back to blogWelcome to my new weekly blog posts documenting my first 100 days of being a full time artist. I am running a daily diary on my instagram stories and this weekly blog post of what I've been up to, what have been the challenges, the surprises, what I've learned / discovered etc.
This is my seventh week and I am half way through my first 100 days of being a full time self employed artist.
So what's happened?
Painting for the solo exhibition with Northern Lights Gallery in Keswick has continued. The collection is really coming along nicely and I've spent some time creating new paintings as well as refining and adding details to others.
You can see here the before and after the tweaks of three of the paintings.
These three are 61 x 61 cm and I am planning on painting six this size in total. I think they will look awesome together once they are framed up.
Out and about
I walk by these allotments every day, mainly in the dark on my way home, but earlier this week I decided to walk along the road to the studio. The sun was shining and these allotments are just so glorious that I was tempted in to have a snoop around and grab a picture of this splendid patch with its beautiful crop of dahlias.
I so wish I could grow dahlias in my garden but the slugs like them too much. Maybe next year I will give it a go again but for now I will enjoy someone else's hard work.
The walk to the studio has been a little hampered with the really bad weather and feeling a bit off towards the end of this week. A bit of rain doesn't usually bother me as I just dress head to toe in waterproofs but half way through the week I was feeling like I was coming down with something and the idea of trudging 3 miles to the studio through the rain just wasn't doing it for me.
I still managed a walk through Hirst Woods to see how much it has changed in just a week. The leaves are a glorious orange / yellow which really ping in the grey mists we've had recently.
The challenges
Procrastination... enough said!
My walls are filling up with paintings which are almost complete but not quite. The final hurdle to completing a painting can be quite hard even though it is so wonderfully rewarding when I am happy with a painting to say yes this can go to the gallery.
I am creating a lot of work, because I have a lot of commitments so I really need to push through and get some of these paintings finished.
What I've discovered
So I needed to do "a big shop" this week... not your usual food shop but my big shop was to do with stocking up on supplies in the studio. What with workshops and having a number of collections on the go I needed to replenish the cupboards!
Now this isn't a new thing to me but each time I put that order in to Jacksons (other art suppliers are also available) I gulp and hesitate and even try and whittle that order down.
I still find it hard getting used to putting in big orders of £500+ even though there is the cash flow in the business and it is cheaper to buy in bulk as I get a business discount.
Wonder if I will ever get used to it? What I know I will never get bored of is opening up those boxes when they arrive.... I love getting new supplies! Bin juice the cat also likes it when new boxes are delivered!
What next?
Next week I will be tackling a mahoosive 90 x 122 cm painting and also delivering my last 3 day workshop until next year. Can't wait to get working with this group!
Next week is also the launch of my demo painting sale to my subscribers.
Check out my daily posts on my instagram stories for some sneak peeks.
