No Fatal Errors!
Fatal Error Sonic
Just last week I was at a low point and was ready to give up this art business thing, thinking I simply lacked the social skills to be successful. However, as the new year begins, I reflect upon my “coming out” as an artist two years ago. It has been a rapid learning curve!
To think that in two years I have produced so much work, at least 200 new pieces, was brave enough to first post it on Facebook, then add an Instagram account a year ago, blogged, wrote for Maine Arts Journal twice, showed and sold work in galleries (was the 2022 featured artist at Arundel Farm Gallery) and in juried shows and on my own- I have to feel good about those accomplishments!
Two years ago I was just drawing in charcoal (having been a printmaker and then sculptor 30 years ago) and I decided “I’m gonna be a plein air landscape painter in oils” and did a bunch of that. I monitored workshops with Coastal Maine Art Workshops and learned more about plein air and workshop teaching gigs from each instructor. Winter came and I decided to experiment with watercolor and did a bunch of that. Winter continued (this is Maine) and I experimented with acrylic since my studio did not accommodate oils. That led to the use of old prints in collage, setting up a printmaking studio to carve custom blocks and stencils with my own motifs and patterns. All of these media were new to me, as was painting in general. I was sharing and showing all my explorations freely, searching for my way forward.
Along with this I had to learn how to get a domain, a website, and now a store. I learned about image files, art photography, resizing images, how to use art staging apps, how to apply for residencies, how to make my own cradled panels, frames, how to mount and varnish work archivally, and explored the world of art fairs a bit with a friend.
I have made plenty of newbie mistakes but nothing yet fatal. After building, taking down, and rebuilding my website three times now in a stubborn urge to avoid typecasting, I have finally been convinced to focus on the multimedia collage paintings. I'll still DO all those other things, but remove them from my website except when featured in a blog. I have a consistent pricing structure now. I have started the process of counseling with the Small Business Association, in an effort to avoid faux pas I am likely to be totally unaware of, given my clueless nature.
I think I am gonna make it!
As an example of my cluelessness, this is a piece I forgot that I had created and framed! It was sitting in my inventory room, and I re-discovered it today and added it to my store. As my mother always said, “She’s smart but has no common sense!”
