Game Plan

It is hard to be a mom and to pursue any type of career. I am grateful that as an artist I can do my career from home, while also being a mom; however, it is really hard to do that! What with trying to maintain a clean home, cook meals, take care of children... it seems like I am going at the slowest pace possible with my art, so slow that it sometimes seems I'm not going anywhere at all. There is definitely a time and a season for everything, but I also know that I need to be actively pursuing my art in order for me to be happy.

I came up with a new plan that is reasonable and something I can work towards.

• After the two pieces of commissioned art which I'm currently working on are finished, I am going to start putting more emphasis into building my portfolio. (I'm also doing a painting for the church contest, but that is something I will be working on all year long).
• I'm going to advertise asking for models to pose for me so I can work on my drawings and paintings of the human figure, which is what I really want to draw and paint.
• I am setting the goal of having enough high-quality work completed in a couple of years that I can have my own show--a real one located in a gallery.
• At that time I will contact agents and invite them to the show, with the hope of garnering an agent. I already have one in mind, but they are of the level that would require me to be amazing, so I wouldn't do the show until I was confident enough in my work to believe I had a chance.

I love plans, and lists, so after coming up with these new goals I feel a surge of motivation and energy that I had been lacking the last several weeks. It makes it easier to get up every day and wash dishes and do laundry if I know that at the same time I can also work towards something I love. It is also nice to have Violet's sweet face smiling at me as she helps me with dishes.