My Artist Journey …Part 5

I decided before writing about all my plans for 2022 it would be good to continue the story of my artist journey. Often we can get so caught up in being productive and moving forward that we don’t take time to appreciate what we have accomplished and obstacles we have overcome to get there.

At the end of 2020 I was working on a commission and also had decide to start working in collections instead of individual pieces. My first ever collection would be released at the beginning of March and would be made up of seascapes in varying sizes. I found it very helpful to immerse myself as much as possible in painting although life is always a juggle no matter how much you try and streamline things, well that is what I have found. I put all my energies into creating and was very pleased to launch the collection successfully after much work. Nowadays many artists not only have to paint but be the marketing managers keeping up with social media, blogs and newsletters then they are also website designers, office managers and photographers as well as students, learning new programs such as video editing if they do online training, the list goes on…. It is a good job I love learning as there is always something new to learn.

After the collection launch I continued marketing then went on to create a few more pieces with a view to them being part of the Chichester Art Trail. This is usually he’d in spring but in 2021 it was scheduled for July. This was a great opportunity to open up the studio doors and let people in to my creative space. I had a decent amount of visitors even though it was my first year to take part.
I also worked in my sketchbooks as these also were to be on show for the trail. I found that doing this as part of a set challenge worked but also didn’t. It took away part of the enjoyment of experimenting and added its own pressure. I think this is a constant challenge for creatives, how much posting on social media they feel they need to do and actually just doing the art but then if you don’t market it no-one will know about it.

The thing I noticed about working in the sketchbooks is that it really helped narrow down what you really felt inspired to paint and what you didn’t.

Sketchbook Challenge 2021

In July I had a small stall at Russell’s Garden Centre near Itchenor. It is a wonderful place with an extensive range of garden sundries and outdoor furniture with a beautiful lifestyle store, full to the brim of quality furniture, interior furnishings and lovely gifts and a wide selection of cards.

The event was very well attended and I had the opportunity to meet lots of new people and to get my work out there into this area being the new kid on the block.

During this year I also spent quite a bit of time exploring the local countryside and towns to get a feel for the place. It’s really important to get out and about, to get fresh inspiration and future reference while the weather is good and things are in bloom. Every season has its beauty but I am a greater fan of warm weather :) Here are a few photos of my wanderings.

In the summer and autumn I was mainly working on mini original paintings for my collection release in October then further release in December. I love doing mini paintings, they make such a lovely and original gift but also makes art collecting accessible to many more people. Here are a small selection of the mini collections which proved very popular.

In October I also invested in a professional photoshoot of the studio as I had heard that Sussex Life wanted to do an article on me for their December issue. A lovely lady called and did a telephone interview and I was able to send the new photos the following week. It was a quick and focused photography session but well worth the effort to maximise the opportunity.

Well things always get extremely busy in November and December but for some reason I thought it would be good idea to create a class for Skillshare. I joined their teachers challenge that means you get some mentoring to help you keep to a schedule and complete the class within the month. Wow what a month it turned out to be, exhausting…. Lots of learning Premier Pro, lots of takes and re-takes, lots of design work and planning videos. However I did manage to complete the class and you can take a look at my class by clicking image below. It is an affiliate link however you do get the first month free and then you decide if you want to continue subscribing to Skillshare.

In November I also took part in the main show I did of the year which was the Winter Fair at Ardingly. It went very well considering I am new to the area and are not familiar with the best shows to do yet, I am still doing investigations. It also feels more risky because of the uncertainty that Covid has brought with it.. Anyway I met a lot of new customers and will definitely consider doing it again. I did another small stall locally and then focused on two major commissions I had to complete for Christmas. Well they didn’t have to be but I wanted to try my best as it was a Christmas present.

Ardingly Winter Fair

I did a number of commissions in 2021. These were the last ones of the year.

This was a lovely review that I was given for the commissions.

‘I could not be more grateful to Linda for the fabulous paintings. My siblings and I wanted to surprise our parents with some special paintings of where they grew up and we could never have expected something so wonderful. We found Linda through Instagram and despite it being nearly November she created the most beautiful pieces of art pre-Christmas! Working with Linda throughout the whole process was an absolute pleasure and she really helped us capture the setting whilst guiding us with regards to colours and atmosphere. My parents were absolutely thrilled with the outcome (as you can see!) and I look forward to one day getting a painting for myself. Thank you so much!’

Well that pretty much sums up 2021, It was quite a year, although stretching, very fruitful. Here’s to 2022!!