And so comes the 2009 review, reviewing your year  i have been doing these for about 3 years now, just looking back on my old blog I have been blogging since 2006, and here was my first yearly review in 2007.

WOW!  My life has changed so significantly since writing that post, i think even in the midst of writing that things were changing that i probably didnt want to post about on my blog. In reading it again its interesting to note that  some of the things on that list are still my goals for today. It would be easy to go to a negative spirals and  think well, so you havent achieved those things in 4 years, but at the same time I am choosing to look at things this way:

Sometimes your path is not always as straight forward as you think, sometimes you need to take extra steps to get on with your journey, the fact that these goals are still relevant means that they are good important goals ones i need to continue working on, and celebrate just that bit more when finally they are achieved.

The fact that I am able to look at my goals even just from 3years ago, illustrates just how importannt it is to look at yourself through this “third eye” assess whats going on in your life at regular intervals but also its shows that you cant be a slave to your goals things change so do you so you have to move with it they are goals not rules.

What’s most important for me (because i tend to forget to do this ) is to CELEBRATE what you do achieve and not just pass it off as something else you have done, onto the next thing. FEEL GOOD about it! (SOOO hard for me to do).

2009

2009 Has been another big year for me, to be honest the whole year has felt like a long haul, and in starting to write this post I really didn’t think I had achieve a lot on my list.  In looking, I actually realized that so many things on my list at the beginning of the year on my accomplishments without consciously trying to achieve them throughout the year. Which i find amazing its like i must have been on auto pilot and tricking myself into doing them PLUS I have also achieved many other things that weren’t on my list so all in all that is fantastic.

Major achievements & Goals for the year:

- October, coloured pencil workshops : feedback from the workshop was fantastic have 2 more scheduled in June with the CCAS, considering offering smaller personalized workshops from my studio in 2010.

- Became a hosting reseller, steelkey offers hosting to clients, while I am not aiming to sell hosting day to day being able to look after my clients offer this service to my clients is fantastic.

-  Newsletter, while this only recently happened (Dec) my original plan would have seen me have other newsletters throughout the year, but to be honest I just wasn’t ready so glad i achieve this at least once

- Created and  maintained a mailing list for both design and art clients (i didnt have one at the beginning of the year, now i do – its not huge but its a start)

- Network in real life more! – I attended quite a few networking events this year  BMN conference, CCBiZ events, accelerate women, CCAS & art events, had client meetings, and networked with people in my office and at theirs.

- Do one thing at a time – whilst this is a pretty broad statement, what it essentially translates  for me is to  get the task at hand done. Don’t get distracted,  it’s a ongoing discipline I am getting better at.

-Attend  life drawing classes, for a good 6month period I attended life drawing classes often once a week sometimes fortnightly until recently when family commitments meant I couldn’t but this is a fantastic discipline for brain and artistically.

-Help people .. this year I know I have helped lots of people one of those being CCAS, they asked me during the year and I was honored to accept becoming a committee member. I find this commitment (and it is a commitment) rewarding. Providing a service to the community, in a topic i love art.

-Take my boys on a good family holiday. I was so lucky to be able to do this in August, it was the first real holiday i have had in about 10 years, the boys loved it  something we all will remember for a long time

So these are just a few of the goals and achievements for the year, one of the biggest parts for me has been finding my direction, which will be in my second post.

This is whats on my desk for this afternoon, some lovely greeting and thankyou(smaller) cards
Loving these they are so cute even if i do say so myself

2009 has proven to be a big organisational year here in the studio.

I wanted to share with you some of the processes I have created to help track my work, time and family life that you could also do yourself.

Here is my weekly folder, it is an expandable file which contains 6 folders which hangs down like this, I bought it from officeworks and I can fold it up and take it with me anywhere if need be. It means don’t have piles of paper laying around. FANTASTIC!

I have labelled one “folder” for everyday of the working week and then a combined one for the weekend.

MY PROCESS
This is very cheeky of my I know but would you like to read more… ?

This info is from my latest newsletter, you will need to signup to read more (otherwise its not fair to my current subscribers – you understand

Greeting Cards Mam's Rose GC060

For a while now I have been selling my artwork as greeting cards and prints. I have donated many a card to kindy hampers, conference attendees, given them as gifts to friends etc sold them at markets.

