Three Art Tasks to do Before the New Year

'The Road Home'       8x10        pastel    ©Karen Margulis
available at Daily Paintworks $75  click here

I am home from a wonderful cruise. I didn't paint as much as I usually do on a cruise but I did a lot of sketching, observing and reflecting.  It was a good time to relax with my daughter and recharge for the coming year.
 Christmas is upon us and for those who celebrate I wish you a very Merry Christmas filled with warmth and wonder.  I will be spending the next few days with my family but I know I will have some downtime and won't be able to help myself from looking ahead to 2013.  If you are like me and would like to get a jump start on getting ready for a productive year, here are three things to do over the next week.

1.  Organize and Back up your photos.  I take thousands of photos over the year. I have photos of every painting as well as photos from my trips and other adventures.  I load them on my computer and organize them in files.  I try to back up my files to a portable hard drive and a CD every month.  I sometimes forget so their are some missing back ups.  This is a good time to make sure all of your photos are backed up. It is also a good time to organize your photo files so you can have a clean slate for the next batch of photos.  I just made a dvd of the last couple of months of photos so I am all caught up. It feels good.

2.  Painting Inventory   I am not good at keeping an inventory of my work. I have tried computerized record keeping and an old fashioned notebook but nothing seems to work for me. I give up after a month of keeping track.  I am not proud of this but it is just me. I'd rather paint then do book keeping.  I do have a system for storing my work so I can find work when it is needed.
If you are a good record keeper or a bad one like me, it is a good time of year to review your inventory. I go through my online galleries and make sure sold paintings are marked and remove older work to make room for new. I also take down any work I have hanging up and file it. I want to have clean walls to fill in the New Year.

3.  Reflecting on the Good   I will be making a list of the 10 accomplishments I made with my art over the past year.  So often we only think about what we failed to accomplish or the negative things that happened.  I want to be sure to reflect on the good things too.

I will also be starting to think about the goals for next year and theses three tasks will help me have a positive and clear mind as I make my goals!