Happy New Years! It's 2022 and I'm officially starting my blogging journey this year. I last tried blogging in 2019 and it was meant to be informative about making surreal photography. But a lot of things have changed. I graduated from college, took up mixed media art, started my first day job out of college, started practicing blacklight photography, etcetera, etcetera. Last year was honestly the most fortunate year of my life thus far, but this year is about further dedication, growth and creativity. I will revisit my successes (and failures) of my art career in 2021in future blogs. For this post, it's going to be all about New Years Resolutions for my art career and my business. And if you're an artist yourself, I would recommend making a New Years resolution for your career and STICK TO IT!
Art Career
"Genius is 1 percent inspiration, 99 percent perspiration."
- Thomas Edison
Even though a good portion of artists say that inspiration must come to them before they can actually create art, I believe the opposite. I believe that an artist needs to work to become inspired. That means doing whatever action that brings about inspiration. This could be going to the local art center, look up new art techniques online, finding a new artist to be inspired by and the list goes on and on. I say this to come to my first New Years Resolution for myself.
Draw/Paint/Photograph 365 Projects in 2022
Phebez! That's crazy! Why so many?! Because as I've learned from 2021, you don't want to be caught lacking material when applying for shows, contests, exhibitions, etc. Plus, the more you practice, the better you will be as an artist. I feel that if I draw more ideas, I'll always have an idea to work on.
My current problem is that I don't have enough ideas to work on during my studio time. Four days out of the week, I am working my day job as a software engineer. On Fridays and Saturdays, I work part time in my art studio. As you can imagine, it's difficult to find time to draw rough drafts for major projects when you only dedicate two days out of the week to work on your art. And this is UNACCEPTABLE now that I have major goals for growth in 2022. The goals are as follows:
Finish Solo Exhibition by end of July 2022
Be in a show in the Southeast outside of Alabama
Present work at the Wiregrass Museum of Art
Be in a show in the West
Be in a show in New York
Be in a show in Chicago
Get Solo Exhibit for 2023
So yeah. Big goals require big dedication. Even though these goals may seem too much, it's always best to shoot for the moon instead of forever staying on the ground.
Art Business
"I never dreamed about success. I worked for it."
- Estee Lauder
When I went to get my business license last year, the lady asked me a question I never considered. She asked,"How much money do you plan o make this year".
I was uneasy because the whole reason I had an art studio was to make work. I had to get the business license in order to sell my work out of my studio. That's the whole point I was even there. The fact was (and still is) that I started my business with no customers, no marketing, and no income revenue.
Seeing my struggle to come up with an answer, she further asked, "Do you plan to make over $5,000?"
I slowly shook my head no. Like is that even possible? Well, yeah but I wasn't there yet. She ended up telling me that she'll put me under $5,000 until one day I make over that much. So this comes to my next big New Years Resolution.
Make over $5,000 in 2022
This resolution requires me to know more in depth about my business and learn new business skills. Saying "I don't know" can't be the excuse forever. Either I learn how to conduct business or I find someone who knows how to do business. As an artist who went to school for art, I think art school should teach you some business skills. As an artist with my own business, I have to be in charge of sales, marketing, social media, etc. On top of that, I have to foot the bill for studio rent, business cards, art material, etc. I'll go more in to detail about owning my own business in another blog. Currently, my New Years resolutions to reach this goal are the following:
Sell Prints
Post on Instagram everyday
Post blogs 3 times a week
This is definitely not a perfect plan. This one is subject to change based on results I get from my current course of action. I will keep you all updated through my blogs on Sundays, Wednesdays and Saturdays. I will be creating an email sign up to keep you updated every time I post. Thanks for reading and have a Happy New Year!