In the past I have had them printed with Redbubble, who do a fabulous job but by the time you pay for printing and shipping it just works out too expensive for me and the customer particularly if someone just wants 1 or 2 cards. Recently though, i have acquired a special Epson A3 printer which allows me to do my own on-demand printing.

This printer isnt your average ink jet – it comes with special photographic inks, in 6 cartridges which apparently last around 200years.  Couple the inks with  special Canson / Arches Museum Rag Fine Art and Photography paper, makes for a pretty special greeting card or print a little bit better than the ones from the $2- shop. Many people i know send buy a card and frame it, pretty nifty little present or i can do small prints to sizes as well

So if your needing some SPECIAL greeting cards or prints created with love, i do greeting cards based on my artworks here are a couple that I am putting together today for a special donation over at: http://www.planyourspecialday.com.au/

Special Greeting Cards of artwork, printed with special inks to last up to 200years on special Canson Fine Art & Photographic Paper.
Currently $4.50 each or 3 for $13-  including postage to Australia.

Greeting Cards

Today is the end of a very busy week, what is great about this week is that i have managed to tick off a few things on my list that have been weighing me down both for work and personally.

To say that i have had  a bit of weight taken off my shoulders is a bit of an understatement, i have to say i have been struggling of late, i know part of it has been taking on too much, trying to achieve too much, but at the same time, they are all things that need doing. I am learning to prioritize  better and allow more contingency time in the future that will give me a bit more space to breathe, i need it.

This week i have completed 4 websites! Admittedly,  two have been in development for the past few months but they have all been made live this week which is fantastic .

One is the new Central Coast Art Society website, of which i am very proud to have completed. I was elected as a committee member earlier in the year to help out the existing webmaster with the website.

The previous CCAS had outrun its service and was becoming very hard to manage as the site was growing. So i am very happy to have provided the CCAS with a new website that will hopefully serve the society better for a while to come.
I am really proud to help bring art to the wider community and to be helping out local artists through this community society. Its really good perspective to be involved with a community project / service I thoroughly recommend it, if its not something you have previously been involved with.

Check out the site at: http://www.artcentralcoast.asn.au and if your a central coast artist – are you a member ? You get a FREE profile on the site!

Second website of the week is  Australian Coloured Pencil network .

This website has been running for a while on the ning network. To be honest I have always struggled with the ning system but for lack of time to research and find a better system, i figured anything was better than nothing and went with that in my inital launch.

The Australian Coloured Pencil community has defiantly grown since this website started, i am really happy to be doing something to help grow this community and raise the profile of coloured pencil art in Australia and help support other CP artists.

To cut a long story short, this week I was finally able  to implement a new system / website for our members, this website will mean so much more for the members, and will be great for me as there is so much more potential in terms of management, content, etc. as well as the potential for the site to recoup some of costs associated with its running.

So anyway go and check the website out, I still have some content and listings to add, I will get to it when i can, the site is primarily aimed for the Australian Artist but we welcome anyone from around the world so if your a CP artist, come along and say hi -

Australian Coloured Pencil network and we are also on Twitter: http://twitter.com/AusCP

That’s it for me for this week, i have also been retouching some paintings this week, getting ready for summer exhibitions in January – stay tuned, now I think i will have a beer and OMG hopefully RELAX!

This weekend I have been sorting, tidying my office/studio. Partly for my own sense of wellbeing but also becasue I have the opportunity for a few exhibitions coming up so I wanted to have a look at what i have got As well as that, the end of year is coming up so it means time for review the year that was 2009 and planning some direction for 2010.

It’s often hard I think not matter whether its art or business or whatever to look at yourself and review areas for improvement but I really feel like crutical factor. As an artist / creative person you get so involved in your work so close to it sometimes you really cant see the overall picture. Look at everything with a fresh eye can sometimes mean that you see things you never have seen before.

So anyway here is my stocktake my collection of current art here at the studio. Some new some old, most originals but some prints. Some painted some coloured pencils .. it really is a melange of stuff.

If you have the time, I would absolutely Love ANY feedback anyone can give me on what you like / dont like. If you were to put one of these in your home / buy one as a gift what would be the style you would like ? What appeals to you. Its really good just to get feedback on what other people think ! 

If your on my mailing list I might just send a little package your way Christmas is on its way.

p.s if your interested Prints are $22- AU inc GST  Make a great gift

Recently I have been talking with people about art, particularly in relation to buying an artwork whether that be from a local gallery, artist or from (yes let me say it “The Reject Shop” yes i know we have all looked there).

