus my energy on making sure my existing galleries are stocked with good paintings!! I do have a three-person show in October at a gallery I don't currently show with. If that goes well, I would consider showing my work there, and then I could check this off of my goals list. But right now, I'm happy with where I'm at.

2. Complete 100 paintings.

Painted seven this month - well, I guess I painted eight, but one wasn't very successful and is still in studio waiting to be fixed. Most of these were fairly small, so it wasn't a very productive month for me. I had a bit of post-show burnout after the RMPAP show, and then that stomach thing knocked me out for a week. Anyhow, that makes 66 down, 34 to go.

3. Sell enough work to pay our mortgage.

The original point of this goal was to make me take my art seriously and feel like a contributing part of the household finances, and it's been really effective. It's been a good year for me up to this point, and that's been a really big blessing given the state of the economy. Nate's business is homebuilding, and he's taken a bit of a hit this summer, so anything I can contribute is more than welcome right now. I've already met this goal for the year, and at this point I'm just looking to go beyond that to help out where I can.

4. Update painting database and financial records monthly.

Done. Still very useful. I was going to blow this off this week, then I realized I'd be kicking myself when I eventually had to catch up. It's nice to keep the business side of things up to date by doing it on a regular basis.

5. Race in a minimum of three 5k's.

This is so not a priority right now! I'm registered for a tri this month, but I've got so much going on that it's totally been pushed to the back burner and I think I'll probably skip it. I am going to make sure I go for a run or hike every morning before I paint, mostly for my mental health, but that's where it ends.

So, there they are for the month. Considering how much we have going on these days, I'm happy to see that I'm on track with my goals for the year. In the next few months we'll be moving and it'll be interesting to see how that affects things. At this point we have our foundation done, but we're putting our house on hold and thinking of moving into the spec home we have on the market. I'm sort of bummed about that because it means I won't have my dream studio right away, but the house we'll move into is actually really cute and nice, and has a great view from the front yard that I've painted a couple of times already! And I can wait until next year for the dream studio, I suppose... Anything's gotta be better than the garage I'm painting in right now (which is starting to get cold as the weather turns)!

5 comments:

  1. Greetings! I was curious as how you keep painting database? In what software with or without images and what all details do you include? Can you write if possible?

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  2. hi stacey, seems like you are keeping steady on your goals! wonderful painting. the contrast of the two very different landscapes is beautiful. that stream looks absolutely splendid for wading in!!

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  3. Congratulations on keeping at your goals! You are an inspiration.
    This painting is fantastic in the depth it creates. The distance from that stream to the far mountain seems like a very loooong way away. Really beautiful.
    I agree that summer seems gone already - even before August was completely over. When one lives close to the mountains, it is indeed a short summer season!

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  4. Indiaartist - I'll post sometime about the database I keep. I use an Access databse, so it doesn't have any images in it - probably a shortcoming compared to using artist sofware...

    Christine - thanks! The stream may look great, but I bet it'd be freezing. I dropped my tripod in the headwaters of the Colorado Rive last month and just about froze my feet off wading out to retrieve the thing!!

    Joanne - it's always sad to see the summer go. I love the fall, but winter is just too long in the mountains...

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  5. My golly, how I like your paintings. They ALL have such a feeling of place.

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