Hello 2019!

I have to admit that I sat down to write out a post several times over the past months, and I just couldn't do it. I think part of the reason behind that was that every time I posted, something else would go wildly wrong, and it all just became too overwhelming.

I think a lot of people had a rough, or even awful 2018. I didn't see any posts on social media expressing how much they didn't want to see 2018 go, and rather it was a lot more "don't let the door hit you on the way out, 2018!"

As always, I use the end of the year to review. Some years, I feel pretty good about my year even with the knocks. This year, like so many other people, I was just over it.

At the tail end of the year, I tried to knock out some challenge paintings... that I then went and got too complicated with and only managed two of the 12 I should have done. One is a raccoon, and even though the prompt was "cookie", I'm pretty sure I channeled my own issues which led to me gaining 15 lbs since I moved back to Vermont...

"MY Cookie" 6x8 inches, acrylic on canvas panel (available)

Do you see it? I totally see it.

Man, I wish my pants fit right now. I'm trying to tell myself that making my jeans tight just made them into compression stockings... right? *sigh* I need a button that let's me zip my mouth shut. I still haven't hopped back onto the healthy eating train either. I was going to, I totally was going to! And then I tried to give up coffee, my son blew out his knee trying yoga with me, and... cookie.

The other painting prompt was "Ribbon":

Red Ribbon, 5x7 inches, acrylic on canvas panel, Available

Earlier, I got this one done for a deadline that I actually missed... but I liked him so much I had to finish him anyway. He's my "Twitterphant"!

"Twitterphant" 5x7 inches, acrylic on canvas panel, Available

And then lastly, working with Thrice Fiction, I was given a story by someone I think Christmas doesn't bring good feelings for (that's putting it mildly.) I'm a holiday freak, as I'm sure you all know, so this was actually a challenge. I read the story to my kids and we came up with a zombie hand, but festive-style!

Zombie Christmas Tree, 5x7, Acrylic... my son is thinking of keeping it

I have to say I LOVE painting twinkle lights. There's something about being able to use paint to make you think something is glowing in real life. It's funny, because it's just paint... but your brain says "those are lights, and they are on" - I've never been able to paint a candle with the same effect, but I have seen it in some paintings and always marveled over it. I CAN pull it off with twinkle lights, though! HA! (Mental note: practice painting more candles this year.)

I'm kicking myself for missing the holiday season and having a reason to paint twinkle lights. Maybe Christmas 2019 will let me go wild with the lights in all the paintings! Here's hoping I get a chance to actually get a shot at that!

As always, I put together my painting quilt. This is EVERY single painting of 2019. I wish I had done more, but the ones I did, not so bad! My color choices continued to shift to more earthy (natural) tones, and I'm really enjoying that.

I have goals for 2019... not the least of which is to fit into my clothing again. I know, I know... no cookie. Sigh. 

I plan on painting. As always, that is my goal. My hope is to rebuild and bulk up my portfolio and start laying down artistic roots once again now that I am back in Vermont and it really feels like home. This year has the potential to yield big and wonderful things, and I truly hope that is what is actually in store for me.

I really hope you all had a decent 2018, but if not, at least it's over. I hope 2019 is a great year for everyone!

Taking Direction

After my last post, I think it was pretty clear that I was working on formulating a plan for myself. I need to correct my 75-25% balance, and I need to tighten my businesses up... fast! Because I was simply all over the place!

This got me to look at a few things closer (like my business finances), and then I promptly ate myself into oblivion for the rest of the week. I should probably mention that getting my art-life together isn't the only life I need to fix up. I have about 50 lbs to lose (I'm tall.) 25 lbs to not be considered "over weight" by all those annoying charts, and 25 more to get to where I know I feel decent. I'm not thin-thin at that point, but I'm healthy. No one will ever call me a willowy or slender person. *wistful sigh* I always wanted to be willowy.

Once I pulled myself out of my pity-food-coma, I started making decisions. Somewhere around that time I started making a list, because I was having trouble keeping track of all the things I had to do. It's a long, scary list right now.

Anyway, here are some of the things I figured out:

• First thing? Change my website provider because it was bleeding me dry (I was using Big Cartel, to have both a site and a store.) That's caused a huge surge of work for me to create a new site (and I'm still working), but I also decided to make Etsy my main store, and just have a basic site up otherwise. 
• On that front, I am dividing my work into THREE Etsy stores (cue the migraine) and I'm working on fixing those up...
• I'm dropping my random fantasy artwork, and focusing back specifically on fairy tales. That was my original intent, and I just got lost. 
• I'm also revisiting my surreal and abstract work, because I never should have dropped it to begin with, and Thrice Magazine shouldn't be the only reason I'm doing it. I got lazy and waited for the magazine art editor to give me a shove to do something. (I'm still doing stuff for Thrice, but now I'll be creating other pieces too.)
• I'm keeping my Whimsical Misfits, because I really like where I was going with that, they're fun, and by my normal long-painting standards, they're fast. They still take at least a day, but that's fast for me!
• I'm killing a side business I spent a lot of time setting up. A LOT. It's an LLC and everything, so it's going to take time to dissolve the LLC and shut bank accounts down, and so on. It was a really super idea, but it would mean I'd be all business and I don't think I could be successful and still paint. I'd rather be a successful artist than a successful business person (that only sells art, rather than making it.) So, I guess I figured out what my definition of success is.

I think part of figuring out a person's direction in life - anyone's life - IS in deciding what success means to you. If I was just after money or my name on a fancy plaque, well, there are a lot of paths to that. I have my degree in Business Administration as well as fine art. I could have stayed in the corporate world and worked that path and been successful... but it's not MY path, or at least it's not the one that would make me happy.

