One year later
Well, it’s been exactly a year since it all started. I left my IT job at the end of December 2019 and started my art career, full-time, in January 2020. Little did I know at the time that 2020 would be a bad year to be in the art field, much less just getting my start in it. Saying that though, a wild and crazy year in art is substantially better than a good year in the IT field. Any job requiring me to be available 24x7 is not my cup of tea. Unfortunately, it took me 20+ years to realize it. I do miss some of those relationships/friendships from the corporate world, and there are also some relationships I’m glad to not be a part of anymore. Enough about that though.
My plan last January was to blog a lot more about getting things off of the ground and just some day to day type of things, and everything else in between. Sort of an ‘art journal’, if you will. Here I sit a year later and I realize that I did very little blogging. I put every minute of my time into creating and almost no time into sharing. Now that we’re in a new year, I’ve decided to make it my New Year’s resolution and share/contribute more often to the art world. Some may beg me not to…LOL
COVID put a lot of things on hold in 2020, and buying art was definitely not on the top of most people’s list. Trying to find a silver lining somewhere, I was able to use that time to experiment more and find my own unique style. There are a lot of things that I created last year that I’m happy with, but also a few duds too. Those promptly found their way to the trash. Of course, it would have been nice to have sold more art, but at the same time you have to take what you get, even if it stinks. “Ah, so,” as Ram Dass would say. :)
I lost a bit of time in January 2019 when I was pushing myself too hard to create. Instead of letting things flow naturally, I was looking for something that wasn’t there. During this time is when one of those pieces of art (if it’s safe to call it that) found its way into the trash bin. Not once though did I ever question my decision to leave a dependable job and partake in this new career. I’ve had some other bumps in the road since then, but they’ve been much easier to navigate. I’m happy with what I’m doing and that’s the important thing. I wasn’t happy those past couple of years in IT and the only thing I sort of regret is that I didn’t make the change sooner. Ahhhh, so.
Here’s a short list of the paintings I created in 2020:
(in order of creation)
Feeling Blue (SOLD)
A New Day (SOLD)
First To Bloom
Alone With The Poppies
The Solitude Of Sunflowers
The Lonely Orchid
Sunflower Of Fire
Across The Lake In Fall
Saturday At Snoopy Rock
After The Rain At Cathedral Rock
Bell Rock From Atop Baby Bell
The Color Of Lilacs
You’ll probably notice the way the paintings evolved back and forth over the year. I really tried something completely different with ‘Across The Lake In Fall’, and carried over a bit of this style into the Sedona rock formation series I started working on. ‘The Color Of Lilacs’ started to go back towards the look of ‘Alone With The Poppies’, or more specifically ‘The Solitude Of Sunflowers’. I added more colors and layers to ‘The Color Of Lilacs’ though. As I keep painting, I see it evolving and growing into this exact vision of what I want it to be.
Since I also work with photography, I decided to start putting some of my prints online. They’re available here - https://www.poesoulstudio.com/ltd-prints. Working on them provides a nice break in between paintings and also allows me to give my right hand a rest. The palette knife really cramps it up. I’m doing the prints in a limited edition series of 100 each. Something to give it kind of a special touch. The reaction to the prints has been quite surprising for me. I’ll continue to upload more as the new year moves on. For anyone out there that’s reading this, never think that an idea isn’t good enough to share. You may be surprised— just like me.
I’m really looking forward to 2021 and what it has in store. If you see anything on this site you’re interested in, please feel free to reach out to me about a purchase. Depending on the item, I may be able to hook you up with a discount code. If you’re not necessarily interested in the artwork but you know of someone that might be, and they make a purchase, I’ll give you a small percentage as a finder’s fee. :)
Here’s to a happy and healthy 2021 to everyone!
Namaste,
Patrick
