As the Year Comes to A Close

I find myself thinking about the year, grateful for all the wonderful experiences and thankful for the ones that were not too pleasant.  Thankful because when things are a struggle, you learn and grow.

I would consider myself a landscape painter.  Almost all my paintings are of landscapes and I continually always come back to painting  sceneries and landscapes that inspire me.   Usually it would be places visited or sometimes happily stumbled upon!

However, to help with finances, I always had another job to fall back to.  For the last 13 years, I worked part-time at an art store in their sales department and taught several workshops in the same location.  My world was busy and although I was mostly happy, I felt unfulfilled.  I wanted to paint more but always did not have the time. Previous to that, after graduation I worked in various corporate jobs for 25 years which also did not give me time to paint.  It was time to focus on just painting and teaching and let go of the retail sales job.

In time, I have managed to earn a living by teaching painting at 6 locations, 2 sessions at my home studio and continued to accept private art students.  Did I have time to paint for myself?  Yes, but very little.

This year seemed to be another turning point in my life, and after much thought, I have decided to unload a few classes so that I can slowly transition to painting full-time.  Of course, this cannot be done quickly, I have signed contracts and I still need the steady income.  But hopefully a slow transition would settle into a more manageable pace.

Fifty Shades of Grey 12" x 24" Acrylic by Marissa Sweet SCA

This leads me to ponder how is life as a full-time artist?   People who wouldn't know the work that is involved will think - ahhh she is just painting for fun!   There is a lot of work involved managing a business and theoretically, I am the sole proprietor of my business.  This is not lazy macy, funny ducky stuff.... this is serious.  Responsible for not only the supply of goods, but the management of the business.   It will be work, but working on a business that is your passion is the goal.  We only have one life to live.

The dream is the goal, and in time, with hard work, I will get there!