As the year draws to a close (and aren’t they speeding by quicker every year!) it’s time to pause and reflect on the one just about to pass – the successes, the failures and the lessons learned from both.
At the end of each year I like to review what my goals were at the beginning and how I tracked against them. On a pure goal-ticking-off basis it makes for pretty grim reading but you have to make allowance for pivots and changes in tack based on events throughout the year and not be rigidly fixated on a plan if it turns out something different is required.
The plan should only act as a launch point with a particular direction in mind, but changes in direction may become obvious on the path itself.
Sketch Everyday
I started off in a blaze of glory, using a randomly generated subject list to prompt what I was going to sketch each day so I didn’t waste time thinking about it. As other areas of my work ramped up however (more about that in a bit) I found I was just going through the motions to get it done and it was becoming more of an inconvenience than a development tool so I gave it a rest for a while. I haven’t started it up again but perhaps I will give it another go in the future, only with less onerous frequency.
Finish a Small Painting Study Every Week
I really liked the idea of this, but again I found the time I needed to spend on other work (it’s coming, trust me…) meant that some time in the studio (of which I had limited during each week) needed to be commandeered by more pressing needs. Again, I’d like to look at this one again as I think it would be a really valuable habit to have. I just need to be a bit more realistic about my scheduling of other things around it.
Fully Develop Larger Painting Series
And here we have the major reason the first couple of items got chucked on the back burner. I read something recently about estimating time needed for a project, and the advice was to take your original estimation and triple it.
Useful advice.
I had an idea for a painting series at the start of the new year that I thought I would develop over the course of the year, but then this evolved into producing something that could be shown during the SALA (South Australian Living Artists) Festival. This meant taking that idea and turning it into eight finished pieces in the space of a few months. This was also my first solo exhibition, and also chucking in needing to pitch to various venues, organise an opening event (thanks to my wife for helping out with these last couple) and having to sort out framing and installation… there was so much I hadn’t accounted for or had any experience organising.
That ‘triple it’ probably needed to be more like ‘times by 5 or 6’ in the end, but we got there and the experience I now have going forward made it all worth while.
Experience More
This is another one which unfortunately probably got swept under the carpet due to time and brain space to think about it. It’s not that I actively decided I’d pull back on this, it was just not something that even could find a way to be heard over the din. We also decided to get ourselves a family pet (a excitable little puppy from a dog rescue centre) and he’s certainly at a age where he needs a lot of time spent on him also.
… In the End…
It was realistically only a 25% strike rate on the goals for the year. So does that mean 2018 is viewed as a disappointing year? Absolutely not. The things I was able to achieve, in place of the planned things I was intending to achieve far outweigh the bad with the good.
Something I have learnt during 2018 is I need to work more on my expectations and the balance between deep work and periods of rest and recuperation so as not to burn out and become exhausted in the process.
Now that is something I need to have sticky-noted throughout 2019.
