Already Blowing My Resolutions

"First Light"
Oil on Canvas
18x24"
2007




Warning - this is really just a rant!

I am so cranky right now. One of my goals for the New Year was to enter paintings in a select number of shows that I pick specifically because I feel that they provide good exposure for my work, and lines on my resume. The first deadline was for the OPA National Show, due today.

I wanted to do a new painting for the show, so I had my mom watch Aspen while I painted a few afternoons, and managed to rush through finishing the painting above. It's actually a larger version of a painting I did last year, that I wished I had done a bit larger to start with.

Anyhow, I finished the painting two weeks ago, photographed it, had slides overnighted to me, and put together my entry last weekend. Because it was due today and had to be mailed to Illinois, and because Monday was a holiday, I was uneasy about sending it regular mail. Unfortunately, OPA uses a PO box so you can't send your entry by Fedex or UPS, and they require that it be sent in a business size envelope, so I couldn't send it USPS express mail. I settled for the best I could do and paid to send it by priority mail. I figured if I sent it priority mail on Tuesday it would be there by today no problem, right??

WRONG.

I just checked the tracking code they gave me and found out my envelope has been MISROUTED, and that they will try to deliver it as soon as possible. I paid extra to send the thing priority mail, and the freaking USPS managed to misroute it!!

So now it won't get there today, and OPA will return it to me unopened, and I'll be out $50 from paying for slides, paying overnight shipping, and paying for priority mail. Grrr....

So, that's one show I won't be entering this year - guess I'd better find another. I'm so mad at the U.S. postal service right now!

Here We Go Again - 2007...

"Before the Snow Flies"
16x20"
2007





Since I went to the effort at tracking my goals for 2006, and it seemed to do a decent job of keeping me on track, I think it's worth the effort to outline my goals for 2007. I wouldn't necessarily call these New Year's Resolutions, since that brings to mind images of the hundreds of people who inundate the treadmills at the gym for the first few weeks of January every year. They're goals that I intend to track and stick with, even if they don't get completed within the 2007 calendar year.

Art Goals:

1. Expand gallery representation for my landscapes outside of the Denver area. Specifically, obtain representation in at least 3 of the following art markets: Scottsdale, Santa Fe, Jackson, Aspen, Breckenridge.

2. Double my 2006 revenue from painting sales.

3. Enter at least two of the following juried shows: OPA National Exhibition, OPA Central Regional Exhibition, Arts for the Parks, Salon International.

4. Enter and participate in at least one plein air event.

Personal Goals:

1. Get back into shape post-pregnancy - specifically, be fit enough to complete either the Steamboat Springs 1/2 Marathon or 5430 Sprint Triathlon in June.

2. Have fun and enjoy being a mom!

My art goals are mostly focused on expanding the market for my artwork. The first is going to be my biggest focus this year - the bottom line is that I need more than one gallery selling my work. To that end, I need to continue to enter respectable juried shows to build on my resume, and I need to spend consistent time in the studio to be able to support more than one gallery selling my paintings. The second goal is aimed at growing my business from a hobby to a career. I'm focusing on revenue rather than profit this year because growing my revenue means getting my name out there, which might require more resources initially (advertising, etc.). The last goal of participating in a plein air event is just a means of expanding my experience. I'd like to see if the plein air scene is something I'd enjoy participating in, and use it as a means to meet more artists.

As for the personal goals, I'd like to get my fitness back in the first half of the year. In 2005, I was in the best shape of my life and completed a bunch of triathlons and road races. I pretty much lost all that while being pregnant in 2006. I'd like to get it back mainly so that I can be fit enough to enjoy the things I love to do - I want to be able to climb a few 14ers this summer, which wouldn't happen at my current level of fitness. Not to mention that being in shape gives me more energy to tackle everything else. The second is kind of general, but it's just a reminder to enjoy my first year as a mom and spend some time having fun. Not everything that's worth something in life can be measured!

2006 in Review

"Sunset, Mt. Baldy" - Oil on Canvas, 24x36". This is one of two paintings I've managed to complete since Aspen was born. I started the underpainting for it back in July - don't ask me why I waited until now to complete it. Maybe I just wanted to prove to myself that I can still tackle a decent sized painting when I'm taking care of an infant?

