Find your beautiful year…
The beginning of each year is usually a time to look forward with new year resolutions and goals.
I always feel we can’t look forward before appreciating what we achieved the year before. At the beginning of this past year, I was working toward shifting my company away from painting on-location Murals and Faux Finishes. After 22+ years of being a mural/faux artist, I decided to close that chapter in my professional life. It was always such a joy to be able to collaborate with clients and create impactful works of art for their homes and businesses. It always made me smile when I would see a photo of my clients with my art as the backdrop. There were so many wonderful relationships built over the years that still continue today.
This is me, painting a mural in 2011.
As one door closes, another door opens.
What would I do with my business and skills next? Well, I wanted to continue to provide original artwork in the form of paintings and illustrations as I always have, but I wanted to do more. I need to create; I just can’t help myself. In the downtime of the pandemic during 2020, I spent a lot of time creating designs to be placed on products for print-on-demand stores online. The more I created, the more I fell in love with the medium. It was so cool to see my art on all kinds of products besides walls, from fabrics to glass trays, to stone coasters. Little did I know in the beginning, that it was actually an amazing industry called Surface Design and that companies would be interested in licensing your art to print on their products.
The possibilities are amazing. There are designs on just about everything from all kinds of commercial and home décor, clothing, everyday accessories, and products. Just take a look around you at the surfaces in your home, what your wear, the products you use and notice the art and design you’ll find.
You may not know, but I’ve always been a self-taught artist.
It was a big step for me to sign up for formal training as I plunged myself into the world and business of being a Surface Designer. I had worked with digital design for several years creating mock-ups and such for my clients with Adobe Photoshop. Now was the time to learn Adobe Illustrator as well, so I would have all the tools of the trade, along with my artistic skills to create pleasing designs. I learned to make better designs and repeat patterns, and then design collections. Wow, I learned a lot over these past months, even though, sometimes I felt like I was standing still. You know what I mean, right?
So as the new year was about to begin, I looked back, picking some of my favorite designs for an art vs artist collage, and took some time to look at everything I’ve created this year, how far I’ve come, and all the support and encouragement I received from my family, friends, and you. I must say, it was a revelation and an exhilarating experience. It may sound like I’m bragging about myself, but I was really surprised and proud of how much I’ve accomplished this past year. The floral image in the upper left-hand corner was the 1st vector design I created, then continuing around clockwise as the year progressed.
Art vs Artist 2021
I encourage you to take a step back, look at all you’ve accomplished, and find the beauty in your past year. You just might surprise yourself too.
Now to make plans for this coming year! I can’t wait!
Thank you for joining along in the journey!