Newsletter: Art lessons in 2024, my year of turning 50
It's the last day of the year and I've been working on this newsletter since September :D At the beginning of the year I set myself goals for my art development and business. I wanted to:
publish a monthly Art Newsletter
Add a subscription button on my website
Send updates to subscribers.
Print my artwork.
Take part in an art event, market; conference; show or similar.
My goal of publishing a monthly newsletter almost held through August, and then it failed. However the rest of the goals were achieved! It's funny because I was sure I'd manage to write a regular newsletter but not so sure I'd manage to print my work nor take part in an art event. But I actually managed that goal very well. In fact, I fell all-in with my new printer, the printing pipeline and marketing strategies and had no spare time for writing or making any new art. If I kept you waiting, I'm very sorry!
In this newsletter I want to recap on my biggest news and lessons this year. For those in a hurry, just skip to the end for bullet points.
My biggest news is probably that I turned 50 in September! Turning 50 is quite big and some people seem to get stressed over it. I was too, mostly because I had to decide if I was gonna have a party or not. The day turned out great and we celebrated with a small get together at home.
Why do so many of us get stressed about getting older? I’ve been thinking a lot about that and I’ve realised that I’d much rather be grateful for getting older, than getting stressed out. There are a lot of people who have to leave this world before 50 and I’m grateful to still be here and have my health. I’m grateful for having family and friends and pets to share my life with. I’m also very grateful at this stage for having the opportunity to live my life as a creative person!
Making a U-turn in my professional life, over 11 years ago, was the scariest and probably the best decision I’ve made (see my post on On going back to school at 39). There are no guarantees for changes like these to work out. Although staying positive and not loosing faith in yourself is important, staying practical and realistic is a must. I had some luck and managed to make the best of it. However, I’ve also worked extremely hard for my career to work. I’m not going to pretend otherwise and I’m very proud and thankful that I did. I've strategised and planned the best way I new how but I do wish I'd had a better grounding in both business and knowledge of the industry.
My next big news is that I’ve been printing my artwork. I fulfilled one of my art business goals for 2024 last August, when I invested in a quality printer (see my post on Goals for Printing Art). Since then I’ve been testing and preparing some of my artwork for printing. I’ve become totally submerged in learning about that and been quite bus but having fun too.
My third news is that I've had my work on two art markets since October. It took a lot of planning and that could be stressful at times but I really enjoyed being out there and communicating directly with people. I loved the energy and people showed a lot of interest in my artwork. I feel one of the best part of making my art is experiencing how it affects others. It also helps me understand better what kind of an artist I am and what emotions I'm channeling.
My final news is that I actually managed to finish a small number of new personal artworks this year. It's been a few years since that has happened. I've also been making progress on my sketching and drawing skills. More on that in the new year.
Lastly, I'm still working full time as a concept artist and will continue that into the next year.
All in all this year has been good a fruitful year for me as an artist.
Here is what I’ve learned in the past year:
I’m grateful for sticking around as a creative person, doing the work and not giving up prematurely.
I understand better the importance and usefulness of setting goals and sticking to them, roughly.
I actually like the practical side of an art business, so far.
I love being in direct contact with people that are interested in my art.
I now understand that I thrive best on taking on big challenges on a regular basis.
I want to continue my small art print business.
I want to make more personal art.
I also want to continue working on concept art in game development.
With this said I want to thank you so much for supporting and accompanying me on my journey this year. Thank you for showing an interest in my work and for reading my posts! You are the best💖
I want to wish you contentment and fruitfulness in the new year and hope to see you in 2025! 🎄💖
Until next time, be safe and carry on dreaming ❤
Heiða
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