I can’t believe it’s New Year’s Eve already! 2006 has gone by in a blur and now it’s just a few hours until 2007. Overall, 2006 was a great year. Looking back, it’s hard to comprehend how much my life has changed in just 12 months. Last year, I posted my goals for the year here – now it’s time to see how well I did here:

1) Obtain gallery representation for my landscape paintings

DONE. A good friend of mine knew the owners of a gallery in Denver that was on my short list of galleries to contact about representation. She stopped by the gallery one day and showed them my website. Apparently they were just being nice when they agreed to look at it, since they have people showing them the work of friends and relatives all the time, and 99% of the time the work sucks. But they looked, and they liked my work, and they told her to have me call them. So I did, and a couple weeks later I took in nine paintings for them to have a look at in person. They took all nine and sold seven within the month, and thus started my art career!

I’m really thankful not only to have obtained representation, but to have started with a gallery that does a great job of selling my work. Being able to have an income from art this year has given me the confidence to take a bigger leap in 2007 and make it my job.

2) Get a painting accepted to the Arts for the Parks competition or an Oil Painters of America show.

DONE. I had a painting accepted to the OPA show, which was a huge deal to me. I wasn’t able to make it to the opening, which was kind of a bummer, but my painting won an award at the show, much to my surprise.

I never bothered to enter the Arts for the Parks show. Over the past few years, the show has leaned more and more toward wildlife art and more photorealistic work, and I didn’t feel that my more painterly style would be very successful in the show. Not to mention the fact that I didn’t have a painting of a national park handy…

3) Find the right piece of property to buy in Steamboat Springs so Nate and I can eventually build the mountain cabin we’ve been dreaming about for years.

Well, we did buy property in Steamboat Springs - three lots, to be exact. But we won’t have that cabin anytime soon.

Our purchase of property morphed from buying a lot for a future cabin to buying three lots and building spec homes on all three (Nate’s big project of the year). At this point, all three lots have houses on them. One is completely finished, two still have some work to do, and all three are officially on the market. Hopefully they’ll all sell early in 2007. Maybe we’ll use the proceeds to build that cabin in the mountains someday – who knows…

4) Think about having kids (yes, think about it – I’m not committing to anything here)

DONE. Amazing how I went from “think about having kids” to having a 6 week old baby in the span of a year! I had a relatively uneventful pregnancy and an easy birth, and now I have a beautiful little girl who has changed my life. Sometimes I think I could just stare at her all day. My days no longer revolve around me, and I’m fine with that - at this point, I can’t think of anything more important than taking care of her.

5) Swim 200,000 yards (swam ~80,000 in 2005, which wasn’t nearly enough considering that I love the water)

Not even close. I swam 35,000 yards this year, which means I only made it to the pool something like 20 times. Oops!! I’ll use pregnancy as my excuse – I was tired and busy and just didn’t feel like taking the time to swim most nights. I know, pathetic. Hopefully I’ll do better on the fitness front in 2007.

Time Flies...

Whew - motherhood is a bit demanding!! Aspen is a little over a month old now (which I can't believe), and I'm working on getting my bearings straight so I can start to get a little bit more done on the art front.

The first few weeks she was home she slept all the time, so I actually got down into the studio and managed to finish a painting between feedings. The past week or so she's become more active and awake, so my time has gotten more limited. It's great because she's a lot more fun now, but tough because I have to juggle my basic activities (showering, eating, laundry) with feeding her and keeping her happy. Nate has been a sweetheart the past two weekends and hung out with her in the afternoons so I could paint, and I managed to finish a 24x36" mountain scene that I had done an underpainting for before Aspen was born. I had hoped to deliver this painting to the gallery before Thanksigiving, because I had a hunch it would sell before Christmas, but no such luck. I'm happy that I've managed to finish it now though - if it would just dry, I could pop it in a frame a deliver it. I'll post pictures of the new paintings once I have a chance to use the camera for something other than taking cute pictures of my baby!

Anyhow, motherhood has been a nice surprise so far. I've always loved kids, but have never been a big baby person, so I wasn't sure how I'd do the first few months. So far, I've been enjoying it, and I have NO desire to return to my engineering job right now. For the last month, I've been totally wrapped up in being a mom, and making the transition to being an artist. The being a mom part hasn't left much time for the being an artist part, but that can wait a few months, and I can make plans for next year in the meantime!

My Latest Work of Art...

We welcomed our little baby into the world a little over a week ago now, just in time for thanksgiving!! Her name is Aspen Elise Peterson, and she was born a 10:54 pm on Saturday, November 18th. She was a couple of weeks early and weighed in at 6 lbs. 2 oz. I happen to think she's the cutest thing ever, but it's quite possible that I'm just being biased.

