Holiday Maker Crazy

Anyone who works in retail or is a maker understands what a crazy time the Holidays are, even more so than they generally are. 2018 has been no different but I have started some new routines to try and help ease some of the chaos, including “clocking in” to the studio and tracking my time, what I”m doing with it and how long each piece takes, thanks to a handy app on my phone. This has been a really handy tool that I really like, being aware of how much time I spend in the studio verses how much time I’m actually painting. As well as how long I spend on each piece really gives a new perspective on my work.

I “only” had 10 commissions this year, mostly dog portraits a few license plates one one big kahuna! I’m officially done with all of my must finish pieces with days to spare, that feels good! The big piece I did was from an acquaintance’s husband sitting on his horse while it drinks from a creek in a very classic Eastern Montana scene. I also turned a black and white photograph into a color’d painting. I really wanted this to be something special, showcase my skill in acrylics. I put in a lot of hours, for me on this piece and it shows I did the photograph justice and created a beautiful piece of Western art. When I was about an hour from being done I got up to walk around and get fresh eyes, when I returned to look at this painting I got chills. That’s never happened before, I like most of my work and really really love under 5 of my paintings. I was filled with such accomplishment and pride that I made myself work extra hard to create something I wasn’t sure I was good enough to do. This piece will be a new shifting point in my work, even if its just for a few pieces it will forever impact my body of work, it ranks among those very few pieces that showed me I made the right choice to pursue my artistic career.

Today was a good day, for that I’m thankful. Happy Holidays and here’s to a kick ass 2019!