Category Archives: Drawing

Dogs, Drawing, Goals, New Year's resolution

How about that New Year’s Resolution?

Leave a comment

Well, I am having a good month. As I mentioned in my last post, some of my work was accepted in a show in MN. Earlier this week I entered some more drawings in a local juried show and one was accepted. So I actually have work in two shows that are opening this weekend, and this is the first time I have ever been able to say THAT.

“Outcry” 2014

Lest you think I am resting on my laurels, however, I did take the time to assess my progress on my 2014 goal of 750 hours. As the end of the first quarter, March 31 is a benchmark date for many businesses and so it seems like a good time to revisit those New Year’s Resolutions. I had a somewhat  rocky start to the year and as of mid-February I was definitely behind schedule. However, I put in extra time to make up for that, and have gotten myself caught up again.

So as of  March 31, 2014 (thirteen weeks into the new year), my progress stands as follows:
Studio time-     133 hours, which is three hours over the goal of 10 hours a week.
Marketing etc-   64 hours, or one hour short of the goal of 5 hours a week.

I’ve also added a new category of “supporting tasks,” for things like framing, purchasing art supplies, and research, which don’t really count as hands-on time in either category. I have racked up an additional 36 hours there, for a grand total of 233 hours in 2014.
Again, I know this kind of time keeping seems obsessive, but it works! It’s a lot like writing down all of your calories(don’t get me started) so you have a true picture of what’s going on-no room for excuses. And, for the moment at least, it seems to be paying off.

Arts&Science Council, ASC, Drawing, Video

Grant Project–My first video!

Leave a comment

This year, I am proud to say that I am a Regional Artist Project Grant recipient, courtesy of the Arts & Science Council of Mecklenburg County and NC Arts Council. I wrote the proposal in September 2013 and was approved. So what does this mean?

Applicants to this grant write a proposal asking for funding-usually for equipment or travel/study costs-and make a specific statement about what they will do with the funds and how their growth as artists will be impacted. My proposal was “To purchase an entry level DLSR camera and intervalometer to produce time lapse videos documenting the creation of large scale drawings.” For a couple of years I have been experimenting with photographing and posting work-in-progress pictures. These pictures have been met with interest and support from those who have seen them. (Thanks!)

For a while I have been intrigued with the idea of taking this process to the next level. About ten years ago a friend told me, “You are obsessed with accounting for your time.”  Given the premise of this entire blog, I guess she was right!

So the “anticipated outcome”  of my project is to produce 3-5 of these videos.  I had a great week in the studio creating a trial video. I still have a pretty steep learning curve: finding the best camera settings and position, getting the math right(I took way too few frames for the first half of the project), learning not to kick the tripod out of place midway through the process, and I have a long way to go in learning the production phase. In this particular video, I would like to figure out how to begin and end the video with a longer pause on those frames, and maybe add some text and audio.
That being said, I couldn’t wait to post it! So here it is, in all its amateurish glory. Hope you enjoy it.