Anyhow, needless to say, I haven't been getting much done other than adjusting to life with a baby. I was supposed to finish and deliver a bunch of paintings to the gallery the weekend she was born, but my water broke Saturday morning and ruined those plans! Hopefully I'll have some time to get back into the studio sometime this week or next. We'll see!!

Five Principles

"Wildflowers, Rabbit Ears Pass"
Oil on Canvas
8x10"




In Robert Genn’s October 24, 2006 newsletter, he talks about his preview of the book The Starbucks Experience, Five Principles for Turning Ordinary into Extraordinary by psychologist Joseph Michelli. In the newsletter, he talks about five principles of success, discussed by Michelli:

1. Make it your own
2. Everything matters
3. Surprise and delight
4. Embrace resistance
5. Leave your mark

When I first read this, I glanced over the principles and decided they were a little bit touchy feely and typical of the “feel good” stuff you find in your average how-to-make-your-business-successful book.

Then I took a second look and thought a little bit more about how these principles apply to my art career. I think it was a good way to bring together some thoughts about how and why I approach my art the way I do, and where I see myself going. I’m usually a bit nebulous about my painting – I hate writing artist statements and defining my work – so every once in a while I think it’s a good exercise to sit down and put some of my thoughts about art into words.

1. Make it your own.

This is one of my top priorities as I develop as an artist. Developing a personal style is something that evolves from spending countless hours alone in the studio. I value the critiques of my peers, and can’t put into words how much I’ve learned from the handful of workshops I’ve taken, but nothing has been more valuable than the hours I’ve spent alone in the studio developing my own voice. When I’m at the easel and something isn’t working, it takes some serious problem solving to figure out how to fix it. Combine my personal responses to every moment of difficulty while painting, and the result is my own personal style.

Nothing bugs me more than to walk into a gallery and to see a painting that was obviously done by someone who studied with a particular artist. I make a conscious decision to take a limited number of workshops and classes, and those that I do take are with artists who have a reputation for teaching principles and basics rather than technique. This allows me to learn within the parameters of my own style, and make sure that my paintings are and will always be my own.

2. Everything Matters

I agree – everything matters. When I drop off my paintings at a gallery, quality and consistency matter. Framing matters. Quantity matters. What a client sees hanging on the wall of the gallery influences their overall impression of me as an artist worth collecting. In working with the gallery, responsiveness and professionalism matter, and dependability above all. If I have a good working relationship with the gallery, it will reinforce their commitment to sell my work.

I could go on and on about the all of the things that matter. I’m only one person and sometimes I’m just going to have to prioritize the bigger things over the smaller things, but it’s still good to remember that everything matters. Because selling art is more than a collector falling in love with a painting - people’s opinions are influenced by more than what they see, and everything matters when it comes to presenting collectors with a package that will inspire them to open their pocketbook and buy.

3. Surprise and Delight

This one is tough for me. I paint because I’ve loved art as long as I can remember, but I’m at a point where I’m transitioning to making art my career, and at this stage I view art as work. Making and selling art is soon going to be my job, and I’m devoted to approaching my art business with the same amount of energy, discipline, and professionalism with which I approach my current day job. I think that this commitment has been responsible for the success I have experienced in this, my first year selling my artwork. But sometimes the stress of producing can suck some of the joy out of the creative process.

This principle serves as a reminder to me that I’m choosing to make art my job because I’m passionate about it. One of my goals should be maintain that passion when I get bogged down with deadlines and requests. My love for art needs to be the heart of this business if I am going to be successful in the long run.

4. Embrace Resistance

This is a tough one for everyone, because it’s human nature to respond to criticism with defensiveness. My husband is my toughest critic, and every time he makes a negative comment about a painting, I immediately respond with all the reasons he’s wrong. But every time I complete a painting, I set it up on a shelf in my family room where I can soak it up for a few days, and I never fail to see his point of view eventually. Often, the specific criticism he makes isn’t the root of the actual problem, but when I take the time to figure out what’s causing his response I can almost always use it to make a better painting.

It’s hard to admit when I’m wrong, especially when it comes to my art. I take it personally when it comes to my paintings, and it’s hard to separate hurt feelings from the truth when I’m evaluating criticism. But it’s important to embrace resistance, at least to the point of setting aside time for evaluation. Sometimes resistance is worthless, but sometimes it’s a valuable means of improvement. If you don’t stop to embrace it, you miss the opportunity that lies within.

5. Leave Your Mark

I’m a representational painter, so I don’t have any deep statement to describe what my work is about, and I’m never asked to explain what it all means. Sometimes I feel like I must not be a “real” artist, since I don’t have to put subtitles below my paintings explaining my vision and concept. But my landscapes are my personal response to the world around me, and it’s very important to me that I use my paintings to share that vision with an audience.

