October: A Year from Now?
This month's blog topic is: "Where do you see yourself Artistically or Creatively a year from now"?
My portrait business is pretty steady and every year I can predict how much I'll make or how many clients I will have. I can tell you that I will be in the same place a year from now, as I am right now, and was last year. The bulk of my clients will be between July-November, and I will be shooting families, mini sessions and senior portraits. I will be photographing my boys playing football and probably planning my 2020 year. I do a few things each year that changes it up, but its very stable and doesn't fluctuate dramatically either way. But its how I like it. I set my business up to be exactly that. I only take on as many clients as I can handle while juggling family life, sports and volunteer work.
But when it comes to my fine art, it's not as clear cut. I could create amazing work and just never click with a gallery or find the right submissions to enter. Or I could win several competitions, awards and/or money and be on a fast track to success a year from now. (I think its obvious I would hope for the later) ;)
Some of it will depend on my determination and drive (both of which I have), but some of it is also subjective. A curator or juror can love my work and another one hate it. I have already had plenty experience with this. I have been in shows where I win a 1st place or Best of Show award and at another exhibition that same photo doesn't make the show! The one thing I have going for me is that I don't let rejection define me. I have had plenty of photography rejection. It's one of the reasons I create for myself. If I love what I am doing, then I am not defined by whether I make a certain exhibition.
I am at the point with my fine art that I am stepping things up and really want to see improvement and success in 2019. I am creating artwork each week, submitting to galleries, creating and submitting photos for a book cover company and looking into lots of different avenues to sell my work.
So what are some of my 2019 goals?
Here are my top 10 goals for the next year.
1. I want my images to be displayed in exhibitions in galleries. For this I just have to keep submitting. Which currently right now there are quite a few calls that fit my work. So fingers crossed I get a few more of my images in various galleries in the next year!
2. I want to create a series or two or three. What is a series? A series is a smaller body of work that has cohesive feel between images and possibly has a message. They are usually created to be paired with the other images in the series. Which is what galleries want to see, especially if you want a solo show. So if you have seen any of my work before, much of it is individual pieces. They each are their own individual story and although could be paired with my other works, are created as one piece. A series you may have seen from me would be my Ghost Stories, where I am a ghost in each image. My goal is to refine and create a few more images for that series and then send it out for submission. I have one other series I have been working on the last week (3 pieces already complete) and another 2 series ideas I want to explore. My goal would be to have 4 solid series in a year from now. If I have more than that great, but I want at least 4. Plus I still want to allow time to create plenty of my individual images each week too.
3. Submit for a solo show. I want to grow my art career. One way to do that is to have a solo show. A year from now I want to have all the tools available to make that goal a reality, if it isn't already. Honestly, I am very close to being ready to do this. I want to put together a full portfolio and pitch a solo idea to at least one gallery in the next 12 months. I also want to look into solo show opportunities and calls. EDITED: Well I just got a call that I will be having a solo show in Auburn in September 2019!
4. I want to continue to grow my social media. Instagram, Facebook and my blog. I tend to forget to post, forget to comment, post too late, or post too early. I have been really working at getting better at this the last few months. It's something I really want to work on in 2019 and I hope a year from now I have a better following and a work flow for uploading and sharing my images.
5. Along with the above, I'd like to do a recurring weekly segment, for at least a few weeks. I have one idea that shows how I get some of my ideas. Would be fun to show one little secret to my creativity and also how others can use my method to create their own art even if they aren't the most creative. Hint: it would be called Wheel Wednesday :) I'd look for it in 2019, after the holiday season :)
The next two go together:
I want to create every week. Over the last few months the weather has been great. I have been able to shoot a lot because its been warmer and dry, but now its the rainy dark season. I will need to keep up and keep creating through the winter months and find ways to stay creative.
6. Every week I want to have one day where I devote to shooting and editing my fine art images. Even if its just a few hours that day. This way I at least have one image being started/worked on/in progress every week. Some weeks I will be able to edit those right away and other weeks I may have to hold it off, but at least I shot something and am getting into a routine. Ideally, I will eventually have more than a few hours or more than one day to devote.
7. Every week I want spend at least 30-60 minutes shooting something for a book cover. Since being accepted by a book cover company, I have mainly been submitting older work, or work I already created for a different purpose. I want to start focusing on creating images for the purpose of book covers and doing more of the weekly challenges.
8. I want to research more about submissions that may pay. I want to look into magazines that pay for work. I also want to explore more submission contests. Submissions that have either a prize package or a monetary prize. I think if I could find some ways to earn a little back from my art that it could keep it funded and moving forward.
9. I want to look into more avenues for selling my work. If I do show at galleries, there is a possibility of sales, but I have been looking into how I could sell products or have an online store front. By this time next year I would like to have figured out another avenue to sell, either online or at a local store. I want to research what types of products may work or if prints will be the only way to go.