Even though some of these decisions have been hard, or even a little bit humiliating (shutting down the LLC is hard because I told so many people about it, and it was going to be great. Now, I'm killing it before it even launched so I can go back and paint again. Some people think I'm absolutely brain damaged at this point because of my choice) I realize that when stuff is all muddled up and wrong, EVERYTHING is wrong. It all gets messed up. 

Seriously, my moving life has been driving me insane, but I realized I messed things up for myself long before that. It started in my studio, I went off the path I had set for myself that I knew made me happy... and I made myself unhappy. That threw me into a ditch with my health (or you could say I jumped into the ditch), and that helped make me pretty miserable over all.

I'm trying not to be miserable. I'm trying really, really hard.  That's why I made these decisions, and why it was time to take a really hard and clear look. Make corrections where they are needed, shore up the good things that are there, and make room for the future. 

I'm still taking on a lot, and it's still overwhelming. But, I'm trying to make things better for myself. When you are trying to do something good, it's a little less overwhelming because the steps you are taking do start making you feel a little better. Even if they are hard.

And that includes getting my health back on track. I have a goal to be back at a normal weight by Christmas (my goal weight, actually - which I haven't seen since 2008. *sigh* But I haven't been over my weight range until this last year or so. I want back to goal, or close to it by the end of the year.) I know how to do it too, because side note here: I used to be obese, lost all the weight, even got certified as a personal trainer and did that for a while too. I have the knowledge, I have the skills, it just literally comes down to follow through. And that is the same for everything going on right now, art and not!

Follow through, that's my next step!

I have no art to show for this past week. It was a little wonky in general, but it feels just as productive as a painting considering where I am at now!

Admitting It's Hard

When you are writing about your passion in life, which also happens to be your career, as I do with art, it's hard to think about posting about the bad things. I have to be honest, however. When people ask if I am OK right now, I have to say "I'm fine" with that twist in my gut... because I'm not.

I cannot be completely open with what's going on, but no one's deathly ill or anything like that. No one has lost their job, no one has died. But at the same time, it's big. It keeps me up at night with tearful worries, watchful and always on the alert. Which is exhausting, it's flat out exhausting! Having this sort of soul-deep worry all the time is... I don't even know how to explain how awful it is. 

And it's totally out of my control. I'm doing what I can to make things better, but it's like throwing pebbles at a mountain and hoping it'll move. It's just not in my power to make any more of a difference than I already do, and instead I get to spend my time fearfully. 

So, I'm sharing. I'm saying things are not OK. That I would break down and have a sob-fest, but that would just further exhaust me, so what's the point?

I cannot say that I have a silver lining, but I can say that apart from that mess things are not so awful. It doesn't cheer me up, because it's not enough, but at least I have some positive things to report.

The first is that I worked and worked, and I finally got my new website up and running! This is a big deal because I had to move providers and work on the layouts, and everything. More, I can finally offer prints and other merchandise (like fine art magnets, cards and more) directly from me - AND it's easy to add new products instead of a major exercise in web design every time I finished a new painting. I just didn't realize how wide an inventory I had until I did this though, wow.

Greeting Cards

Postcard sized magnets

So, YAY! And it's at www.KWilsonStudio.com or www.KyraWilson.net, just like before.  It's nice and clean, and works wonderfully!

I finished the last of my Halloween minis for the year:

sold

sold

White Owl, mini 2x4 inches acrylic on stretched canvas $35

Screech, ultra-mini 2x2 inches acrylic on stretched canvas $25

And then I felt I was done with Autumn and Halloween. I'm now in a distinctly wintry mood. I sometimes put artwork on Facebook in the art auction forums, and this week there is a theme for a snow queen. I had been thinking about doing one anyway, so it was perfect. I decided to pull out my watercolors and I sketched this out on a block:

The block for her is 9x12. I'm putting in little snowflakes and such all over. 

And then I got scared about painting her in. Totally irrationally, but it's been a little while since I did watercolors. So, I decided this morning to do a super fast sketch and painting just to remind myself how I do it. The result is this:

I'm calling her Jess. I think she'll be up in the art auction group tomorrow. It looks better than this in person. I snapped a quick pic with my cellphone, and well... there ya go.

I'm relatively pleased with how she came out. Her eyes and the highlights on her lips and hair are iridescent. Shiny, I can't stop making things shiny. It's still not up to what I'd want it to be, but it was good practice. I think I need to work on pushing some areas farther back, and of course I see all sorts of errors... but I still like her!

So, with that picture behind me, I've started on my snow queen. I'm layering in the shadows right now, working the skin and face first. I hope she comes out nicely! I also have a painting rolling around for my holiday card. I'm still working on the composition, but I'm leaning towards a row of stockings with mice and a cat... and maybe a squirrel. We'll see. 

Lastly, there are mice living in my car. Yes, mice. They're even in my ceiling (it's very creepy to be sitting at a stop light and hear scrabbling from above you.) It's turning into a full scale war right now, and they're winning. I'm waiting to see my car drive off one of these morning with a mouse at the wheel!

So, that's where things are at. Hard. Exhausting. Just moving forward, because progress still needs to happen. I sure hope things get better.

Finally, Goals

I finally have my goals written out! It's a relief to have my whole year planned out a bit now. It looks like it'll be a bit crazy for the next six months, but then it'll level out a bit more. I actually think I'm going to be more productive with these goals in place than if I didn't have something telling me I needed to complete six paintings in a month. It also means that I know I can't take any more commissions until August, or thereabouts, if I'm going to get all this done!