One of the common responses from people I hear is:  “I don’t know anything about art”.… which ponders me to think..

Are people scared of art ? and what is this mystical thing people want to  know?

Let me start by saying that I am not going to deny there is a something about art, yes there is good art and bad art, yes there are good and great artists and some are better than others… and the only way you will be able to tell the good from the bad is if you go to galleries, look through history,  look at lots of art, question yourself about why one is good and one is bad research, it takes time but eventually you will “get” it.

But this post isn’t for those who wish to become art connoisseur,  by all means if this is your desire go right ahead discover all there is and I know an artist that is hoping to sell some artworks

What if you just want a nice piece of artwork to fill a space on your wall ? There is so much to choose from, so many artists, so many prints ? So many variations in prices, how do you know what to choose ?

So, if your thinking about artwork or looking at boring dull white wall,  I have come up with a few questions to ask yourself about when your thinking about decorating it with some art.

The first thing I am going ask you to do is try to put all thoughts out of your head about what is good and what is bad, who is a good artist and who isnt. Lets face it if your not into art, and not particularly fussed about owning a particular artwork by a particular artist then all that stuff doesnt really matter does it?

Then all your left with a couple of personal and simple questions to ask yourself.

1. What do you like ?

2. How does it make you feel?

You see, if your new to art when you place an artwork on your wall, it will suddenly become part of your life! You will see it everyday, whether its conscious or not your artwork will give you a feeling, a thought a reminder about something, its giving in the fact that it will give you something to you everytime you see it. (sounds crazy I know but its true.. stick with me…)

Have you ever watched those home improvement shows where they paint a whole wall / room, yellow or red or blue or have you done it yourself ?

Did you notice that by painting the walls it changes the mood of the room? If its using bright warm colours the room will feel warm every time you walk into it and obviously the opposite is true with the cooler colours.

A painting is the same, the main colours that are used in the painting will affect the feeling that comes off the painting when its hung in the room – particularly if its a large painting.

So, what about style and subject?

Well this is personal as well, What Do You like? Maybe you want to reminded of a particular place you have visited, a feeling at that place ? Well then a landscape of a beach, some mountains for example might be the way to go.

If its a person or an animal then try to choose something which invokes something in you. Sometimes its great to be reminded of nothing in particular so maybe some colours, abstract contemporary pieces might be the way to go.

If you are looking online, once you find something you like bookmark it, put it aside, then you can look for other artworks which are similar, eventually you will narrow it down to be the “one” or style / subject you like.

You may find an artist to which you like their particular style, Did you know that artists have to pay large commissions to galleries or exhibitions who sell their artwork? In most cases around 50% for each painting that is sold. This is why original artworks can be quite high in price, the artist generally wont see alot of that, and that’s before you take out materials, framing etc etc. So understandably original works might be out of the question for the average consumer particularly if the artist is a well known one.

So where does this leave you?

Well if you have come to this stage, congratulations you have actually without realizing it, become an artlover!
Surprise surprise wasn’t so hard was it? If you really really want a certain artwork, you can contact the artist / gallery if possible and ask them whether they offer prints?

Prints are cheaper, often if your not an art collector your not really willing to pay extra for the original anyway. Prints are a good way of still having a piece of art in your home you love without the higher cost. Many artists particularly if they are marketing themselves well will be happy to sell you a print.

From an artists point of view when creating an artwork I think about all these things for myself and from the point of view of eventual owner of the artwork. Take for instance my latest artwork while its not of anything inparticular, i wanted to do something bright something colourful something flowy (if thats a word) something that would look good on a wall and which i would hope bring hapiness to its new home.

Thats it! A feeling, a thought, nothing scary or fancy or specific.

So if your thinking about adorning your walls, need something to spruce up your home, or even if you just want a  constant reminder around you to make you feel good, will be surprised about how positive a piece of art on the wall will make you feel.

Don’t be scared when looking at art, its a personal item for your home there are many reasons to own a piece of art hopefully today I have given you a couple  to get you  started.

Here is my final installment for my formulas to help work rest and play.
Here are part 1 and part 2.

9. Remembering to spend time with my kids, and with others.

If life is your inspiration, then being lockedup in your house your studio, perfecting your technique or even keeping your house clean day after day  probably wont inspire you or make you happy. It can be tempting when you have a deadline or a list a mile long to keep plugging away to try and get things done. I recently discovered to tell myself that the list can wait! The world wont crash down if MY list isnt completed.

