New Year, New Easel, New Ideas

Happy New Year, Everyone!

I was blessed with my most successful year ever in 2008. Before starting with my thoughts for this new year, I'd like to offer a sincere thank you to all of my clients who helped me to achieve so many of my goals this past year. Given the chaotic economic events of these recent months, I may be about the only person in America who was sorry to see the year end. But I already have lots of ideas in the works for the upcoming year.

To start with, I'm getting back into the routine of painting. Other than a few landscapes and some commission work, I took much of the past two months off following my last art show in late September. I needed a break to recharge my creative batteries. During that time, I traveled to many great destinations with my husband and picked up tons of inspiration that I've started to tap as I get back to work. I also spent some time with my family, finishing up a mural for my nephew and hosting the holidays at our home for my family members from out-of-town.

To better balance my life and ensure that I'm giving my best to my art, I started to work with a personal trainer towards the end of 2008. This has already helped me immeasurably. I feel more energized and more at ease mentally. Unlike your stereotypical image of a laissez faire artist, I may be slightly neurotic. Slightly. Just ask my husband. Or my Mom.

OK, I digress. But thanks to my trainer's guidance, I'm working towards a goal of participating in the upcoming Bike the 5 Boros Ride in New York City this May. I plan to make this ride as much about getting artistic inspiration as it is about getting a good workout.

Starting next month, I'm also going to work with a good friend and extremely talented fellow artist, Lisa Mitchell, who will offer guidance to me about painting the human figure. In my cityscapes, I remain interested in exploring the narrative element of people within various urban settings. One of Lisa's specialties is portraiture and I'm very excited to have the opportunity to learn from her. Everyone needs "continuing education" in their profession and although I've taken a few workshops since beginning my career as an artist over five years ago, I'm ready to work with someone individually to advance my skills.

My new easel, partially assembled in the shipment packaging, on my studio floor

Over this past year I made some investments in my studio environment. Everything from better lighting to an air filtration system that mitigates the pastel dust (the only bad thing about working with soft pastel). Most recently, I had to replace my studio easel. My old easel began a slow, inexorable death this past September when it began to wear out and could no longer support large, heavy drawing boards for some of my bigger pieces. I purchased a new easel this past month and it's super-sturdy, so I'll no longer have to deal with the nightmare scenario of a piece-in-progress crashing to the floor.

I'm excited about 2009. I look forward to our new President taking office within the upcoming days. I'm also excited to visit some new locations this year, including Charleston, South Carolina and San Francisco, California. Stay tuned!