MY STRUGGLE ........

My struggle.....Finding time to be creative. Lately there has been a lot of changes at my 8-5. Good changes more responsibility, which is great! I actually love my job. Absolutely love the staff that I work with BUT.....It's leaving me no time to be creative......No time to paint.....No time to research ideas.....No time for submissions.....No time to e courses.....No time for Blog Post......

Well...I shouldn't blame it all on the job. If you read my last post you would realize that I SUCK at time management! I know, I know I need to learn BALANCE. As you can see it is very hard for me to find that balance in my day to day life. I always feel like I'm not doing enough. I'm just frustrated. I feel like I have all these creative ideas but just not enough time and energy to make them come to life. I feel guilty for sitting at home doing nothing or trying to find time to relax. It makes me feel like that time was wasted.Right now I'm trying to juggle being a wife, a mother, a artist, a small business owner, and ect. I'm trying to juggle life in my current job, opening a creative business (with all the research that come with that), I'm trying to get my artwork seen, get it published, submit art packages, work on my brand, the list goes on....it's hard work!!

Right now the chaos of it all is to much for me. Right now nothing has my full attention. So frustrating!!!  I'm trying so hard to practice courage, determination, trying to hard to be brave in this journey. Trying so hard not to give up on this dream, not to put my passion on the back burner , not to let my day to day life invade my dreams and creative space!! IT IS A STRUGGLE!!

Maybe all artist go thru  this stage??  I'm sure all of us struggle with something from time to time. Maybe this is my time to prove it to myself that I am enough, It may take a little more time, I may have to learn how to adjust and really get more organized? I'm not sure at this point. What I am determined to do is Take some Time.... Time to readjust what I am determined to do. So.......that may mean for now, I will only post a few times a month instead of once a week.....I am Determined to chase my dream no matter how hard the journey may be !!!

Were 2011 goals accomplished ???

So, I wanted to know if I accomplished all my goals from last year?? Well, last January I posted this:

2011....

It's 2011!!! I must say that alot has changed in 2010. I am now a Artist. I am really a Artist... There are so many things that I'm working on for 2011 here are some of my goals.

1.) Work on turning my blog into a website.
2.)Come up with a cool banner.
3.)Sell my art online. (Red Bubble)
4.)Make mini prints of my artwork.
5.)Cont. to make BIG art.
6.)Sell some of that BIG art.
7.) Get my art into a Gallery.
8.)Be a featured artist on someones Blog.
9.)Have a art show.
10.) Cont. to define my style.
11.)Make more interesting blog post.



5 out of 11. I'm a little disappointed in myself. I should have accomplished more. To tell the truth, I'm also a little frustrated with myself. I wanted to do so much and I got a little lazy. Truth be told I haven't painted in about 4 months (that's a long time in the artist world) LOL ! I have been working alot on the business side of this creative career. Reading, Researching, Submitting Art, and Working on my business Plan. I haven't had any time to spend be creative!

I'm still learning how to manage my time and trust me "it's a work in progress".  I'm still learning to balance time creating, time to relax and be inspired, time spent working on the business, family time and ect. I guess that is a common theme for all artist huh? Time management? So, if you guys have any tips please share!!

Hopefully, I'll be putting a new list together for this year. Stay tuned to see what's going on that list.

What am I reading????

2012 Artist’s & Graphic Designer’s Market is the must-have reference guide for emerging artists, who want to establish a successful career in fine art, illustration, cartooning or graphic design. For years, artists have relied on us to help them find new markets and navigate the changing business landscape. The 2012 Artist’s & Graphic Designer’s Market introduces a whole host of new features and guarantees the most up-to-date, individually verified listings possible. In addition to the 100% updated market listings, artists will find new resources they’ll want to use everyday including:

• A FREE 1-year subscription toArtistsMarketOnline.com, where you can search listings, track your submissions, get the latest art and design news and much more
• Complete, up-to-date contact information for more than 1,600 art market listings, including galleries, magazines, book publishers, greeting card companies, ad agencies, syndicates, art fairs and more
• Articles on the business of freelancing—from basic copyright information to tips on promoting your work
• NEW! Special features on selling more art in 2012, secrets to social media success, pocket-sized promotion, creating an online presence, fine-tuning your sales pitch and generating referrals
• NEW! Informative articles on getting the most from workshops, handling problems creatively, applying creative thinking to running your business and managing your clients
• NEW! Inspiring and informative interviews with successful professionals including graphic designer Tom Davie and artist and illustrator Mike Maydak
• Information on grants, residencies, organizations, publications and websites that offer support and direction for creative artists of all types