My Artistic Goals for 2008/09

Studio Renovation still in progress!

If you've read my recent recap of my 2008 artistic goals, you know already that I am a believer in setting goals, following a planned path to reach those goals, and evaluating progress in reaching them on a periodic basis.

Having evaluated my goals for 2008, I am ready to set some new goals and find a balance between realistic expectations and reaching new heights in my career.

My number one goal for the coming year is improving my paintings. Specifically, to continue to paint in half or full sheet sizes, to spend more time in planning a painting and strengthen my compositions, and to make my personal style of higher priority than capturing a realistic likeness. I've found that my more realistic paintings have a tendency to look "overworked" or stiff, and I get far more personal satisfaction, as well as truly stand-alone paintings when I take a well-planned layout and paint it more intuitively.

In improving my painting skills, I plan to concurrently achieve goal #2 for the year, that of building a body of work. I'm seeing my web site as less of a selling venue, and more of a representation of my art to venues I want to represent me, whether galleries, publishers, art societies or competitions.

I will also continue building on some of the goals I set last year, like keeping my web site current, communicating regularly with the clients on my mailing list and blogging on my art journey.

And I will be doing research, as always. Dialoguing with other artists, searching out advice on art business, on self-representation, on pros and cons of various marketing tactics. I'll post some of what I learn here on my blog, rest assured.