10. Last, but not least, I'd also really love to put together a self portrait class or workshop (if you have ideas for this, shoot me an email!). I taught a self portrait class to some students last year and would love to expand on that and teach my techniques to others. I know many would love to learn how to take photos of themselves :)
My portrait business is pretty steady and every year I can predict how much I'll make or how many clients I will have. I can tell you that I will be in the same place a year from now, as I am right now, and was last year. The bulk of my clients will be between July-November, and I will be shooting families, mini sessions and senior portraits. I will be photographing my boys playing football and probably planning my 2020 year. I do a few things each year that changes it up, but its very stable and doesn't fluctuate dramatically either way. But its how I like it. I set my business up to be exactly that. I only take on as many clients as I can handle while juggling family life, sports and volunteer work.
But when it comes to my fine art, it's not as clear cut. I could create amazing work and just never click with a gallery or find the right submissions to enter. Or I could win several competitions, awards and/or money and be on a fast track to success a year from now. (I think its obvious I would hope for the later) ;)
Some of it will depend on my determination and drive (both of which I have), but some of it is also subjective. A curator or juror can love my work and another one hate it. I have already had plenty experience with this. I have been in shows where I win a 1st place or Best of Show award and at another exhibition that same photo doesn't make the show! The one thing I have going for me is that I don't let rejection define me. I have had plenty of photography rejection. It's one of the reasons I create for myself. If I love what I am doing, then I am not defined by whether I make a certain exhibition.
I am at the point with my fine art that I am stepping things up and really want to see improvement and success in 2019. I am creating artwork each week, submitting to galleries, creating and submitting photos for a book cover company and looking into lots of different avenues to sell my work.
So what are some of my 2019 goals?
Here are my top 10 goals for the next year.
1. I want my images to be displayed in exhibitions in galleries. For this I just have to keep submitting. Which currently right now there are quite a few calls that fit my work. So fingers crossed I get a few more of my images in various galleries in the next year!
2. I want to create a series or two or three. What is a series? A series is a smaller body of work that has cohesive feel between images and possibly has a message. They are usually created to be paired with the other images in the series. Which is what galleries want to see, especially if you want a solo show. So if you have seen any of my work before, much of it is individual pieces. They each are their own individual story and although could be paired with my other works, are created as one piece. A series you may have seen from me would be my Ghost Stories, where I am a ghost in each image. My goal is to refine and create a few more images for that series and then send it out for submission. I have one other series I have been working on the last week (3 pieces already complete) and another 2 series ideas I want to explore. My goal would be to have 4 solid series in a year from now. If I have more than that great, but I want at least 4. Plus I still want to allow time to create plenty of my individual images each week too.
3. Submit for a solo show. I want to grow my art career. One way to do that is to have a solo show. A year from now I want to have all the tools available to make that goal a reality, if it isn't already. Honestly, I am very close to being ready to do this. I want to put together a full portfolio and pitch a solo idea to at least one gallery in the next 12 months. I also want to look into solo show opportunities and calls. EDITED: Well I just got a call that I will be having a solo show in Auburn in September 2019!
4. I want to continue to grow my social media. Instagram, Facebook and my blog. I tend to forget to post, forget to comment, post too late, or post too early. I have been really working at getting better at this the last few months. It's something I really want to work on in 2019 and I hope a year from now I have a better following and a work flow for uploading and sharing my images.
5. Along with the above, I'd like to do a recurring weekly segment, for at least a few weeks. I have one idea that shows how I get some of my ideas. Would be fun to show one little secret to my creativity and also how others can use my method to create their own art even if they aren't the most creative. Hint: it would be called Wheel Wednesday :) I'd look for it in 2019, after the holiday season :)
The next two go together:
I want to create every week. Over the last few months the weather has been great. I have been able to shoot a lot because its been warmer and dry, but now its the rainy dark season. I will need to keep up and keep creating through the winter months and find ways to stay creative.
6. Every week I want to have one day where I devote to shooting and editing my fine art images. Even if its just a few hours that day. This way I at least have one image being started/worked on/in progress every week. Some weeks I will be able to edit those right away and other weeks I may have to hold it off, but at least I shot something and am getting into a routine. Ideally, I will eventually have more than a few hours or more than one day to devote.
7. Every week I want spend at least 30-60 minutes shooting something for a book cover. Since being accepted by a book cover company, I have mainly been submitting older work, or work I already created for a different purpose. I want to start focusing on creating images for the purpose of book covers and doing more of the weekly challenges.
8. I want to research more about submissions that may pay. I want to look into magazines that pay for work. I also want to explore more submission contests. Submissions that have either a prize package or a monetary prize. I think if I could find some ways to earn a little back from my art that it could keep it funded and moving forward.
9. I want to look into more avenues for selling my work. If I do show at galleries, there is a possibility of sales, but I have been looking into how I could sell products or have an online store front. By this time next year I would like to have figured out another avenue to sell, either online or at a local store. I want to research what types of products may work or if prints will be the only way to go.
10. Last, but not least, I'd also really love to put together a self portrait class or workshop (if you have ideas for this, shoot me an email!). I taught a self portrait class to some students last year and would love to expand on that and teach my techniques to others. I know many would love to learn how to take photos of themselves :)
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