No New Year's Resolutions - Artist's musings

So, I finally had a few minutes to myself and started thinking about what's in store for me, my art, my life for 2009. Now I'm not really a person who makes resolutions every year. I mean things like "lose weight" and "get more exercise" and "eat better" are kinda life long pursuits!

But I am very goal oriented. I'd rather focus on positive pursuits, and the three aforementioned resolutions always leave me feeling depressed when I fail miserably. So...let's just take those three for granted and move on! Here goes:

1. Do at least 2 juried art shows. I've only shown my work on the web and in galleries to date, mainly because it's tough having enough inventory to fill a 10x10 tent. (good news/bad news!)

2. Do a few art and crafts fairs. Probably a good place to start, don't you think? I can get my feet wet, so to speak, at little risk and work my way up to the juried shows.

3. Take at least two classes or workshops. I'm very interested in enameling. Have been trying to find a good way to add color to my pieces besides using stones. One of my fellow team members from the Art Jewelry Collective has started enameling and has had great results. Take a look:

http://charmdimsur.etsy.com/

Pretty neat, huh? And they seem to have been sold right away! Nice! So, back to my goals:

4. Develop a separate line of designs for less expensive metal work. One for the high end, one for the middle of the road pricing. Bangles, cuffs, earrings that are fairly simple and fast to make. They might be good for the art fairs. My change- a- bead earrings are doing quite well, and they've even started to sell on Etsy, though I suspect they stand out like a sore thumb on my site because it's not my "usual" style. Like the ones below -

I think if I accomplish all of this, I'll have a very busy year! My personal goals will remain personal....you don't need the details, do you? But you can add "eat better", "exercise more", and "lose weight"! Hey, I'm just saying.....

Toodles,