Taking Stock of 2007

Today I put on my "fat" jeans and waddled out to the studio...finally... I needed to get out there, but kept finding excuses not to. And the more I put off taking stock of 2007, the harder it got to walk out there. But I did, and it's a good thing.

I took Alyson Stanfield's idea of writing down one's accomplishments, and used her list as a guideline. The point being, it's overwhelming sometimes to look at all the things we have yet to do, so it's a good idea to take stock of what you HAVE done. I noticed, as I wrote this, that I kept wanting to add, "but I still need to...". I refrained. Here's what I came up with:

In 2007:

I PROMOTED MY ART by getting my website up, starting this blog and posting regularly, sending out two mailings, inadvertantly having two newspaper articles written about me, and by being in the right place at the right time as Inspirational Director for the Tahoe Arts & Mountain Culture website as founder Becky Bell promoted the hell out of it.

I ENHANCED MY ONLINE PRESENCE by writing lots of blog posts, opening an Etsy store, posting on the Underground Artists blog, hosting a Virtual Open Studio, and somehow, due to a local news article about my neighborhood , I'm turning up in all sorts of weird online places, which is actually kind of creepy.

TECHNICAL SKILLS: Hmm... not a lot of that, but I did learn how to add a YouTube video to my blog...

I added approximately 40 names to my MAILING LIST, but actually it's more; I had to delete some names too, as the people had moved or been abducted by aliens since I last bothered to do a mailing a few years ago...

Okay, this one was fun:
Who are the TOP TEN COOL OR INFLUENTIAL PEOPLE you met this year?
I won't list them all here, but I will mention the surprisingly welcoming art community in Truckee, and the fact that I met Liz Mamorsky, who is very, very cool. And of course my favorite British person, Shelley Hocknell, who, also, is extremely cool.

Moving on, I created NEW BUSINESS CARDS using an online service and some advice from one of Luann Udell's blog posts. I also created a seemingly useless promotional piece which can be used as a handy doorstop!

A MEDIUM OR SKILL MASTERED? "Mastered" is a strong word, but I know that I reached a certain level of comfort in working with the laminated recycled paper. I also feel I managed to create jewelry that other people seem willing to wear in public.

SOMETHING DIFFERENT that I attempted would be the Art Helmets (although they closely resemble the bowls, but upside down). But I did learn to use the epoxy resin with the paper forms (how else is a girl supposed to create horns?).

RESOURCES DISCOVERED? Huh? The hugest resource I discovered was the support of my art group. That works for me.

IMPROVED STUDIO HABITS - having a new, dedicated studio space made all the difference in the world (my previous studio was nicknamed "the Ice Cave")(for good reason). I managed to get out there at the same time most days, to stop working at a regular time (much harder) and worked at least five days a week, if you don't count my obsessive habit of thinking about art all the time...

SUBMISSIONS? Invited to participate in ClayNichols Annual Invitational Urn Show; accepted into the Artisan Shop by North Tahoe Arts; the art helmets were accepted into one of Riverside Studio's monthly themed shows; also accepted into Tahoe Arts Project's Fine Art Festival.

BUT THE SINGLE BEST THING THAT HAPPENED TO MY ART CAREER in 2007 was the founding of the Underground Artists, and my friends' willingness to start the group with me. Wait: that, and the new studio. I get two "single" things. Lucky me!

That was a little bit uncomfortable...feels too much like tooting one's own horn. But it was helpful...it did kick-start my memory a bit, and it does appear as if something got done last year. Good.

Next up:
Goals for 2008!