I've set goals to finish out my Alice In Wonderland Series, as well as opening up a new art series that might be fairy-like, although I'm not sure. I'm also going to experiment with some dragons. These last two will most likely be in watercolor because I'm so obsessed with them right now, but we'll see what happens. I also have set specific goals for abstract paintings this year, an additional 12 paintings specifically designed for a fun calendar, and to get some of my older prints rereleased (my goal is to have two calendars to offer for 2014: one abstract, one with paintings for a calendar in mind, and if I'm lucky enough to complete Alice early enough - that too for a third, but Alice will likely take me right through December and have to be offered in 2015.)

I also decided to only do one art show this year. I feel like I still need to build back up my body of work. When I purged a lot of the old work from my site and offerings, it left a gaping hole. I removed most of it because I felt I had grown beyond it, or it wasn't the direction I was moving in now. A lot of the paintings were actually abstracts, which is part of why I'm bringing back some of my old prints and may even list some of the older paintings for sale once again, depending on how I feel about them. Bringing back my abstract painting brought back some of the balance I had been missing, and I plan on continuing to go forward, but I think it's important for me to also include what was before now if it fits. Anyway, moving forward also means I need to build up more of a body of work that supports what I do as a whole. The abstracts will coalesce nicely, and finishing Alice out will complete that.

I have figured out that I am a series worker. Some artists, they have a theme or genre that they work in exclusively. As a matter of fact, all the advice out there suggests you find one thing and focus on being the best in that one thing, and selling that one thing in art. I see that it works, as there are many successful artists that only do houses, or children, or flowers. For me, however, I would be monumentally unhappy only painting one thing for the rest of my career. I have a friend who derives great joy from painting his stylized barns and cows, and he can paint them for the rest of his life in bliss. For me, that would cause tears.

Instead, I believe that working hard on a series or two each year and finishing them out will make me happy and bring the challenge and change that I personally need, without shooting myself in the foot by doing all sorts of themes and genres. If I complete enough of them to be a set, a series, I feel I can build my body of work that way. Yes, it may take longer and it may turn off some retailers and  other potential partners because they're not always going to get the same thing from me over and over, but I've never fit in anyway. Why should art be any different?

This is what makes me happy, this is what will make me excited to get out of bed every day and go into my studio. If I stay true to my course, it will work out somehow in the end. I wouldn't trade painting in series and different styles for monumental success, because for me personally it would bring unhappiness.

And in the end? Happiness is what matters, not the money.

Here is the commission I'm working on right now:

It's in acrylic, 8x10 on stretched canvas. I tried not using iridescent paints on the peacock, and then I realized that I was being stupid. If ever there was a time to give into my addiction to the iridescent paint, it is with a subject that is actually iridescent in real life. Yes, I actually smacked myself upside the head on that one.

It was funny, because I have been struggling with this painting. I sketched it out, but wasn't overly thrilled with it. But I couldn't think of anything better (an alternative I have in my mind is actually going to be a watercolor, and will be very different.) I procrastinated, but finally put the sky and moon in and I wasn't sure how I felt about it. Then I started working on the bird's head, and I thought it was all going wrong... and then suddenly it clicked. It's starting to come together and I'm really starting to like it. I think maybe it was simply the challenge of having never painted a peacock before coupled with it being a commission that was causing me such strife. I'm happy to say I'm past the strife and enjoying it now!

I haven't decided what color my fairy's hair should be yet. A peacock's wings are actually full of coppers and browns and yellows, so I don't want her hair to get lost in the wings, but that doesn't leave a lot of choices, unless I choose something wild. She is a fairy, after all. She could, conceivably  have blue hair to match the peacock. It's just an idea I'm playing with. I'm also playing with echoing the peacock tail feather design in her wings (they'll be curling up underneath them when I paint them in.) I rather like the idea of the fairy being a little peacock-like herself, but I haven't really decided yet. Perhaps coppery hair, but bright peacock blue like wings would create the division needed. Hmm...

Organizational Freedom

When I envision my perfect studio, well one that isn't a thriving shop somewhere, I think of a lovely large and long room that has double glass-paned doors that come off the living room. Those doors can be shut and I can still see the house, or open and life can flow in and out as needed. I see a sink, a long table, counters, shelves, multiple easels, windows. Oh, it would be fabulous. The space to spread out and the ability to continue to stay organized.

I have long come to terms with the fact that running your passion as a business requires a level of organization and planning. I've done well with it in the past, but lately I just sort of let everything slip. I got off track during the holidays and never quite reigned myself back in. I think it's kind of like dieting, and allowing yourself all those goodies over the holidays, but forgetting to get back to healthy eating in January. Whoops.

So here I sit, at the end of January (almost) working out my goals for 2013 that should have been worked out in 2012. I start with what seems like a simple question, but is actually the hardest: What do I want to have accomplished by December 31st 2013? I'm making my list right now, and I think I'm pretty close to being done with it. Once I have all those answers lined up, I can set deadlines on some of them (like all calendar work needs to be done by October so I can get them printed.) Then I can divide the work up by the months and deadlines accordingly. I'm not dividing down by week until I get to the week before the next month, so if there is something carrying over I can make room for it without it all stacking up behind me like a derailed freight train!

I'm excited to get this done so I can feel like I'm back on track once again. I have a real need to get my body of work back up to levels it's supposed to be at, and this is the way to do it. Beyond that, however, I realize that organizing my business goals like this allows me room. It's like a messy closet; if you get it organized and put in some storage and shelving, you realize you can actually fit more stuff into the space! I'm making room for the occasional commission, but more than that - I am making room to play.

