Thursday 27 September 2012

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,




17 comments:

  1. Wonderful post Amalia, and it sounds like your plans are good ones! These new creations are really lovely :-) I hope you have much success with your new Society6 shop!

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    1. Aww, thanks Angela! You're such a sweetheart! xoxo

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  2. Whatever you decide to do, I support you because I want you to be happy!!! Tsup!

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  3. You sound like you just stepped out from my mind!!! I've had all those thoughts the past week, my head has been a mess and it's time to get back on track for me too ;)

    I'm glad you are working your stuff out, it can be so frustrating when this happens!!

    X

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    1. I'm not surprised that many artists would have similar experience, especially someone as prolific as you, Micki! I still wonder how you always manage to be so creatively productive! :)

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  4. Such familiar thoughts! When I paint I feel as though I ought to be promoting and when I do that, I feel as though I should be creating! I tell myself there's not enough time to do both and then I look at other artists online and it appears they manage it very well thankyou very much...but do they? Maybe it looks to others as though I do too! I'm finding it hard to settle into a routine this term with one son leaving for uni and lots of unexpected appointments to fit into the weeks, let alone my part time job in a toy shop. Thankyou Amalia for being so honest, it's blogging that keeps us sane isn't it?
    Loving your new cats!
    Jess x x

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    1. Oh, I can soooo relate to that! Keeping things balanced is a tricky thing, I'm even beginning to think that it doesn't actually exists! LOL. I hope you'll get everything sorted, dear Jess. *hugs*

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  5. I love your new little cat girls, they are adorable.

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  6. I just finished a painting last night (and blogged about it too, LOL) and thought over my balance of time and work and life and how finding that balance is so hard right now. When I spend a lot of time on the business side of it, whether it's crunching numbers, or editing my website, or marketing, I really have a lot of trouble creating too. It's like it numbs that side of the brain, isn't that odd? It doesn't work in reverse, I wonder why?

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    1. Yes, what's with that??! I think it's a lot to do with our tendency to use one side of the brain than the other. Maybe people like us are just primarily using our right side of the brain! So it's harder when we're expected to work the left one. LOL. :D

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  7. I love that you take the time to evaluate what is important to you and how to make it happen, very inspiring. Your choices sound like a wonderful idea. Wishing you success always.

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  8. remind me to tell you about Room at the Top - you will appreciate it I think. :)

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  9. you really speak from the heart and also speak a lot of what i am thinking. That everyday struggle with balancing, art, inspiration, being true to your creative spirt, networking, family life - its like i maintain one area of my creative life and then i need to catch up on the others. I need to spend time focusing.
    I adore your at especially this girls with cats - so pretty.
    always a great blog to stop by :)

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  10. It's good that you now have a clear idea of what's most important to you and how you can keep doing that.

    Also, these cat ladies are wonderful:D

    blueeyednightowl.blogspot.com/

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  11. Hi Amalia! First of all, congratulations for your lovely artworks! I've checked some old posts of yours, and it was great to see your style evolving. I'm starting to make art professionally, so blogs like yours are worth several art classes. :) Thanks for sharing opinions, they've been invaluable.

    I'd like to ask you to write a post about your experience on selling your art on Etsy and on other online stores (in case you haven't written about it yet). How long did it take you to make your first sale, whether the experience has been positive, how did you promote your work in order to draw attention to your store, etc. Thanks in advance! I wish you lots of success!

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Tell me your lovely daydreams, they always make me smile! ♥