Can you believe it’s already the end of June? The year is half over!
I’ve had a few things develop over the past few weeks, including several new commissions, two shows in the Fall, and last, but most time-consuming, a new day-job. Long story short: I need to take a six-week break starting at the end of this month. Something’s gotta give and I’m afraid this blog is it (well, temporarily at least). I thought this might also be a good time to review my goals for the year.
1. Daily drawing: I’ll admit, over the past month or so, I haven’t been drawing every day, but I have been drawing more than five times a week. Even though the next several months are going to be hairy this is something I must make time for… maybe I’ll have to put a time-limit on each session?
2. Blogging: this was supposed to be daily… but I’ve come to the conclusion that I’m not a daily blogger – and I have to stop feeling guilty about it. I need to give myself permission to take the time to write and reflect, and posting every day doesn’t allow me to do that. When I return in mid-August, I’ll be posting every other day/three times a week.
3. Web site: I have been making updates, improvements and changes to my main website. My e-commerce research, while slowed significantly over the past few weeks, is progressing.
4. Networking: while I doubt I’ll ever be a natural at this, I have become better at it. For example, when I joined Facebook to network with former highschool classmates for our reunion this Fall, I included an album of my work and it’s resulted in a few enquiries about commissions. I realise this is pretty basic stuff, but it’s a huge leap forward for someone who, as a child, would get sick at the thought of selling raffle tickets.
5. Entrepreneurial: as much as I love (love, love) research, I thought taking a few seminars and workshops on marketing and small business would be a more effective use of my time. I’ve started with the Biz Launch seminars through Staples and we’ll see what happens from there.
6. Paperwork: updating my books at the end of every month may have been one of the best decisions I’ve made with the whole business side of art thing. Next year’s tax season aside, I think it’s made me more alert to cash flow and budget issues.
7. Creative writing: this is another goal which will undergo a change. While writing haiku has been personally satisfying, I’m heading into a huge time crunch over the next several months and I think I need to re-direct this energy. During my break I’ll decide if haiku is something I’ll put on hold a bit longer, maybe to after Christmas? We’ll see.
I’m going to use the time off to get a handle on my new day job, get some serious commission work done, and hopefully, take a week off up at Lower Fishing Lake at the beginning of August. I hope you have a satisfying and restful summer and I’ll see you again mid-August.