I'm scheduling in my play. I know that seems like it would take the play out of playing, but I don't think it will. For example, this year I am going to experiment with dragons. I used to paint them (long ago, art school long ago!) While working through my Alice series, I realized that my Jabberwocky is on the dragonish side of things, and it led to wanting to include a few to see how I like them. Play.

I realize that I need to paint as if nothing will sell. I need to paint for me, with no other goal than to please myself. My best work, my very best, is that which I paint with no goal in mind other than to create. If I allow myself to create something with the thought in my mind "no one will want this, and that will be OK. I'm going to make this for me. If someone likes it later, that's fine, but it's perfectly fine if this doesn't sell" then I set myself free.

So, even though I'm creating a pretty heavy schedule of what I need to get done this year, it's really all about setting myself free!

Closing the Year

2012 is fast headed out the door, and 2013 looms before us!

This has been a large year for me on the art front because, while I've been selling professionally since 2001, I shut down every other business and idea outside of art this year and committed to it 100% by June. I shut the doors on my photography business in May when it became clear that both businesses were heating up and requiring too much to allow both to survive, and that's when I made the final decision to finally say yes to the paint.  (Want to know more about my art-business path? I was invited to talk about it in a guest post here.)

I even figured out how to make a time-lapse video of my paintings (I made three, actually!)

I also learned that I can make a video blog (vlog?) from my phone, and tried it out:

I plan on actually doing more of those vlogs (and decorating my studio a bit more, because it looks depressingly stark on the video! I should add that my house is vibrant everywhere else, and I think I removed the color from everything in there so mine would be the focus when I added it to the canvases!) And I hear tell that some artists are trying art-meet-ups via Skype or other video chatting, and I'm interested in giving that a go... if I can get over my shyness, and find others who want to chat while we work!

I have a lot of goals for 2013, and I'm looking forward to a year filled with paint and opportunities! I'm going to make it a goal to finish a painting a week. Sure, my larger paintings take more time (months and months in some cases) but I promise to take the time to work on some smaller, faster ones as well. Allowing for some sick and vacation time, that means about 48-50 new paintings next year!

I'm going to tighten back up my sketching skills so I jump forward in other ways. I used to work solely in pencil, not even color. I remember working so hard in high school on detail that I made a picture of my hand that looked like a black and white photograph when I was finished (boring, but all about the detail - composition didn't matter then.) Once I achieved that, I wanted a new challenge, and that was color. I slid first to acrylics and I didn't like the results, so I backtracked and went heavy with chalk pastels. For some reason, color meant more about expression than detail, and I loosened up in order to allow for that.

Eventually I conquered the paint, and my tight detail rendering slid into the shadows as I learned I just needed the basic outlines for painting, and the detail came from the paint instead. It's time to revisit the detail and work on crossing it with the color - in particular with watercolors, where the details count in the pencil rendering. This will make my "painting a week" more achievable, because watercolor just works a bit faster than acrylic or oils for me.

Speaking of oils, they're coming out this year. I miss the depth! I plan on using them for any people I paint, because it just looks better to me. It's going to be tough waiting for the oils to try as the trade-off, but it'll be worth it. I'll still work in acrylics as well, though.

Lastly, I'm going to continue working on my fairytale series, but I'm also resurrecting my abstracts and surreal body of work (I had pulled them from my site when I did a major revamp almost two years ago, I think.) I'm going to be offering some prints of the older ones, and new ones are already lining up for the easel! Also, this work dovetails nicely with THRICE Fiction Magazine, where I have been lucky enough to be asked contribute artistically, along with other talented artists and writers.

I'm thankful to all who have supported my art, as well as those who have found a piece they like and took it into their homes! It's been a huge 2012 for me, and I'm looking forward to 2013! I hope you had a wonderful year, and have a fabulous 2013!

Clean-Up

I've been doing a lot of thinking about my studio space lately. It's been amazing to see other artists' spaces, and then to take a second look at my own. My studio space used to be in the basement, but I found the darkness a dreary and draining sort of heaviness that I couldn't stand, no matter how many lights I brought in. So, I ended up moving my studio into one of the bedrooms upstairs.

It originally was my daughter's old bedroom, and it used to be two different shades of Pepto Bismal pink. I'm sure you can imagine my panic need to paint it something else as quickly as possible! It's a very small room (about 9' x 10' at best) and thus any color on the walls can be problematic when painting, because they can change the tones of what I'm working on. I went with something just a touch off-white, to try to avoid the color refraction problem. I cannot tell you the relief I experienced when the vibrant pink was finally covered up! However, this is now the only room in my house with white walls. I'm simply addicted to color, so it's strange to think that where I work is the most lacking in it. Still, it seemed the only solution.

With such a small space, I tend to "leak" into the other areas of the house. I had recently set up my studio table in the family room to accommodate both my need to feel less isolated, and also have access to the television (I simply love shows playing while I work. It's hard for me to sit still and watch anything without finding most television shows annoying, but I can paint through them and follow the stories just fine!) I also had shipments working off the dining room table, and other canvases and prints stacked in other areas. My poor family was tiptoeing around my work, which seemed to have exploded into almost every area of the house!

I reorganized and cleaned up this week, pulling my studio back into my studio space. I have to be constantly vigilant with my space due to its size, otherwise my small space becomes a disaster area! It's all clean, but I'm realizing how... cold it all feels.

This is on the door:

A friendly face to greeeeeet you!

