![]() Now is the time of year, I sit back and evaluate the year that was. I look at what worked well, what needs improvement and plans for the following year. Reflection is a good thing. It allows us time to look back on the year that was and take stock of the intricacies of where we have been. As I sat and evaluated both my personal and professional journey, there were some moments of pure joy and moments of challenges. In 2024, hubby and I decided to bite the bullet and get some renovations completed at home. We had just lost our beautiful fur baby of almost 16 years. It seemed like the right time to get things done as now it was just the two of us to consider. We needed to completely empty the house for the workmen to come in and remove our old flooring and to lay new flooring. The garage and enclosed patio, also affectionately known as “Art in the Garden Room” were filled with the everything from the house. Along the way there were a few little hiccups, such as new toilets to be installed which we hadn’t planned. The dust was unbelievable as the tiles were jackhammered out. Thank goodness we had our caravan; this became our temporary home for five weeks. The flooring was finished, and the painters arrived to paint the inside of the house. They would return a few weeks later to complete the outside. It was all systems go. Hubby and I still had both of our businesses to keep going. As the enclosed patio was filled with our belongings, Creative Circle needed to be moved to another location for a term. The mid-year Open Studio was put on hold, with only the summer one being held. Looking back at my art business, I was pleased to see growth even with the renovations taking up a lot of bandwidth for a period of time. In 2024, I launched the free monthly pain outs. The first month was just three of us meeting up in a local park. Although, a very chilly morning, the sun was out, and we had a fabulous time. Since the first paint out more creatives are joining in as we venture to some of the beautiful locations in the City of Kingston. I have been fortunate enough to meet the most amazing creatives along the way and connect with wonderful people. I have entered several art shows and had my artwork accepted, sold a record number of artworks, and run over 100 classes each year and this is to increase in 2025. Taking stock of the year that was, now is the time to set up plans for the year that will be. Do you assess your year? Do you make plans for the following year? Leave your comments below. Featured Artwork: Unnamed - available in 2025
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![]() Loneliness is on the rise in Australia, I imagine we are not alone, and it is happening globally. It is not fussy about your age or gender According to the APS (Australian Psychological Society) one in four Australians feel lonely. During the 2020 and beyond lockdowns, this number may have been significantly higher. There is a plethora of information and statistics on the internet regarding loneliness and it’s mental, physical and health factors. The facts are frightening. I know when I moved to Melbourne coming up now 27 years ago, I didn’t know anyone. There wasn’t any family here, initially there weren’t any work colleagues, it was me on my Pat Malone. I found the loneliness extreme for the first three months. It was a fight to keep mentally positive. To meet new people, I attended courses such as photography and golf lessons. Each of them got me out of the house and meeting new people. It was an opportunity to break the isolation factor. Recently, I was running one of my art classes and, it caused me to think back to my own efforts to fight loneliness. I listened as the conversation hit a crescendo of multiple conversations, laughter and connection. Could art classes help the loneliness epidemic? Could those few hours each week, create deeper connections, could they foster a feeling of community and belonging? I believe it can. Those few hours of sitting in a room with likeminded individuals, deep in thought, or sharing titbits of daily life, recommendations of a movie or recipe, or a glimpse into family life, as you create, paint, and draw, transport you into another world. Does a world of connection and creativity, enjoying a new hobby or interest, come from those regular art classes? What re your thoughts? Do you think art and art classes could help with the loneliness epidemic? Please leave your comments below. Featured Artwork: Cityscape on the River ![]() Future proofing is sometimes easy to neglect. Case in point. A few years back, I graduated from creating my art in our enclosed patio. I wanted somewhere that was mine, I didn't have to pack up each time we had people coming over. I wanted to be able to leave a semi- finished artwork up on the easel without worrying that someone would see it in progress. I wanted to be able to leave my supplies out and not have to pack them away after each session. You can read more on my previous post here about how my art shed came about. At the time, we purchased a shed that was basically a space for me to create and be out of the way. When we purchased the shed, it was the perfect size. It fitted all my materials, a good size studio easel, a desk and even a dog bed for my little studio companion who has since passed. It was perfect and was well used. Fast forward a couple of years later and the dilemma began. I started running art classes and required more supplies and although the supplies expanded the art shed walls did not. Slowly, I was finding it more difficult to create in the space as the class inventory took over. Hindsight is a valuable tool. Quite possibly, if I knew the direction of my business was going to change, I would have looked at a bigger space and this would have future proofed the space. Obviously, we don’t always know what is around the