Happy 2013! Like many people I begin every year with New Year's Resolutions. Today I thought I'd share my artistic/career resolutions for 2013 and reflect a bit on my 2012 resolutions.
I had three major artistic/career resolutions for 2012:
- Grow my blog readership to 5,000 subscribers.
- Start a podcast.
- Make time to make art "just for me" at least once a week.
I'm proud to say that this goal was exceeded by more than 1,000 subscribers! I was diligent about posting quality content at least five days a week, every single week in 2012 and you noticed! Thank you for subscribing to my blog. It makes me feel very proud that you're willing to share the little free time you have with me and my artistic meanderings. Much appreciated!
This almost didn't happen. It's a bit of a long story....
I was never a podcast listener. Then I got invited to be on Paperclipping Roundtable. I started listening to the show and I got hooked. I would turn the podcast on when I was in my studio working and it was like sitting around listening to friends talk. I started to look for other podcasts to listen to and discovered that I didn't really love anything out there. I wanted to be educated while being entertained and really relate to the people or person behind the mic.
What's a girl to do in that situation? Well, make her own podcast, of course!
I made the resolution in January 2012. I tore through tutorials on the internet and read everything I could find on the subject. I planned out the structure of the show. I bought software and equipment. I attended a lecture about podcasting and I even hired a podcast coach to help me get started with the technical end of things. Finally in September it all came together and my Mom and I launched the very first "Adventures in Arting" podcast.
I was scared to do it. Nervous about the reception for it. I almost chickened out more than once. But as the end of the year started to loom, I knew that I wanted to be able to tick it off my artistic/career resolution list! And I'm so glad that I did!
I have loved doing the podcasts, getting your feedback about them, and I look forward to lots more in 2013!
It's terribly easy to get caught up in deadlines and art that needs to be made for a manufacturer, a magazine, an assignment, an obligation, etc. In fact I think I spent most of 2010 and 2011 lost in a forest of obligations. I'm pleased to say that 2012 was a big step forward in reclaiming my artistic self. I cut way down on travel teaching, eliminated all design team obligations, and said "no" to all kinds of projects. It was hard. Super duper unbelievably hard. But looking back, I'm so very glad that I did!
I have just two new artistic/career resolutions for 2013:
- Finish the 100 Canvases project by the end of the year. I believe I just shared #5, so that means I must finish 95 canvases this year. That's almost two a week. Eeek! Also, built into this resolution is all sorts of stuff about doing work for myself, experimenting, making more art, etc.
- Do the huge blog/website/podcast site makeover. I've been meaning to do a major overhaul of the whole Balzer Designs online site for at least six months. I've been tinkering and playing and trying to decide whether to move to Wordpress or not. I've talked to designers and developers and watched a million tutorial videos and now I need to bite the bullet and just do it! It may not look like it, but things are so super jerry-rigged around here -- they're hanging on by a thread.
So, there you have it. My ambitious (to me) and frightening (to me) goals for 2013. So, bring it on 2013! I'm ready to rumble!
Thanks for stopping by!