Several years ago, I helped with an elementary production of Alice in Wonderland (before I ever started my current series). I created the Cheshire Cat costume by painting this on fabric (which took forever, having not painted on unprimed fabric before, it was a multi-layer process), and it went on one child's chest. The costume took three kids, all dressed in black. The second had a black cylinder spiraled with bright teal fur, the third had painted legs, fur and tail on them. We set them up in a dark area with a black light on them, and it allowed the Cheshire to come apart or go back together, and really turned out very cool! I kept his face when we were through, although I'm not sure why. I just kind of like him. As I develop my Cheshire for my series, I expect him to be VERY different, but this one will always be my first!

Looking through the door (you can see how Lily has grown!  compared with the photo below?) She's still rambunctious at 6 months old, but she immediately settles down the moment we set foot in my studio. She's my studio dog!

Puppy Lily! Just for reference. 

Art table, brought back up and set up to look out at the mountains (it's a bit dark this morning!)

Without drying racks (or space for one), I've been using my walls. I hang paintings over every spare inch of space (away from my easel, because of the splashing) and I think that I hadn't noticed how barren everything was because I had so many hanging for the Alice show. Since I released them for sale and shipped everything out, suddenly everything is stark once again and I realize I don't like it. 

When I had envisioned my studio, I always thought about collecting things that I enjoy around me, and that inspire. Yet, I didn't do that. I'm not sure why. Space is certainly an issue. I've already proven I can fill up an entire house with my space needs! So bringing it down to such a small space makes it tricky. Maybe if I put in shelves, I can start collecting stuff. I also have a collection of work from other artists and some friends that I'd like to put up, to have around me. I have purchased prints and such, but haven't hung any because I can't figure out how to pull that off. 

In my head, I have a lovely cottage in the woods, with flowers blooming in boxes out the windows which are swung open to let the light in. There are bits of things on shelves and tables, sparkly finds, and more. There is room for everything. Drying racks, a table for shipping, a supply room, a sink. Cabinets, and fluffy chairs. 

Ahhh, some day, perhaps! (If you post or have posted a picture of your studio/workspace, I'd love to see it!)

In other news I didn't get my Halloween painting finished because I was pulling my studio back together and out of the rest of the house, but I did finally start in on the boot! Working on the checkered squares, I think I learned something that will help me go forward in acrylic painting with more speed... I hope. 

Current progress on Halloween kittens painting. 

I layered and then walked away. When I came back hours later, I realized I loved the effect. This is important because I'm a mixer. I want to smooth everything out to get it to work, and layering feels choppy. Yet, with something like acrylics where the drying time is dramatically different from oils, mixing is simply asking for a migraine. I do it, but I know this is what is holding up my progress and costing me so much time. I like the way the checkers came out. If I can sort of adapt to layering and being OK with the choppy nature of it, I may finally be able to speed up my own process. Wouldn't that be grand?

 I hope everyone had a wonderful Halloween!

Brush Balance

On friday, I set my computer work aside and got back to my easel. Well, eventually I did. It really is a tough thing, when you get going on one side of the brain or the other (painting vs running numbers and other computerish work for the business), to switch back. For me, the transition is a tough one!

Still, all this computer work had me feeling a bit down, and so it was nice to finally get some fun work in!

I decided to work between a few pieces. I'm still working on the watercolor:

It's starting to come together, but it's been so long since I worked with watercolors, a lot of this is trying to remember how I did things. Or, frankly, just muddle through with a lot of "Oh... well.. that didn't work at all, now did it?" One of the things I hate about watercolor is that there are no do-overs. I messed up and had too strong a pigment on my brush? Well this paper is sucking it down, so too bad for me! Now what? It is a bit of an adventure for the same reason though. I don't have all the colors I need in watercolors, so I am using diluted acrylics as well (those, I have just about EVERY color.)

I don't know if this painting will come out well or be a waste, but I do know there are some effects in watercolor that I just love. For example, the outlining of the big tree? I kept darkening the edges and I love how it pushes the white forward. Granted, in this painting that's going to disappear a bit when the bark goes in, but I was thinking ahead to maybe a snow queen... this sort of effect, and maybe just whites and blues with a little color on the queen herself. I think that could be really lovely!

I'm also working more traditionally (for me) on my Halloween kitties in Acrylic:

As you can see, I've got the background in, and the moon as well. What you can't see is the lighter bulk of the moon, in certain lights flashes pearlescant blue, because I overlaid a light wash of it. My goal this coming week is to finish this kitty painting, and also a mermaid one I mentioned earlier (I have some underpainting in, but it looks like a complete mess right now.)

Oh, and I also managed to pick up some really pretty frames that can take a small panel (4x6 and 5x7) and I'm trying to figure out what to paint for them!

It feels good to be back in my studio!

Com...' Putering

In some exciting news, I canceled my Alice in Wonderland show for 2013, and released my series to the public for sale. After my last post, I think it was clear I was doing some business-soul-searching, and I'm confident I made the right decision. All the paintings have sold, except one. I know I need to get moving and continue on with the series, but there is also something freeing about letting the show go. It would have been a mistake, plus now I can do Alice paintings but also some of the Fairytale ones I've been dying to get started on!

The flip side to being able to create art when you have an art business, are the weeks you have to spend chained to your computer or spreadsheets instead. Tomorrow is Friday, and I'm sorry to say that I haven't had a paintbrush in my hand even once this week.

Frankly, it's depressing me. Blah.

