It's Been One Year!

The other day, I got the renewal notice for my domain, juuriart.com. This means that it's almost a year since I've started "being serious" about my art. And I mark my first "JUURI" painting as this one, "Captive -Torawarebito-" which was just sold recently. Oh such a long, long time ago it seems that I painted her and discovered my favorite method of working!



Hmmm, those were the days that I had 3 FB fans, when I had never uttered one Tweet, when I didn't know what gallery representation meant, and when I was very excited yet very confused about everything in the art world... and just barely getting the notion in my head that any of this was possible anyway. I'd been told so long that no one makes a living as a fine artist.

So, what has changed in one year? Luckily, I've no bad things to report! It's all good things. I'm going to list them for you: not to show how great I am... I am never satisfied with anything I do. It's to show you that anyone can accomplish these types of goals in a short period of time. You've just got to stop making excuses and DO IT!

1. Have a good following on all the social media networks— THANK YOU GUYS! I did this just by keeping things updated, passing out my business card to interested people, and posting nice work often for people to enjoy. Just a note: most of my sales come from people who follow me on these sites. Random sales don't often happen. You have to work to get your stuff out there!

2. Totally got over my shyness of calling myself an artist. I do it now without even thinking. Even the people at my day job hardly think of me as the receptionist. Everyone knows I'm an artist. Hurray! It feels great, especially since I felt like this not so very long ago. (I'm sure everyone can relate.) I'm glad I could believe in my ability and stop belittling myself.

3. Networking— SUPER networking. I've gotten some high-end clients, wonderful contacts, became friends with people I read about in magazines... by the power of networking. It's mostly also by the power of Facebook and Twitter, but also by just meeting people. Everyone knows somebody. Talk to them! Opportunities come from people you meet, not those you haven't met yet!

4. Brainpowers went up. I didn't know the first thing about galleries, or self-representation, or what any of that stuff even meant. But I know soooo much more now because I attended some low-cost or free seminars (both locally and online,) read books, and talked to people. Make friends and see how much you can learn!

Lastly, I'd love to say my art has gotten better. But, "better" is a hard thing to judge about yourself. The pieces I like often aren't the ones other people like. There are still days (like today) when I feel like I can't flipping draw. I am not as prolific as I want to be.

BUT...

I will work on remedying those things by next year. I'd love to hear about everyone's accomplishments and advice, too! Let's learn from each other~ ^^



<3 JUURI