Looking Back – Day 66 – Patchwork

Today is Day 66 of the Art Apple A Day Retrospective – for information on the project click here.

Day Sixty Six – December 5, 2010

Looking back 10 years ago today…

I remember how pleased I was with this sweet little apple. To me it looks like those tissue paper collage projects we did as kids. The watercolor applied with a flat paintbrush that shows the transparent layers gives that feel. I may need to make a tissue paper apple now that I’m thinking about it!

The original post then goes on to discuss the importance of constant creativity and making new pieces to be a working artist. This constant practice was something a year of daily apples gave me a big taste for and how difficult that can be – especially when dealing with health issues.

After my year of apples I needed a break from the constant mental push of creativity and unfortunately I moved in other directions professionally. I became a Real Estate Broker believe it or not! I loved so much about the career but the 24/7/365 nature of it was not conducive to maintaining my best health. So after 6 years I’ve just this month decided to hang up my Realtor hat. I’m sad to let go of something I’m good at and enjoyed but the last year and a half I’ve basically stepped away and moved into my studio to “see” if I can make a go of being a professional (meaning I make money) at creating art.

The money isn’t the real goal for me but it is a way to feel like my work is valuable, my time creating it is valued, and this is the system we live in. Patrons of the Arts aren’t a thing in 2020. However, my goals are to produce images and develop a reputation that will allow me to create on a schedule that is do-able with whatever might come with my health in the future.

Creating art doesn’t have a schedule per se even if it has to be constant and consistent. It’s vitally important to constantly create and mature and develop art but if I’m in a flare I can rest in bed and create digitally and that work – is work! So there is a method to my madness… I could have stayed in my Real Estate career and started painting professionally in a few years but… there is ALWAYS a calculation when you have a chronic disease. There are always the nagging questions about what the future holds. So, my husband and I decided that now while I’m doing so well health wise, we would take the short term financial hit to our pocketbook and invest in a few years of developing my body of work, a firm style, and hopefully a following of art collectors.

All things are going according to plan but with Covid things have moved forward slower than I had hoped. I’m patching things together, working through the challenges, and absolutely loving where my art has headed. I’m now back to large canvases and have a number of commissions I’m working on and then I’ll be working on a collection of large pieces to show somewhere in the spring!

I see today’s apple as somewhat of a self portrait (although it wasn’t at the time) – it’s a bit of this and a bit of that, all coming together into something beautiful albeit imperfect and incomplete. I just have to keep reminding myself that designing this life to work with the challenges of A.S. is a creative process as much as painting is and I absolutely love figuring it all out!

Take that AS!

To see my original Day 66 post ~ Patchwork~ from 10 years ago click here or on the image above.

And the story will continue tomorrow…

One Reply to “Looking Back – Day 66 – Patchwork”

  1. Besides, I like saying “my wife is an artist” better than “my wife is a real estate agent.” Not that there’s anything wrong with that.

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