On the other hand, I did get a lot done besides selling the Alice series. I shifted my print and shipping business over and partnered with Fine Art America (I'll still offer personally signed prints when I do exhibitions and shows - basically wherever I am in person, but for online sales this was the way to go.) What's good about this, beyond being able to offer quality prints of my paintings in multiple formats, is that I can also offer my fine art photography as well. When I was running Kyra Wilson Photography in tandem with Kyra Wilson Studio, I kept them separate. After shutting down KWP, I had all these wonderful prints that I used to sell, and no venue in order to do it.

I was a little amazed to see how many I could find to offer on a quick pass (almost 80), and I know I have more to go through. I really did a lot, and I know I plan on still taking photographs going forward. There are some things that are just meant to be in photographic form! (And then maybe turned into a painting!)



So, I'm pretty excited to be able to offer my photography prints once again! I've also been working on cleaning out and fixing my Zazzle store, but it's still a bit of a mess as of yet. The products are there, but I haven't quite figured out how to get my store to display correctly. I may be burned out today on it, it's probably time to walk away! Either that, or I've become Zazzle-impaired. My head is just stuffed to overflowing.

I was able to get my white rabbit (Tea Time) prints up in my print shop,


but I also am offering a different version of the print. I don't know if any of you have seen storybook illustrations from antique books, but this looks just like a bunch I have seen:




Isn't that cool? I ordered a print of it for myself (and one of the regular ones, since the original will be shipping out to its new owner. I'm a wee bit attached to it.)

Anyway, after running numbers through my accounting spreadsheets, and online rearranging and all sorts of programming and web-editing? I think I'm fried. I need art therapy. Tomorrow - I shall paint!  PAINT, I say!

Duh Moments, and U-turns

Sometimes you have to repeat a "Duh" moment multiple times in order for you to grasp the point. Or, at least I seem to need to. It'd sure be great to be one of those people who totally "got it" the first time around and made changes accordingly, and always moved forward on the right path. Instead, I seem to be one who revisits past dead-ends, you know, just to make sure.

I recently picked up my work from a shop about two hours away. It was at the urging of a friend who was also showing there that I contacted them in the first place. It's been a while since I branched out locally, and I thought why not? But the reason I stopped showing locally was that I just don't seem to sell locally. Tourists come here looking for artwork that features cows and barns. While there is nothing wrong with that sort of artwork, it is not my sort of artwork. I sell well online, and even overseas, but I don't sell well where I live.

So on last Thursday when I went to pick up my artwork and prints, I wasn't overly shocked that nothing had sold (they're a sort of souvenir art shop.) I just simply don't fit with the Vermont image. I can shake that off because sales on the home front (online) have actually been pretty good, but it's made me rethink my strategy for next year.

Part of my strategy when I reorganized my art business over a year ago was to work in a theme, build up to a show, and then move from there on to the next theme. At first I had planned on one major show a year, and I knew people were looking forward to it with plans to come in from out of town even. But then I realized that I was painting slower than I anticipated because I was actually reaching a new level with my paintings. OK, time to adjust... a show every two years! Yeah, that's the ticket! That was the new plan.

Except that picking up my stuff last week made me finally ask the question of whether having a show here, in a state where my work does not sell well, was a good idea after all? It's unlikely that I'm going to build a following here. My customers are across the globe, and it just seems that perhaps a show here in Vermont was not a well thought out plan after all.

Oops.

Realizing all of that has put me into a serious funk. It's a bizarre feeling to sell three paintings in the same week that you pick up other work from a venue and find you have sold nothing. I had a split-personality art week. On the other hand, could the universe have made it any more clear? What works is extremely obvious, as is what does not. There's no waffling here, no grey area to argue about. I'm thankful for that!

Once I started rethinking the show, my first thought was "I wonder how hard it is to have a virtual art show? Is that even possible? Do people do that? Doesn't that sort of circumvent the whole idea that you can meet people and so on?" So, without much effort, I stashed that thought for something to revisit in the future. I don't know how I'd go about doing that anyway.

Alright, so what if I took my art on the road to cities with a higher population where I know some of my customers are near and did a show like that? Expensive. I'm not that successful yet, to be able to take a show on the road like that. Maybe someday.

But what about art fairs? The art fairs I have done, specially art focused (not agricultural fairs, or town festivals, or farmer's markets, etc) I have done reasonably well at. In my opinion, I was not even properly prepared for those shows either, so not bad considering.

The art fair idea has merit, and I'm going to follow it up (and figure out how and where I should be doing these shows is a whole new challenge.) I'm also going to be releasing my current theme of Alice in Wonderland for sale as I complete the pieces, rather than hanging onto them as I was for a big show. I feel it's the right thing to do for my business overall, and I already have several excited collectors who are happy about this development.

While I was reworking this show-strategy, I also looked into a few other business decisions, ran the numbers, and realized I have to do almost a complete u-turn on at least one as well that I should have caught much earlier. *face-palm* Suddenly I went from just happily painting along, to a huge to-do list that I find completely intimidating. Of course, I find my laundry completely intimidating too (I'm not entirely sure, but judging by the production levels I may have six children I don't know about, and possibly an extra husband or three.) I know well that a big list is simply a longer journey, and that every one begins with a step, and then another, and another.

My journey is just taking an unexpected turn!

So, anyone want to come over and do laundry with me?

Handfulls

On Friday morning, I woke up thinking I was going to continue painting my Halloween-kitten painting. Instead, I kept looking over at my watercolors stacked up on a supply shelf. It's been ages since I painted with my watercolors. I told myself it hasn't been that long, but then I thought back and realized that the last time was a commission that was almost three years ago! And before that? Well, let's face it: I'm a heavy-handed painter that likes vibrant colors. That in turn translates well to oils and acrylics, and that creates an easy gravitation in their direction (and makes it easy to forget that I used to like to paint in watercolors too.)

