See, I can Make Progress When I Really Need To

Things have settled down quite a bit. I'm making use of the free time I have during the day before my wife and daughter get home. I enjoy spending time with them, but I have things that have to get done if I'm going to climb the art mountain again. I've motivated myself to get the clutter put away in my studio over the past two days. I've also done quite a bit to get my name and my artwork out to the world. I've set up a new Google business account, linked it to Google Apps, linked my apps account to the Thunderbird email program I installed on my computer ( in case you haven't heard, I only use Linux distro and software on my computers. They all work just as well for me as the pricey Microsoft versions and they're free.) It took some doing to get everything linked, but I think it was worth it. I also have Hootsuite and TweetDeck running on my computers, to keep me up to date on the Twitterverse and Facebook Land. I have music pumping through my speakers, I have room to sit in front of my easel (in my new painting chair from the thrift store), I know where my canvases and my paints are, and all my reference material is in one convenient spot. I'm posting on here because it's been a while and I need to do this regularly, but as soon as I post this I'm going to grab a brush and get lost in creativity.

Sometimes It's Really Frustrating

I try to keep this blog positive and not use it as a rant against the evil forces in my life. Overall I have things pretty good. I have a family that loves me, a roof over my head, a job that works with my artistic schedule, and a boat load of artistic talent. Lately things have been frustrating me. I can't seem to get ahead monetarily and all my artistic progress seems to have fallen back to ground zero. I look at is a chance to redo things, to use all that I've learned from the other times, to do things better this time. I"m down to only one venue showing my works, Patrick's Delique in Sikeston MO. I am very grateful for that. They have over sixty of my works on display there and I really don't have room in the house to store that many extra paintings. I'm not in either of the co-op galleries I was in anymore, nor the portrait society, nor the gallery her in Paducah. I guess you could say I'm a free agent. I've been doing at least one thing a day to further my career, so I make progress every day, no matter how small the step is. I have more time at the house and in the studio now that I'm no longer home schooling (my daughter is in public school now) but I'm so tired all the time I use a lot of my new found time napping. I'm hoping things change for the better as I get used to my new schedule.
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Progress Comes A Step At A Time

It was quite a hectic week. My three days off were mostly taken up by bill paying, errand running, chores...all the fun stuff that just has to get done. My daughter started public school on Tuesday, which I thought would open up some time. I forgot to factor in the 6 am wake-ups that accompany school. How could I have forgotten so easily? Maybe my brain blocked it out as being too traumatic to remember. On one hand I do get up earlier and get a start on what I need to do. On the other hand I usually need a nap by lunchtime. I have gotten caught up on posting all the artwork I've photographed, but I have a couple dozen newer pieces I need to take pictures of. I do feel like I've gotten a shot of motivation, I just need to keep the momentum going.

I haven't posted on here in a while, in fact I haven't done much of anything productive for a while. The heat here in Paducah has drained me, plus the clutter in my studio has slowed me down. I've made it a point to do at least one thing a day to make progress and it's starting to pay off. I uploaded quite a few paintings to my deviantArt account and I still have more to go. I've started a new painting and I'm going to start another as soon as I publish this. I'm feeling better about things.