Sometimes the best thing you can do is to get out, put a stop to your work and do nothing spend time with your family and friends. Its often hard for me to put work/tasks aside when there is sooo much to do. But i often feel very inspired when i make the time to do so and come be rejuvenated and with fresh ideas.
This works business wise as well, if your feeling down try a catchup with some other artists or artlovers or friends, attend an exhibition opening or meet up at a networking event,  its so great to surround yourself with like minded people you will be more motivated for it!

10. Review your list often.

Life changes (dont i know it), goals change, sometimes you need to assess what you are doing and change it, keeping in mind though my previous point number 6. you need to remain focused don’t fall into the trap of changing things alot or you will never complete ANYTHING. But dont be afraid to say to yourself, you know what i REALLY could do this better or differently to make it better. A quarterly review is always good or monthly review to see what you have accomplished if you get some things done off your list you will feel great!

11. PAUSE !

This one is my last one as i am trying to deal with it right now and i need to remember it.
It kinda ties into my point no. 6 again about focusing on the right tasks.
Before launching myself into a new task or project or website update or blog update or even sending designs or an email off to a client i am learning to PAUSE. I just sit on it for could be a few minutes or a day or delaying a project (like updating my website) for a couple of months.
Pausing can make sure you are saying exactly what you need to say, it can help you make sure you spend your time doing the right things instead of the wrong things, it can help you to see an artwork with fresh eyes and see just where your going wrong.

Pausing gives you the ability to change your mind, but also when the times comes to eg. update my gallery, i will have made notes from now until then about what i want to do, other sites i like, how i am going to structure it. What does it need to contain. That way when i am ready i am ready. 

Well here is the end of my raving, i hope some of these can help you in your process. If not maybe it passed some time in your busy day!

So carrying on from my previous post – Formulas to help work, rest and play – part 1 here are some more things i do to help myself along and keep on track that i need to remind myself of everyday.

5. Exercise!

i know, i know,  everyone knows it, its pretty basic, do i always do it? No!
I have to force myself to do it, but when i do i feel much better, in my mind and body.  Its EXTREMELY hard for me to make time to exercise, for me generally it involves taking time with the family for a walk along the beach, kicking the ball around, even just walking the kids to kindy and if i can get time for my 10minute pilates workout i do it! For me its just as much about clearing my mind and being better able to handle stress better during my day, feeling relaxed as i am working. If i can wear my boys out during the process so i have more quiet time later on, even better!

6. Focus & tying up loose ends

This is a hard one for me, often, in both business and creatively one can easily get caught up with minute we doing one thing, hearing  about or having an idea for something else – going off and doing that other task without really finishing the first, before I  know it there are alots of unfinished tasks with nothing ever completed.
Which I have since discovered is REALLY bad.

How can you feel good about achieving something if nothing is ever achieved ?
Its bad for self confidence, for stress (stressed out about all the things i have to do, for commitment how can you take anything else on if you have lots of stuff still to do?

It’s also bad because in this ever changing world of instant gratification, we  tend to want things and we want them NOW. We get frustrated when things arent working the way we want and we lose the ability to work at something  long term and we are constantly moving but sometimes not actually moving towards anything just making do being busy.

So for me its about being focused on jobs / goals i am working on. I dont do well on long term projects but  instead of being overwhelmed at how long something is taking me to do, i remember the fact that i am working towards a longterm goal remind myself of the goal, and not get caught  up in the fact that i cant dedicated a whole bunch of time to get something ticked off the list –

“Do a little bit often”

and celebrate in the fact that i was able to achieve a bit on that project at any given time. My reward is my goal so i am working towards it! Thats my theory anyway.

7. Don’t compromise on my Dream.

In relation to the previous point, its very easy to keep adding things to your list of things to do without really focusing on what your biggest goal is. Knowing what you want to achieve and making sure that ALOT of what you are doing is helping you towards your dream is a big MUST i think for happiness, and if i am happy i am also better at doing all the stuff i need to do.

A question i often ask myself is,

Do i really need to be doing this ?
Will this help me towards my dream ?

Sometimes there are things we just have to do, there is no work around for it, but its often good when your working out your priorities to analyse just what I am spending my time on,  if its something that is not related to my dream i can question it and/or put it aside. Even if i do say 20mins on something towards my dream and the rest of my day is spent on other less exciting tasks, i feel better doing them, i feel like i am moving forward. I am much more pleasant to be around, i attack my work better, i am actually more productive. That little reward has a big payoff.