Still, I couldn't get it out of my head. Soon, an idea for a picture in watercolors formed in my mind which made it simply impossible to focus on the kittens. So, instead I dug out my gear and hauled it to a table. I ended up sketching out this Halloween scene with a witch on a hot press block:

It's not horrible... I'm not sure about the balance yet, but hey, I was just supposed to be playing anyway! At least, that's what I was telling myself. I keep reminding myself that it's important to play. Having a business that makes use of my art can create a loop where I feel like every single piece I create must be sellable. We must not have waste! But if it's never a risk, there's not a lot of playing to be had either. It's time to play.

Even so, I realized that it has been so long since I've painted in watercolors, I wondered if I still knew how. There's a rhythm to painting, and watercolors are their own special animal. They work in reverse of traditional painting concepts... tricky, tricky. I decided that even if I am playing, there's no sense in going in blind. I pulled out a piece of scratch coldpress just to test things out again.

Now, coldpress and I have a long standing disagreement going. While I like texture, I also like detail and the cold likes to make everything just a wee bit rough. Which is why I drew on the hotpress. And didn't have a scrap to mess with to test things out again. *face-palm* I know. Anyway, this is where I am at with the watercolors. I'm going to test a bit more, until I feel a little more confident, and then go for it. I realize my "go for it!" attitude kind of went without me if I'm doing all this testing, but since I'm playing with paint I haven't touched in years, I'm giving myself points for at least trying to play!

In other news, a box also showed up carrying some supplies I ordered. On a lark, I ordered a bunch of tiny-tiny canvases! Check these out:

Aren't they cute? I'm planning on all sorts of things, but first up is a moon and pumpkin-patch set:

That's a 2x2", and a 3x6" stretched canvas. I'm going with acrylics, trying to turn these around quickly.

I also bought a bunch of plain canvas panels (I always paint on stretched), to make myself play. The goal is to get me to loosen up a little bit, and also to find ways to speed myself up a bit. I'm a tad slow right now. I think I'm over-thinking my works. Of course, I tend to over-think everything anyway.

So, the goal is to create some nice things, but also? I need to loosen up! Good golly!

Moody

I've been working on trying to put my studio time into the week, like a normal job. The tricky thing about creating artwork is that sometimes it's just not up to me when I create it. Mood matters!

I suppose mood matters for everyone, but I can't imagine a doctor going to work and saying "You know, I just don't feel the whole heart transplant thing today. Maybe in a few weeks, or who knows? Maybe a good night's sleep and that'll do the trick! But hey, that appendectomy sounds like SO much fun, I must do one right now!" Not to say that painting is like surgery. Well, at least my painting isn't like surgery. There have been some that I've seen that I've wondered about...

Anyway, one of the tricky parts about running your own business is in knowing that you are most likely not going to work just 40 hours a week. Running any business usually means you're going to be working 80 hours a week or more. It's simply the nature of the beast. If you are in art, it feels like creativity swings on so many things that you simply can't predict it. Instead, you have to take advantage of it when it presents itself!

I've been working on my Alice in Wonderland series, slowly. I still have my painting of the White Rabbit on my easel, and I have full intentions of finishing it. However, there are just some days (sometimes many days) that the mood isn't right. If I force it, the painting takes twice as long and is often not up to the quality I want it to be. It's hard to admit, but sometimes the best creative choice is to walk away until another day.

The upside to all of that is that on those days I can sit down and work on the business-business side of my art business. Last week was tough on the creative front because my dad had to come over every day and use our Internet for his job because his new house wasn't set up with it yet. He didn't bother me at all, but there was something about being off routine and having another person who usually isn't there in my space. So, I ran numbers and created spreadsheets, and made sure all my accounting forms were completed (also known as "the extremely boring stuff".)

This coming week I am looking forward to having my house back to myself (since my studio is in my house, this is key!) I know I'm going to work on the white rabbit. I know it so well, I thought about going into my studio today, but something was just off. I thought about it for a while, and then I realized that the reason is that I have been feeling a lot of pull to do some Halloween and Autumn paintings! Everyone wants me to finish the rabbit painting, I do too, but deep down I'm really feeling drawn to the more seasonal ones!

So, that's what I sketched out today:

new Halloween painting all sketched out! It's 8" x 16", stretched canvas

It's a bit cutesy, but I like it. We'll see how it all comes together. I figure I'll be in between this Halloween painting and the white rabbit painting this week. All I need now is the right mood!

September, Start it up!

I'm so happy to have my children back in school. They may not say it out loud, but I'm pretty sure they're happier in school as well. They get to see all their friends every day, and I get more time in my studio!

I'm working hard on finishing my white rabbit painting (I'm calling it "I'm Late!") over the next week, and I'm going to be able to put up another time-lapse video of this from start to finish. I've also been considering doing some videos from my studio where I am actually in them. Me, talking... on camera. It looks like it will happen!

I've also been thrilled that I've been able to start working on my holiday paintings! I'm all about Halloween right now, but I'm even thinking ahead to the winter holidays! I love any excuse to paint fun holiday themed paintings!

I put up a collection of paintings at a shop in Montpelier, VT called Inspired Creations. The shop is owned by two artisans (potter and jewelry), and is only a few months old. I brought them 18 of my paintings up there, and a slew of prints, and I got to visit the area which I hadn't seen in a while. It really is such a cute town up there, but I admit I had a hard time resisting the idea that the Ben & Jerry's factory wasn't too far away. I think ice cream may be my very favorite treat!

