Fur In The Paint

‘Til The Cows Come Home
Work in Progress
Oil Pastel on Arches 140# Hot Press

So now comes the hard part, setting goals for the new year. The important thing to remember about setting goals is to make some easy to attain and others that force you to stretch a little.

There has been so much talk about the economy and recession, it is now perhaps more important than ever to assess my art business. And for me the best way to do this is through goal setting. For some reason just taking the time to be decisive on this goes a long way in bringing them into reality. I’ve also heard that telling others increases this effect. So here they are for all the world to see.

• Growth Increase gross sales by at least 10%
• Write an article for every Apples ‘N Oats issue. (for the past 2 years I’ve been getting 3 out of 4.)
• Also again this year, try to do at least 2 new events be it horse or art.
• Update my mailing list. Technically easy but a major job (not to mention a real pain.)
• Stretch my comfort zone. Teach a class, Give talk at an art group, Take on more commission work. All things I get asked for multiple times a year.)
• Create 20 new paintings. This is a biggy, because most years I do half that number. But with the little handmade paper paintings it is now a do-able number. (with effort)
• Do more Bloggy stuff. Continue to post 4 time a week. (much more than that could burn me out a little) Learn more about Twittering and Squidoo lens.
• Business Expansion. Look into getting (though not necessarily get) some new framing equipment. 2006 I bought the new business van, 2007 I bought my gallery building, 2008 I rested (if you could call it that.) For 2009 perhaps an Under Pinner (costs about the same as a cheap used car) or computerized matcutter. (Costs about the same as a new, rather nice car.)
• Remember to take “me” time. “Me” time can be hard to quantify, since coming into the gallery and painting all day (with the doors locked) is both work and doing something for myself. But taking more days off to spend with friends or Mike doing fun stuff are needed. (and of course at odds with much of the rest of the list.) I think I’ll aim for 1 “fun” day a month. “Fun” meaning doing something that good for the soul besides painting or starring glassy eyed at the TV.

So there it is. It looks daunting from this side of things.

Anybody else out there setting goals? Feel free to mention them in the comments or post a link to your blog or site regarding this topic.

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