2012 - a year in review

Whew!  We made it through 2012 with a few bumps, several challenges and some losses.  As I do every year, I spent some time at the end of the year writing down my artistic accomplishments to see how I did compared to what I thought I wanted to do at the start of the year.  This was a big year for me despite the physical and emotional challenges the year presented.  What did I get done?  Glad you asked!

Biggest accomplishment was taking and implementing lots of the material from the Artists' Trust EDGE Professional Development Program.  This class met once a week for several months for a full day of intensive work in particular areas such as portfolio creation, gallery submission, legal stuff, pricing.  All the nuts and bolts of being a working artist.  We had a guest speaker each time and then spent the rest of the day boring down on the material and how to apply it to our work.  My class was a dozen artists working in different material and we really gelled as a group and have continued to meet and support one another twice a month.  This class helped me clarify my artistic vision, my personal goals for the next 5 years and gave me the tools to do what I want with confidence.

Next up, I sold more than I've sold before in six months.  The class ended with a group show at the ArtsNow Gallery in the Edmonds Conference Center.  I had 4 pieces in the show and three of them were bought for the Permanent Collection at Edmonds Community College.  (Our group sold over 10 pieces, a new single show record for the gallery.  Just sayin'.)  I sold 3 more art pieces before the end of the year, and on top of that I did another batch of sales of accessories, including a commission, another first.  One of the pieces that sold to ECC is below and will be part of the direction I go in the next year, but more about that in the next post.

Backyard Bushtits #3

Then there was showing my art.  I joined Gallery North, also in Edmonds, where I learned a huge amount about presenting art, got to practice talking about art, and relearned how to sell to individuals.   I also  joined Artists Connect and was in their member show, ArtSplash, in July.  And I had 3 of the 4 pieces I submitted to the Edmonds Art Festival accepted into the show in two different categories.  Another area show in November finished off my season.

I updated and improved my webpage and my marketing materials.   This is an ongoing process for an artist and I'll be doing another pass at it this month.

Last, but certainly not least, I took an online class from Lisa Call about Working in a Series.  I've been struggling with where to go with the pieces that incorporate my bird photography and this class helped me focus my intent for the series and gave me some process tools to make my studio work more productive.  Again, material that I will be using in the next year.

Then my back called a halt to this mad gallop I was doing.  So now I'm resting and thinking how to work within the physical constraints imposed by my health issues.   I have some ideas and I'll talk about them in my next blog post.

I hope your year was as productive!