I'm doing more work on my Fairy series as well, and since it's open ended I can visit it whenever I want! I finished this painting of mushroom townhouses:

"Townies" by Kyra Wilson, Acrylic on 6x6x0.75 stretched canvas $115 (including shipping in the USA & Canada)

I started working a bit on a mini-canvas of a fairy, but I'm not certain I like it. I may have to switch to my oils so I can really capture the fairies I am envisioning (not to mention, work on a bigger canvas!) I always have a million ideas, and canvases lined up to be painted. The only thing I seem to lack is time!

I'm going to be paying more attention to this blog, because I think it allows for me to post more updates, with perhaps a bit more interesting content in them as I process different things and work on different projects. Facebook is still my go-to spot for updates, but it's not a good thing to be so long-winded on it. Here, however? I can explore all sorts of ideas! My posts will probably get a lot more specific and seem less like an update overall. I also know I'm going to start writing about the business side of things, because I think if you're an artist trying to figure out this business stuff, any information can help. And if you're in the business, writing it out can help too!

Off to the easel...

End of August!

It's been a long while since I updated, and I'm happy to say that I have been keeping very busy both in the studio and in the business!

During the month of September, some of my artwork will be featured in Montpelier, VT at a local shop called Inspired Creations. You should be able to catch the Enchanted Forest series, and perhaps some other paintings in person (and they will be available for purchase there as well!) If you're in the area, it's worth stopping by simply to see the other collections and offerings they have from all over Vermont!

In the studio I've been very busy. My Alice series has been running a bit slow, but I imagine that once school starts again and my children are back on the path of public education, Alice will jump forward with great speed! I'm continuing on my time-lapse video of my white rabbit painting, and I plan on actually doing an introduction before hand. If that works out, I might do a video blog (vlog?) here and there!

So what's new from the easel?

Well, I finished "Fred" for my Alice series. No, he's not the Mock Turtle, but he certainly fits with my theme!

"Fred" Acrylic, 6x6x.75" stretched Canvas, Alice Series (held for show).

 Then I got into some seasonal paintings in the middle of the sweltering heat, wishing for those cool autumn nights and painted a few for the season:

"Pumpkin Dreams" Acrylic, 4x4x.75" stretched canvas, Seasonal (available for purchase )

"Autumn Evening" Acrylic, 16x8x1.5" stretched canvas, seasonal (available for purchase!)

Lastly, I finally stopped putting off all my requests for Fairy-themed artwork. I was a little hesitant at first, but then I finished this one just today, and I simply LOVE it!

"Country Cottage" Acrylic, 6x6x.75" stretched canvas, Fairies (available for purchase)

I've got another 6x6 in the works with an Autumn fairy on it, so we'll see how she comes out. However, I can tell you I definitely want to do more fairy houses! Really, working on fairies along with my Alice series, it's a perfect combination as there are bits of crossover!

Oh, and there are only a few days left of my 10% off sale on my prints on Etsy. They're the same price as on my main gallery site, free shipping, but just for August you get 10% off! If you've been looking at a print, now's a great time to buy it! Plus I was also able to add my new prints, and finally a fantastic print (in multiple sizes) of my Moonlit River painting!

So, going forward, lots and lots of painting on the horizon! I'm waiting for my supplier to get my mini-canvases (4x4") back in stock and then I'll be pleased to offer more of those for sale. I finalized the wholesale program for retailers and resellers who are interested (you can click here for more information), and I've even started looking at venues for my show for my Alice series in the Autumn of 2013! So much to look forward to!

A Real Step

I've taken a lot of time off from my art business. Sure, I've done a bit here and there, but in truth I haven't been pouring myself into it. I have to be honest; I think I've been spinning in my own circle. I'd say I was chasing my own tail, but that would mean I was chasing something and that isn't true. Instead, what I've been doing is a lot of internal arguing with myself.

I have an art business. I have a photography business. I have opportunities to write (in addition to freelance, I've had the "I could write a book about this... or that... I should write a book" going on in my head for years.) I could do any of these things. I could be successful (most likely) at any of those things, with the right amount of effort and planning and dedication. Persistence.

But I cannot be successful at all of them. I'm not even sure I could be successful at more than one at the same time, much less three. The reality is that I have a lot of opportunity in front of me,  many choices. Sometimes choices are freeing, and exciting, and sometimes they're just too much. I made my career opportunities into too much to think about, and an overwhelming experience. Again, a choice - my own, but one I let bog me down out of fear.

It's taken a lot of talking with myself and others to start to figure this out. I'm not there all the way yet, either. What I do know is that it's time I face my fear and start doing something, rather than sitting and doing nothing with a whole lot of excuses. I've had people tell me their version of what is successful, or what they think must happen, and let that be my only vision of what could be - which I subsequently ran from because it wasn't who I am. However, I know very well that it doesn't have to be that way. In both art and business, there is ample room for creativity and success via new channels. One person's vision does not have to be someone else's. There is no road, only the path you make for yourself.

This whole art business is going to change. I have figured out that if I were suddenly wildly successful, bringing in money at any of the three choices I have, I would be most satisfied with my art because it's about more than selling something. Art is who I am, and I'm finally preparing myself to move forward. My time away was not a loss, as I have a much better understanding of who I want to be, and what I want my business to become without losing sight of who I am.

I'm letting some things go, embracing others, and preparing to take the risk. Big changes are ahead, and they're going to take a lot of work. I know deep down I can, and will make them happen.

Here goes something...