The Big Dream
I joined a new creative community earlier this month, which has already helped me gain a lot of clarity about my artistic career path. We were tasked with the big picture question first: What’s that BIG DREAM? My answer surprised me so much that I wondered what I did wrong. I felt that there was a disconnect between my current goals and my BIG DREAM. You see, it turns out my BIG DREAM is to establish an art career that will allow me to travel the world as a resident artist. Art residencies are one of the many avenues I explored when I got back into drawing and painting a few years ago. I had found this extremely exciting idea in a list of prerequisites to become a member in a highly respected and juried local artist association. I viewed the list as a sort of road map to follow if I wanted to go the “fine art” route. Another big dream on that list was to have a solo show in a gallery. I sketched out a twenty year plan to check off the boxes. And then forgot about it.
Being a single mom, I put these BIG DREAMS aside for more immediate and practical artistic endeavors. I knew that the first step of my new career path was to become a commercial illustrator. It made sense to reach for this more attainable goal — to earn part of my income by licensing my artwork for products. So that has been my sole focus this past year. This dream is beginning to become realized, as my first collection of home decor and gift items are debuting at the Atlanta Market Home & Gift Show in July. I have a long way before I start bringing in regular income through illustration and licensing, but now that I’ve revisited my BIG DREAM, I know where else to spend my creative energy — when I have any left over. (Did I mention that I’m trying to do all of this while maintaining my full-time graphic design business?)
My BIG DREAM didn’t seem to relate to my current art licensing goals at first. A commercial illustration career doesn’t typically result in a solo gallery show. And I’m not yet creating the kind of work I’d imagine I’d show in one. So how do I get there from here? After listening to the latest episode of The Jealous Curator with Danielle Krysa and Andy Pizza, I realized that I don’t have to have all the answers yet — or even know what the specific goals are right now to achieve the BIG DREAM. As long as I remain curious and comfortable shifting my path little by little with intention and passion, I’ll get there eventually. I understand now that it makes sense for me to continue to put a little time and effort into submitting and showing my work in galleries in addition to growing my illustration career. The experience doing so will help point me in the right direction. The path is still pretty fuzzy, but I trust that it will get clearer and clearer as I go.
Otherworldly Magic
I spent a couple of nights pushing pieces of my art around, trying to come up with a unique pattern. It was not going well. Shortly after waking on the third day, the structure of this pattern just appeared in my head. How? Beats me.
It’s been a long day, but somehow I have a ton of creative energy - which has lately been waning most nights. (I’ll likely crash before I finish posting this.) Lately, my days have been filled with graphic design work, making sure my son is awake for all of his classes (only three more days to go!) and getting some sort of sustenance into our bellies. These things typically leave me in a zombie state by 8pm. Which hasn’t helped my attempts to gather the work I completed for #the100dayproject into a collection or two that I can sell as prints and license on products. This takes strategic thinking and design...and time...and often a bit of otherworldly magic. I spent a couple of nights pushing pieces of my art around, trying to come up with a unique pattern. It was not going well. Shortly after waking on the third day, the structure of this pattern just appeared in my head. How? Beats me. It still took time to build it, since I only know the basics of pattern making. And a few surprises happened along the way. By the end, I was deep in flow - that state of mind that both delights and scares me - and when my hand stopped and I looked down, I knew the magic had finally happened.
They’re Baaaaaack!
Billions of Brood X cicadas are emerging and taking up residence in our trees (and on our sidewalks, plants, garbage cans, cars....) These guys were born in 2004, the same year as my son, and have been underground ever since. I was heavily pregnant the first time I experienced this phenomenon, and I couldn't imagine what life would look like the next time they appeared - I'd be a mother to a 17 year old son! So much life has been lived since then. I have become an entirely different person. And have raised a child to near adulthood. Yet, I'm more myself than I ever have been. I guess everything in life is cyclical. Since the cicadas have been the trigger for all of this contemplation, it seems that I have developed a soft spot in my heart for these giant bugs. I love hearing their other worldly song which envelops the neighborhood. My morning walks have become meditative listening to them, the birds, our little stream (and the occasional military helicopter or two). I gingerly sweep my steps and walkway clear of their exoskeletons every morning, careful not to harm any that are slowly making their way to the treetops, where they will sing their mating song. Soon, they will give birth to the next generation, who will burrow underground and not emerge for another seventeen years. I wonder who I'll be by then.