The Year Ahead 2012

Even later with this, but anyway, here goes.

First up, more blogging - this month I'm taking part in the 28 drawings later project on Facebook again,and will be writing about it here. English was never my best subject at school (oddly enough, Maths probably was. Oh, and Art) so more blogging will be a challenge. As, of course, will be drawing every day. But it was such a blast last year, really made me experiment, and was very supportive. Also, I am hoping to write pretty much every day during the upcoming residency at The Art Student's League in May.

Which, of course, is the big upcoming art event for this year. What do I hope to gain? New friends, lots of sketches and paintings, more confidence as a painter and a better understanding of art history. It has given me a deadline to try and learn as much as I can on my own, so I'll be further along when I get there, so I can take advantage of the teaching better. That alone has been useful . . .

One of the things I'm concentrating on is composition, playing with foreground and background, as well as using the full figure rather than just the head. Another area is landscapes - a new venture since I started doing some landscape drawings last year during the challenge. It takes quite a lot of guts to sit in public and paint . . . drawing is hard enough!

It is hard to set goals, though - I never dreamt this time last year that I would be going to New York, or possibly taking part in my first Art Fair. So I guess the main thing is to keep painting and see where it leads me . . .

2011 in review

Well, it seems there are a lot of bloggers out there summarizing the year just gone, so I thought (belatedly!) I'd have a go, too.

In January I went to ATYN for the first time, and gradually started to go more often as I found the set up (especially the spot lights!) great - and the short poses fun. This lead to me meeting Donna , who encouraged me to join Etsy. I had been thinking about selling my artwork (especially drawings) more directly as I felt that the feedback would be really useful. The Etsy community have been lovely and I have had several watercolours wing their way over to America, which is rather cool.

This Blog also "went live" and has gained several followers - hello peeps! Reading other blogs has become a more regular habit, helping me learn all sorts of useful stuff - not least, about the Art Students League in New York. Where I am going for an arts residency in May.

Art Exposure Gallery has been showing my work regularly and I started showing at The Virginia Gallery after taking part in a show organised by Fiona Wilson

What else? A trip to Amsterdam gave me quite a boost, leading to one of my paintings being accepted by the RGI - and selling on the opening night.

So, a good year overall, with the main problems being my health - particularly the dratted shoulder and its operation in May. This has forced me to rethink my painting methods and work much smaller. It also limits what I can carry and my ability to get out and about - I swear the only nice weather we had was just after the op! Still, did manage one plein air painting trip and being focused must surely be a good thing . . .