Setting My Priorities Straight

My. That sounds like a seerrioouusss title, doesn't it? Well, it's pretty much true. After my recent confusion with priorities, I finally took some time to think about them and what's most important to me right now. Of course, family always comes first, no questions about that. It's work that desperately needs some organizing. And thanks to the tips some of you gave me on my last post, I think I can now see things more clearly, from refreshed angles and perspectives.

First of all, creating art is my top priority. I don't know about you, but sometimes I get so distracted and sidetracked in the midst of my chaotic life, that eventually I'd find myself lost with no clue on how to get back on track. This I think is a red alert for us working in the creative field because once you're lost, you tend to slip away from your creativity zone, leading you to a blank wall which you can't seem to fill in with art no matter what you do. Sounds familiar? I find it much harder to get back to the creating rhythm once this happens, so it's really best to watch for signs. Whenever you feel like you're getting sidetracked, then it's time for you to stop and evaluate. Good thing I found my way back, otherwise these new girls and their cats would probably still be hidden in my head, waiting for me to discover them! :)

One of the hardest things about working independently as an artist is not being able to balance the needs to create and promoting your work. Both are equally crucial, especially when most of your opportunities come from networking online. Maintaining your social circles is hard work and it's not something you can gain overnight. However, it's such a pain when you get carried away and wake up one morning to realize that you've been spending more hours socializing whilst your drawing table is gathering dust in the studio! That would be a huge setback to your productivity and unfortunately something I'm still experiencing until now.

So anyway, after much thoughts, here are a few things I've decided to do to help simplify things in the work area and hopefully my life in general...

♠ My Etsy shop will be a place where I sell my original art and illustrations only. As much as I love selling handmade prints and paper goods, it's just way too time consuming. Therefore, I'm having a special promotion on the prints still available in the shop... you get TWO EXTRA prints of your choice for each TWO prints purchased. Sounds good? :)
♠ I will be making prints of my work available in my new Society6 shop, which by the way provides beautiful high quality prints in a variety of sizes and options. You can even purchase bags, t-shirts and iPhone cases with my work too!
♠ My blog will remain the center of my online activities. It's the one place where I can really be honest with myself and communicate with friends more personally. I'm sure many of you bloggers out there would agree...

Okay. Pheww. That was quite a long post, wasn't it? Well, I hope it helped open up a few windows in your head and as always I love feedbacks...so fire away! :)

Hugs,