Life of an Artist
Can I be both organized and an artist? Yes and no. I work hard at compartmentalizing my life. Life works hard at breaking through my compartmentalization. To be fair, there are so many opportunities, I just want to take advantage of them all. This is precisely why I find myself hopscotching from one art project to another.
Making Art
In February, 2020 I committed to creating a drawing a day for 100 days. I enjoyed and learned so much from doing this, when the 100 days were over, I opted to make drawing a regular practice. I did switch to doing a drawing a week versus every day. Even so, it remains a significant commitment.
Then there is my decision to join Cohasset Open Studios. The first weekend in November, this group of artists in my town welcome people into their studios. I am fortunate to have a studio, a home already hung with my work and I enjoy sharing and talking about my work. As an added bonus it is a great way to make friends with a common interest – art. The result, I am making 4″ x 3″ mini quilts every week to be inserted in aperture cards.
Sharing and Selling Art
No point in hosting an open studio without boosting the odds to get people in the door. Sure, Cohasset Open Studios has a website, provides street signage, even posts on local social media. Still, it never hurts to augment this with my own social media and web presence. I have been working on posting weekly on FaceBook and Instagram. I have redone my website and write about the process of making my work every week on my blog.
Is all this work worth it? You bet! I may be overwhelmed at times, but I am never bored. Creating is breathing for my soul.
I am linking up with Nina Marie’s Off the Wall Fridays.
There really are so many wonderful opportunities! It is great to be an artist!
I couldn’t agree more. I feel very fortunate to have been able to pursue art. It wasn’t on my radar when in school.
Keeping up with the social media posting is like a part-time job! I enjoy writing up blog posts, but need to work on posting on Instagram more regularly.
I tend to see social media as a wise time suck IF you want an audience who follow your work and be persuaded to purchase art or services from you. I do try to keep my time very limited, focusing on my sites versus wandering down the “I’ll just scroll down a few more posts” attitude. Just as I create a blog post once a week, I post a drawing once a week on FaceBook and Instagram. Each site points to the other two.
I struggle with organizing. I am glad it worked out for you. I had to google aperture cards, I had never heard of them before. Way cool!
I hadn’t heard of aperture cards either, Sylvia. I had seen them, but didn’t know what to call them. So hunting them down was quite the internet adventure. They seem to be sold mostly in the UK by stores specializing in needlepoint. I found mine in the US at JoAnne’s. Couldn’t find them for sale online. They are available in the store. I expect you could find them at similar arts and crafts establishments or needlepoint stores.