Over the course of 2013, there are numerous things I've learned. I shall only list a few of them, as they are the ones that have affected me the most. Some of these things, I have to admit are extremely petty and sound like a high school Facebook posting, so don't judge me :-).
1. Time management: I cannot go into enough depth about this. I found that if I take every day of the week and attach an art project to it, I create more. For example, on Sunday, I'll have one or two specific projects to work on, Monday is the same, as is Tuesday and so on and so forth. I do this because I'm working on about 15 different paintings at the moment. Sometimes, it's easy to forget what you have to complete. This year, I've completed 21 paintings, last year, I believe it was half that.
2. Titanium White: You can never have too much of it.
3. Craigslist: When it comes to people getting rid of art supplies - paints, canvases, etc ... yeah ... Craigslist rules!
4. Forgiveness: There are some people who, no matter what you do, will never find it in their heart to forgive you, regardless of their own actions towards you. They'll make nasty comments about you online, run your name through the mud, even create fake Facebook accounts to bash you, and if you retaliate in any manner, they act as though you were the problem. Even if you cower and apologize, they find a way to play the victim. This is their problem, not yours. (yeah ... that's a real personal one there)
5. Indifference: People often say that hate is the opposite of love. This is not true. Both hate and love are an emotion. Indifference is the removal of all emotion. I don't think there's anybody I hate ... seriously. There are people and situations who I am indifferent towards, and have no emotion for anymore - both negative or positive. The only emotion I feel towards it, is that I wish I felt either/or for them.
6. Self Image: (This one is very juvenile) As an artist, it's difficult to get out of the mindset that people need to like you. I used to feel that everyone needed to like me. Unless someone is a customer, what other people think about me, what their friends and family think about me, really doesn't matter anymore. This has taken me YEARS to fully understand. But over the course of this year, I found things kind of changing. After an ulcer hit me back in February/March, things slowly began to change for me. It was around October that it finally sunk in. A person doesn't like me? Okay, thanks. What other people think about me is really none of my business. I have an awesome life ahead of me, I create phenomenal art, and I have goals and dreams I WILL obtain. It's kind of liberating to be honest.
7. Work for free - Never again. I find that people who pay have a tendency to not only respect what you do, but take better care of the work you do for them. When I do free work for people because I listen to their sob story (we're going out of business and are trying to make it, we're on a limited budget, *insert sob story) they tend to take advantage. For example: anytime I've done work for someone for a cost (book cover, logo, etc.) there are a set number of changes they're allowed to make before they accrue additional charges. Let's say that number of free changes is 3. By the time they get to the third change I can count on one hand how many times a customer has agreed to continue making changes. Usually, they have it down pat. However, when I do work for SSC (sob story clients) oh my goodness ... the number of changes they have to make can be downright staggering, one customer making almost 15 changes. Of course, when I told him that I would have to start charging, for some reason, he somehow didn't need anymore changes. Strange how money changes people's minds.
8. A new career, a new year ... don't mind if I do ... Happy New Year everyone!!
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