Transition.

So! New year! Huh!

Okay, so nothing seems different, and it probably won’t for a long time yet. And you may be wondering why I chose “transition” as my word this year, when it seems like such a “2020” word. Some of us transitioned from work, to working at home. Same with school, working out, eating at restaurants, shopping….basically everything we normally do transitioned to home base.

And for a while, this will still be the case. Maybe even most of the year, as terrifying as that may be to some. But what comes next?

This is what I’ve been thinking about – what’s the next pivot? What do things look like?

Twenty-twenty was a revelation to me. Because my entire art scene was canceled at first, and then moved to virtual shows/Zoom calls, I found myself with an abundance of time in my studio. Now, I’m always at work in my studio, but with no teaching, art fairs, or art receptions, I had even more time there. And I LOVED IT. I daresay I’ve never had a more productive year. And I don’t want that to change.

So, in the new year, I’m rethinking my old ways, and hoping to change how busy I used to be. I’m going to be more selective with how I spend my time:

1. I’m going to utilize my website more than ever, because of COURSE. 🙂
2. I’m going to transition to indoor art fairs only, which may mean that I have to wait a year before participating. But I realized this year that the exhaustion I felt after a day in the elements, especially wind and pouring rain – it was too much (and with my small, non-waterproof prints – precarious). I have many indoor events that I love to be a part of, and I can’t wait to return to those.
3. I’m going to be very selective in where and what I teach. I LOVE teaching but my schedule was just too much! So I’m going to focus on teaching printmaking, first and foremost, and maybe a collage class here and there. I haven’t taught a class since February 29 of last year, and it’ll be great to get back to it when I can.
4. Last, but most importantly – I want to do more commissions. Turns out they’re not as scary as I thought they were! I had some lovely people send work my way, and I am SO grateful to them, because they literally made my year. If you’re reading this, and not an artist, you may not know how much artists fret over the work they’re doing for other people. When it’s art you’re making for yourself to sell, it’s a completely different mindset than a commission. You always want to work to be the best you can make it, of course, but with commissions, you want the work to be the best thing you’ve done thus far. You want your client to be glad they chose you. And you want them to think about you in the fondest way whenever they see the work you made for them. It’s important work, because they’ve entrusted you with an idea or image and it’s most likely very meaningful to them. And it’s these pieces that made me realize how much I love my job, which by the way, turns ELEVEN today.

I love going back and rereading my posts from each new year, because it’s interesting to see if it went like I thought it would. Let’s all hope that 2021 brings renewed sense of purpose, change (in the best way), and health to everyone.

Now, I’d love to hear YOUR word for the year! Send me a comment, below, or email me at mel(at)kolstad(dot)net.