8. Music

Music is something i have recently rediscovered, i listened along as a teenager, but kinda just drifted away in the latter years. Music seems to quieten my mind, i seem to be able to focus more, and being along alot while i am working it helps to also not feel as isolated.  Now its a must when working on something creative!

Part three on its way, stay tuned!

Regular readers of my blog will know that i have been on a path of self discovery of late, come to think about it when are we not discovering ourselves? Or on  path to at least somewhere in our lives… I don’t think it will ever stop, i think that’s the point that’s why life is all about!

Anywho,  i digress…., Part of my journey has been to try and find a happy balance life for myself where i can balance work, income, art, family, running a small business, feed my children, have some fun etc etc.

I often get asked how do you find the time for art ? The truth is I feel like i struggle constantly, but lately its been a “happy struggle” rather than a “stressed out mad struggle” because I am making time for the things I love and not so much of the things i dont!  No more excuses!

how ? I don’t watch much tv, my house isn’t always particularly tidy or clean, i sometimes forget important dates, i sometimes don’t catchup with friends or take my kids to the park… its not that i  don’t want those things i do, but i have decided that Art / Illustration is my dream and somtimes that is more important than the never ending housework , having a clean house, watching a movie etc etc.

That’s all well and good and particularly for anyone who has struggled with this you will know, it cant all be about me or art, the dishes still need to be done, the children need clean clothes i do have to pay the bills (grrr) and all those things that come with running a business still need doing… I  have identified a few things that i have been regularly doing that keep ORDER in this place and in my head and without them i think i would be lost, so i thought i would share.

Theres a few of them so i will break them up into 3 parts (in no particular order ) over the next week or so.

Formulas to help Work, Rest & Play – Part 1

1.Sleep - Sleep is so important, its something i can’t compromise on, but more importantly for me i have worked out a sleep pattern that works for me. I seem to be exhausted between 8.30 to 9pm. So if i need to work at night i restrict  until no later than 8pm. Any later than that i have a very restless and disturbed nights sleep because my brain seems to keep “switched on” for the rest of the night and the next day i am wrecked. If i want to do art, then i allow myself to go until say around 9 as its more relaxing and i can still be restful. If i am really pressed for time i will generally prefer to wake up and do work in the middle of the night or very early morning to get things done. It just seems to work better for me, rather than  working through it.

2. Journalling - I find if i am feeling overwhelmed, stressed or confused or depressed  it means i should get my journal out. I just pick it up an write. It allows me to get all the stuff out of my head without having to commit to anything, worrying about consequences or anything  overly much. It doesn’t have to make sense it can be completely random and always feel better for it later. It just feels like a release and even though i might not find a solution in my journal time itself it may come to me later on. This is a must for me lately particularly as my working life if here on my own it allows me to do a brain dump and just not have my head go around in circles.

3. Art / Drawing EVERYDAY - I tried the everyday matters challenge, i tried various sketch groups i find i don’t stick to it, as other things tend to get in the way, i seem to lose inspiration easily by trying to commit to the one process.  What works for me is to generalize it under my category of being creative / artistic as long as i do that i am on a winner! So it might be digital illustration, sketching, working on a painting, working on a coloured pencil drawing, it might only be for 10mins it doesnt matter i have done it! Doing just that little bit often helps calm me, i feel like i am working towards my goal and i can then move onto whatever other task i have to do knowing i have rewarded myself with something.

4. Keeping ontop of the housework, taking the TIME for it & doing “A little bit OFTEN!”
I feel better when i have some order in my house and it looks nice, but it rarely stays tidy for longer than 30mins after a whole day of cleaning.   Its frustrating, but it has to be done. I have certain days i do housework, generally its on the weekends when i can’t “work” as the kids are around me, thats when i get stuck into it, but i also find if i do a bit during the week and try to keep it up then there is less to do on the weekends. So if this means taking that extra 20mins to put the washing on, tidy the kitchen after breakfast etc at the beginning of the day, i need to make sure i do that and not be distracted by all the other stuff that needs doing. No brainer stuff really.. but something i need to remind myself of and not get caught up in all the stuff i need to do.

Hope your finding these of interest, that’s it for part 1, more to come in part 2.