Keeping motivated and assessing priorities.

The last six months have been peculiar in so many ways, with lock-down and continued social distancing affecting all walks of life. After talking to other Artists, it would seem that many have had their inspiration and motivation impacted. Most are saying that their moods and creativity are very "up and down". The normal routes to sell work through exhibitions, galleries and art fairs have been mostly cut off. This combined with the natural worry over the virus itself, will undoubtedly affect people's creativity. As things gradually reopen, hopefully the motivation to create will return. However, should we be learning lessons for the future, reassessing priorities and looking at online opportunities?

Many Artists are reluctant to sell online, preferring to continue selling through a traditional gallery. Unfortunately, this left them without any outlet for their work during lock-down. Thankfully, my online sales helped to make up for the lack of offline sales. For me, this all comes down to not putting all your eggs in one basket. I would highly recommend increasing online presence, to future-proof your business. Having a combination of small revenue streams means that if one isn't doing so well, another can make up the difference. 

Lock-down meant that I had no classes to teach, workshops, talks, exhibitions, fairs etc. which left me with more free time than I am used to. Lacking motivation at the beginning, I took part in online art challenges to find inspiration. Working to a brief and trying new media, styles and subjects soon gets you back into creating your own work. 

Once we were able to venture out more, I got back into hill walking and continuing work on my landscapes. This has sparked lots of ideas for things I would like to paint in the future.

I'm sure many of you have been thinking of what is important in your life and how transient life is. I have found myself thinking that at this stage, I would like to continue having the time to dedicate to progressing my own artwork. After much deliberating, I have decided to reduce the amount of time I spend teaching in order to do this. I do apologise for this, however, I will continue to teach online and offer occasional one to one tuition.

Has your motivation been affected, are you changing your work, life balance? Let us know in the comments below.

Having a little more time has made me slightly more organised. For the first time, I have been organised enough to create a calendar from my paintings, so far sales are going well, you can see them on my website. 


Although I haven't added a new Skillshare class for a while, they continue to be viewed daily. At the moment my Autumn trees class is the most popular.



If you have got this far, thank you for reading my blog. Your continued support is much appreciated. 








 

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