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Sunday, December 23, 2012

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!

1 comment:

  1. I love the peaceful feel of this painting, Karen, and it brings back memories of meeting you for the first time at the workshop on painting winter scenes. I know you will have a wonderful holiday with your family. I hope when you are reflecting on your accomplishments for the year, you will realize all the joy you have spread with your beautiful work, clarity you have given other artists through your inspirational words, and the skills to advance technically you provide all of us with your blog lessons! You are a gem...

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