2012, bring it!

Hello 2012

Last year, I made a simple New Year’s resolution to start painting again. After procrastinating for more than eight months, I finally got down to it. It felt good. Like, really good. It became a bright spot to come home to after some frustrating days at work.

It was in junior high when my art teacher challenged me to give painting a try. So I picked up some acrylics and was instantly hooked. I started straight copying paintings I liked. Sorry Robert Bateman, I copied your work mercilessly. (But never for profit!) Over time, I moved from acrylics to watercolour. The reason? I spent way too much time being finicky, reapplying paint over and over and over. It was ridiculous. But with watercolour, I had to learn to stop perfecting to preserve as much white/highlight as possible. It’s almost the opposite of how I learned acrylics and I love it! I haven’t touched an acrylic tube of paint since.

Once I had new paintings under my belt, I wanted to find a good website to showcase them and see if there was any buying interest. I joined Society6 where I can post my art and they handle all the ordering, printing and shipping.  The site is clean, user friendly, and provides good service with top-notch quality. Some of my art has made a tiny profit, but the best part of joining was becoming part of a vast community of artists. It’s a very welcoming place to be and the artist’s are genuinely kind and supportive. Plus, many of them have some mad skills! I’m in awe most of the time.

So long story short… too late! My last year’s resolution was a bit of a success. I’m not a huge resolution fan, but since I have completed one, I should try another, right? Well, here it is… I will get in better shape and eat healthier in 2012. I hope I stick to it, because over six months ago, I finally kicked my smoking habit (yay!) but picked up “extra snacking” in the process (whoops).

Happy New Year everyone! I hope you have a stellar 2012.