Goals and Thank yous

It's the most wonderful time of the year!
A time to be thankful and start writing 2017 art goals.

Snuggled - small 4x6" quick painting. Loved the snow!

I've said it before and I will say it again, I am thankful for my art friends. My friends are kindred spirits who are sounding boards, informers, sharers, listeners and mentors--thank you!
When I am in the studio with my friends, I forget my troubles.

I was chatting recently with my art friends and was surprised to learn that I am in the minority when it comes to making art goals. Yes, I make yearly art goals and I encourage you to do the same. Goals help me focus and they are something that I think about throughout the year.  I believe in art goals, I believe in working toward goals and I believe in the action of writing goals down.

Last year I completed the following: update blog twice a month, create an art inventory, complete more landscape paintings, create an art website. Incomplete goals include selling a larger work and Giclee prints of my Santa (I did look into Giclee prints, they were much more expensive than anticipated)...

Also, I had my first solo show and was accepted to have a second solo show in February 2017. One reason for the shows was my preparation--because I had goals and was out painting more often, I was confident that I had enough completed work for a solo exhibit.

I have started thinking about my 2017 goals, and plan on discussing them with my husband on an upcoming road trip--the best time to brainstorm and jot down ideas. I already know that goals will include Art Quick Studies (painting two small one hour paintings each week)--this is something I started recently that I enjoy.

Quick Painting: Small Work Evolution!

Putting IDEAS into ACTION

A quick one hour study, 5x7

I constantly Google art and research art blogs; always looking for inspiration. I recently read an article endorsing quick paintings, which must be small and must be completed in a short amount of time. I thought this a good idea, a good way to improve my painting skills!

The next art group studio session, I mentioned this Quick Painting idea to my art colleague and said, " Hey, maybe we should do  this each week and hold each other accountable." And, to my shock and delight, it evolved from there!

Purpose of this group: Improve Painting Skills Through Quick Studies

Goal: Create two art quick studies each week

• One hour or less for each study

• Small works encouraged (3x3, 4x6, 5x7 etc)--whatever you can get done in an hour

Why Participate: improve your painting skills, make faster decisions, paint more quickly, paint more, use more intuition, less overthinking, less overworkingWhat: What you paint is up to you- Still Life, Portrait, Landscape, Abstract -- the point is to paint and paint quickly, using a 60 Minute timer! 

 Sounds easy, right? The main flaw was how to share the works with each other--my works were "wet paint" and not easy to transport.

One great thing about going to studio art sessions is the discussions that are generated. We basically brainstormed virtual ways we could share the art with each other. We have blogs, Facebook, Instagram and all that, but how to create a private place for these artists to post weekly Quick Paintings? Eventually we settled on creating a Private Facebook Group where we can create Picture "Albums" for our weekly artwork.

And, as we were discussing further this idea, several others in the art group stated they would like to join us in the Quick Paint Weekly Challenges! I was surprised and thrilled!

As of now, the Quick Painting group is 5 people, but one other artist has expressed interest and will join us in this endeavor. Wohoo!