Good morning! It’s a week past January 2015 and I’m still recovering from the amazingness of last month. As many of you know, I committed to completing 30 paintings in 30 days for the first time. The challenge showed me a lot of things about myself, my work ethic, and interests. Equally, I learned a lot about my fans and supporters. It was such a high energy time and I enjoyed it immensely.

I managed to paint 30 paintings in the 30 day span, although some of them were not shared (commissions, studies). It was fun to post a painting each day and know that my audience were expecting it and would hold me accountable if I didn’t. I didn’t have any sales goals. I wanted this to be a space for me to push myself creatively, and I’m happy to say that I did.

Within the first week, to my pleasant surprise, paintings started to sell. Some collectors even came back for seconds, and thirds! I wanted my work to be accessible if anyone decided to buy, so I kept the works relatively small and their prices as well. Thank you all for the comments, sharing, and support.

I’m happy to say, once counted, I sold 21 original paintings last month, 17 of which were a part of the 30 paintings challenge. I believe the momentum of the whole occasion had somewhat of a ripple effect. What a great way to start the new year!

Here are a few things that I learned throughout:

1. You can and should stretch your creative muscle. Don’t be afraid if the ideas aren’t fleshed out to perfection each day. Just show up and work. The rest will take care of itself in the studio.
2. You can change your mind or idea about a subject. I initially thought I would paint very true to form faces. Instead, I wandered off the beaten path and explored what was more interesting to me. Abstract figures, veiled women, and spunky curly girls were more entertaining to me then getting an accurate portrait or resemblance of someone.
3. Anxiety will creep in, it will make you feel like giving up. Don’t listen. Ignore the smallness telling you that you can’t finish what you started.
4. Working on sets and series is a great way to keep up with your creative ideas! Instead of waiting for one day at a time to start each idea in your head, jump on 4-5 canvas in one day. You can finish one or none but just having them started is a big help in my creative process.

That was me. For those of you that did the 30 in 30 challenge or witnessed another artist participating, what did you think about it all?

xx