corner, however, sometimes it can be wise to think about where you will be in two, three or five years down the track. Will what you are planning now, stack up in three to five years? There are so many ways we can future proof our businesses and life by asking a ourselves a few simple questions. These questions can range from, what if ….., how will….., why would……, if I….., you can fill in the blanks based on what area you are looking at. If I had asked myself, if I grow this business, will this be suitable? What if I take on more clients, how will it effect the space? I am sure you get the idea. Do you look at future proofing areas in your life or business? How do you assess where you are at now and where you want to be? Leave your comments below, we would love to see how you do it. Featured Photo: My little studio buddy ![]() I have just returned from a week down at Phillip Island. Our plans were changed as we recently adopted a rescue fur baby. The weather was chilly and most days it rained, yet we were able to feast our eyes on some spectacular coastline. The day before we decided to head home early, I visited a gallery in the main street of Cowes. As I walked in, I noticed a board advertising an art class that afternoon. After chatting with the artist owner and her invitation to come back for the class, I couldn't wait to return later that afternoon. I enjoyed a few hours of painting a scene from my phone photos. Interestingly, I found it funny to have the colours squeezed onto the palette for me, colours I wouldn't have started with and some colours I would never have picked. Being an artist who enjoys working with a limited palette and mixing colours to create what is needed, I somehow felt overwhelmed by the colour choices made for me. I work from the sky down and this time I had to start working from the ground up. I found it challenging, yet exciting and different at the same time. It was fun to become the student and experience the class from a completely different way, when the fellow artist had no idea I also create art. Featured Artwork: Sunderland Bay, Phillip Island - work in progress, will be available for sale when completed. ![]() When I run classes at any of the programs I run, including at my studio "Art in the Garden Room", I always recommend to sign the artwork and date it on the back. I wish I had done this when I started back painting. Fortunately, modern technology means I can work out dates based on the photos on my phone. I love to look back and see the progression in my artwork, how my brushstrokes have changed, my colour palette and style changes. My art has always been inspired by nature, the style and colour palette has changed over time, yet my artwork continues to be inspired by nature. Over time, I realised, I prefer to paint impressionistic and abstract work, using mixed media. When we look back at our artwork it can trigger ideas, identify what we love, what we prefer to leave behind and monitor our development. Looking back can move you forward to exciting new ideas, spark joy in following your own artistic journey and create a sense of accomplishment. This is why, I highly recommend having a sketchbook for practice as well as a safe private place for experimentation. Do you sign and date your work? Do you like looking at an artist's earlier work? Feel free to leave a comment below. Featured Artwork: Spring Meadow ![]() For most of my working career, I worked remotely. Mostly the companies were located in different states making remote work the most appropriate way to function. In 2020, many workers were forced into remote working along with school children. To me, this was my normal way to operate, whereas, for many, it was a new and untested way to operate. With the onset of remote working, remote learning also escalated, particularly in areas not exposed to online learning. Artists that predominately held in-person classes were forced to embrace the world of online to be able to make ends meet and continue their business. Suddenly, artists and art classes from overseas we once earned to attend in person, were now in our bedrooms, home office or kitchen table. All of a sudden online classes became the norm and in-person classes were a distant memory. Of course, now we have the opportunity to enjoy both. Whilst online classes offer time flexibility as many are pre-recorded on-demand classes and individually paced, does it deliver on community, collaboration, physical art materials, demonstration and guidance? In-person, classes tend to require more time and financial investment into your development than a short online course. However, some fabulous online courses allow you to learn new techniques and genres with little financial investment. It comes down to how disciplined you are to see it through. I feel there is a place for both growing and expanding as an artist. I don't mind an online course here and there, but I do love attending in-person events and courses more, due to the connections, collaborations and personalised attention. Which do you prefer online or in-person classes or do you mix it up and use both? Featured artwork: Morning Walk ![]() I know the saying well, "life gets in the way". Back in mid-March, we signed the papers to have some work done in our house. By most people’s reckoning it is small works which includes new flooring and painting throughout the house. I decided the following weekend to get a head start on culling what wasn’t needed anymore. I was going along quite well and then we headed to Perth for my dad’s special birthday celebrations. Unfortunately, both hubby and I got sick. Nevertheless, on our return we started the arduous task of packing up a house that we moved into seventeen years ago. Oh, boy! Enough of the scene setting………. Throughout this time, I mostly have only been able to create artwork at classes. Don’t