A plan isn't a plan until it has a use-by date!

Time is cracking on with a vengeance this year. How did it get to May so soon?! This is what happens if you’re not the type to plan out your year; things kind of drift away from you and before you know it, months have passed and you haven’t achieved half of what you intended.

Well, that’s me right now. And I did/do have plans for the year, but they obviously haven’t been structured enough with dates included, to produce concrete results. Good lesson to learn. It's not enough to have a plan; there has to be way points so you stay on target. Seems obvious but that last bit sort of gets lost after the research/idea generation stage.

Which is not to say I haven’t achieved anything. I produced some new sculptures to submit to an art fair. Haven’t heard anything back so safe to assume I didn’t make the cut. Which is fine. It is a bit of a posh gallery so figured it was maybe not my target, but I did get a first attempt at an artist statement out of it so that’s pretty good. And it didn’t cost an arm and a leg so no major loss financially.

I’ve finally got cracking on turning out some 2D work for my dance related stuff and that’s going well. Am pleased with the line drawing style that came out of the sketching, and those are being added to as I work to have an example for all aspects of dance, acro and gymnastics.

I’ve tested out a pretty loose style of painting up the line drawings to something more substantial and those are looking quite nice too. As they’re not time intensive, I think maybe I’ll do a few original versions of each in different colours for selling and save any more detailed work for sending to a print company to do. Have sourced someone who sells frames, backing mats and plastic sleeves so the originals can be easily mounted and nicely packaged. Got a tip for a print place (Creative Hub) in London who do print on demand and take care of the mailing etc., so that’s another avenue to work through. Either way, I’ll have a good range of work to apply to various media/merchandise in the future. Multiple income streams! But get one area running smoothly before adding the next one.

It’s also a good move to have work at various price points as £100+ purchases are not for everyone, and bonus – the 2D work is easy to transport which matters a lot if you don’t have a car. Been looking round to see if there are any Uber type places round here that do electric vehicles. I sooo want to get a drive in a Tesla!

So...now I've written this, I know I've got to sit down and articulate more clearly what I want to see happening the rest of this year, what time I want/need it done by and plot a course on my calendar to make sure I get there. And then do the same for next year as well. This is what I do best with. Wishy washy notions are too vague - there's nothing to get my teeth into. But when I know exactly what I want and when I need it to be done by, it seems like everything drops into place super fast. It's the focus that creates the environment which creates the outcome, sometimes in unexpected ways too.

I'm muddling my way to clarity on this. My artist friend/boss at work says I should just dive in...but that's not my style. I prefer to have a foundation plan in place so I know what I need to know ahead of time then I don't end up looking like a nitwit cos I haven't done the obvious! This is the trial and joy of being a DIY artist. You can read around artist forums, find gems in good art business books, but in the end, what you do and how you start to do it has to be a bit of a leap.

This is not accountancy. There is no defined path of study and no career progression laid out. It's all totally open, which is both reassuring (I can decide what I want) and overwhelming, because the options are so varied and outcomes totally wide open. But...do we really want to live a prescribed life where we know exactly what happens next? It may sound comforting but I think people thrive when they are pushing the limits of what they think they are capable of, and that means heading into unknown territory.