I see a lot of beauty in the natural world that I think the average person misses. When a particular scene takes my breath away, I would venture to say that 90% of people respond with “What?” when I say, “Wow – look at that!” The purpose of my art is to take that scene and put it in the face of someone who otherwise might not notice. It’s amazing how something that might escape a person’s notice when they’re driving down the highway can cause them to pause when they’re walking through an art gallery. I’m a bit of a tree hugger, and I just hope my landscapes can remind people that there are places out there that are worth saving.

Expanding

So, I was standing at the copy machine at work yesterday when some man I didn't know walked up and stood right next to me. I was wondering why he was invading my personal space at the copier when he proceeded to pat my belly, then pat his, and say, "You better watch out or your belly's gonna look like mine!!"

Then he paused to think a bit before saying, "Well, except that you're going to lose yours overnight one of these days, and I'm stuck with mine."

I'm glad to know that my body is starting to resemble that of a middle-aged man with a beer gut.

Fabulous.

Actually, I can't deny that I've entertained myself in meetings for the last nine months by imagining how many months pregnant I would be before my belly looked like each man's in the room. What can I say? Male engineers have beer bellys, and it makes for a good way to waste some time when stuck in a boring meeting.













I only dare to post these pictures because I've had a gazillion people request pictures of my rapidly expanding belly, and I figure it would just be easier to satisfy everyone's bizarre fascination with the pregnant belly than come up with more excuses for why I don't have any pictures of me pregnant.

Anyhow, I've come a long way between 7 weeks and 35 weeks pregnant, and I'm at the stage now where I can't quite believe that I still have approximately five more weeks for my belly to grow. Not to mention that I don't remember EVER being the size I am in the 7 week photo above, nor can I imagine ever being that size again.

Momentum

"Colorado Headwaters"
Oil on Canvas
12x16"




After the wasp invasion a few weeks back, I completely lost my momentum with painting. I had completed four paintings that weekend and was excited to keep working, but the nasty wasps in my studio kept me away from the easel for a few days, and then life got in the way again.

I did manage to frame and deliver some paintings to the gallery earlier this month, which at least made me feel like I had accomplished something. Then I got busy wrapping things up at work and trying to find some time to get ready for the baby, and didn't get much else accomplished.

I found out last week that my paintings for the Forbes show need to be done and photographed by November 15th, so that got me going again. I spent some time this weekend working on one of the last two paintings I plan to do for the show, and will hopefully finish the final one this week. Nothing like a deadline to get me going!!! Further evidence that I am officially a procrastinator...

My last day of work is next Friday, and assuming that the baby doesn't come early, that will give me three weeks to get stuff done before my life is taken over by midnight feedings and poopy diapers. During that time, I've got to get five or six small paintings done for a holiday miniatures show. Then I'm planning to be officially on maternity leave for a month or so - I'll fit in painting where I can, when I'm ready.

Simplifying

Okay, so I got sick of the peach color of my blog template, and decided to go back to basics and use something a bit more simple. I don't know html, but that didn't stop me from spending an hour customizing the colors of the plain blogger template to look better with my paintings. I'm such a geek...

Invasion

This sucks.

Nate was out of town this weekend, so I was going to be ambitious and productive and get all sorts of painting done.

I did five acrylic underpaintings last week, and was ready to get to work with the oils on Saturday morning. I headed down to my studio in the basement, and while I was cleaning up my palette, I noticed a huge wasp flying around by the window screen. I closed the window, trapping him between the glass and screen, and continued with my painting, managing to finish two paintings before dinner.

This morning, I headed back down and completed a small 8x10" painting before lunch, then started on another small study. As I started to get into it, I noticed another wasp flying above my head.

Now, my studio is in a walkout basement, and I had assumed that the first wasp just managed to squeeze its way in through a gap in the doggie door. But to have more than one of these things flying around in my basement seemed a bit strange. Just then, I noticed the distinct sound of insects hitting a window, and found that it was coming from the back room of the basement. I went and looked, and there were about 20 yellowjackets flying around the inside of the window!!

So, I turned off the radio, grabbed my dog, and headed upstairs. I'm 7.5 months pregnant, and didn't really feel like pissing off a colony of wasps in my basement!! I figured I'd send Nate down there to fix the situation when he gets home tonight - that's what husbands are for, right?

So much for my productive weekend of painting... Why'd they have to take up residence in my studio, of all places?