get me wrong, I am so grateful I have this opportunity. Creating art in classes is very different to creating art on my own in my own space and mostly in silence. I enjoy the solitude and quiet time creating. Occasionally I may play a podcast or some quiet music but mostly I work in silence. I also can play and experiment, paint over explore colour options and develop ideas in my space. One final thing I have noticed is I miss that relaxation time. Life has certainly taken priority over the last few months and will continue to for at least another 5 weeks. I am missing my creating for me time, I do know it’s not too far away. Thank goodness for art classes, I get to enjoy creativity with a great bunch of people at the classes. As the work picks up in the house this week, I am hoping to pick up the paint brushes in my art shed and get the creativity flowing again. Have you had a time where life got in the way of your hobby, desire or plans? Share any strategies or your tips in the comments below.We would love to see them. Featured artwork: Waterside ![]() Recently I was asked how many art classes I run. I totalled them up and this year it will be approximately 120 classes. I also attend classes weekly, sometimes if I can fit it in I will attend an extra class during the week. Being up the front and running a class is very different than being a participant, that's for sure. What I have learnt running the classes is everyone has their way of processing the reference they are replicating. Every person has their own style. You can have a room filled with ten people, all doing the same reference photo, yet, there are ten different interpretations. A part of the reason to factor in is experience. Art classes have a range of people with varying degrees of creating art. The main factor, I believe is our interpretation of the piece. There is no right or wrong, there is no good or bad. There is no perfect piece, there is no dreadful piece. When I sit as a student in an art class, I love the ability to learn from the teacher, experiment, practice and enjoy the process. Sometimes, my work at a class I would prefer to throw in the bin, yet I keep it to learn from it. I enjoy finding happy little accidents, solving problems and developing my skills for future work. I don't define myself by the work I produce in an art class. I do see from time to time, a person wanting to replicate the reference photo exactly, like a photocopy. They admonish themselves for not doing it correctly or right. Occasionally, there are silent tears and bright red faces as the person tries their hardest to find perfectionism in art. Emotions come to the surface of "I'm not good enough", "my art needs to be perfect", and "everyone else is better than me". Negative self-talk that serves no purpose and is definitely no good. Take Vincent van Gogh, one of the world's most renowned painters, yet he is synonymous with the term 'a tortured artist'. He died at the early age of 37 and sold only one painting. In ten years he produced almost 900 paintings and around 1100 works on paper. Sadly, Vincent didn't get to see how some of his works are the most expensive in the world, his art style laid the foundation for future artists and he was one of the most influential artists in the history of art. So, my biggest takeaway and advice if I may...... enjoy the class, learn the process, develop skills, use what you learn for future work and don't define your ability by what is done on the day. You do you, comparison kills creativity and joy. What are your thoughts on comparison and self-talk? Share your thoughts and leave a comment below. ![]() The idea of every day being able to paint, create and live a stress free life is a picture of an idyllic world. My mind conjures up an art studio filled with canvases, paint brushes, old furniture and light streaming through an open window with a light breeze playing with the curtains that hang on either side. Ok, then I wake up to reality. Having an art business is not all art, there is so much more to running the business. Just like, any small business, you need to wear many hats throughout the day, week and month. Those hats vary from doing accounts, marketing, class planning, resource investigation, purchasing supplies, loading and unloading the car, driving to various venues, preparing and posting social media posts, writing blog posts and working with art class clients for the sessions. Boy, all this, plus more and I haven't even touched a paintbrush. I love all the moving parts that come with my art business, every day is varied and full of opposites. Creative to the mundane, silence and seclusion to chatter and people filled rooms. Generally, my week is dictated by my diary, where I will be, and what medium we are using in each class. My main priority is preparing for classes, I want to make sure I am prepared for each class, running over 120 classes a year takes a lot of organising. Once the classes are prepared, now I slot in all the other things on my to-do list. Some tasks are daily, some weekly and some monthly, it makes it easier to keep on top of all the little tasks that add up. I attend an art class myself, once a week, which helps me to keep developing my art. I also like to schedule my time to create and produce artwork for my open studios twice a year. Now, that is a whole other list. Being able to block out time to create is so important to me now more than ever. I get to create what I want, and what I love and take my time. I savour every minute that I get to work on a piece that takes my mood and uses the medium that speaks to me on the day. How do you prioritise your to do list to include creative time? Share your tips below in the comments. |
AuthorLee Cummins is a mixed media artist, workshop and art class facilitator. Archives
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