I am sure no one was waiting for this update with bated breath, but here it is: I did not get accepted to the Royal Bison spring art market. It was a long shot and (perhaps) a more political process than I realized, so while I was very disappointed initially, I’ve become pretty philosophical about it. Reading The Creative Act: A Way of Being by Rick Rubin helped, especially bits like this one:
“How shall we measure success?
It isn’t popularity, money, or critical esteem. Success occurs in the privacy of the soul. It comes in the moment you decide to release the work, before exposure to a single opinion. When you’ve done all you can to bring out the work’s greatest potential. When you’re pleased and ready to let go.”
So I am choosing not to see this as a setback but as a window of opportunity. I am once again free from any need to consider market dictates – what people might want to buy – when deciding what to create, and free from deadlines as well. I haven’t decided whether to apply to other markets this year. I kinda like all this freedom, to be honest, and at the end of the day … all the finished hoops that have been piling up don’t take up a lot of space. If I don’t sell any of them, it’s fine.
Speaking of which, let’s take a look:
Another abstract floral. It always makes me happy when I’m working with bold colour. Something like this doesn’t challenge me in a technical sense, so it’s the kind of thing I like to work on when I’m looking for space for quiet reflection. The work (which is still time-consuming even when it’s not challenging) is a sort of meditative ritual.
Landscapes have been the challenge I’ve set myself this year. They take a lot of time and are, therefore, a commitment and sign of confidence in my own ability to bring a design vision to life. With a lot of these, the picture doesn’t fully come together until the end so I have to trust my own skills while I’m doing the laborious leg work. Sometimes when I am part-way through a project like this, I am convinced that I’ve messed up and then I have to talk myself into continuing to the end … and usually, it does come together!
This was just a quick little hoop I made for myself because I’ve been wanting a Matisse print for a while. And I went on making a few other things for myself too:
A fancy peacock to join my frog prince.
Can you believe I didn’t have any cactus hoops of my own? All the previous ones I made were sold.
Queen Elizabeth I was one of my first cartoon portraits. It seemed fitting to add her mother, Anne Boleyn, to the line-up.
This was my second attempt at a Margot Tennenbaum cartoon, and I think it’s miles better than the first. It was meant for the Royal Bison market but now … maybe I’ll just keep it.
Ditto with this Frida portrait – perhaps my fave one yet.
Back to the Klimt floral theme, but a slightly new/different take. I loved this so much – designing it, making it, AND the end result – that I’m working on a second one now.
Last but not least, I wanted to experiment with thread painting in a non-landscape design and what better than one of my favourite flowers. Very happy with how this one turned out.
Spring is the start of the “busy season” each year, and this year I have a lot of extra “life stuff” on my plate, so I’ll be taking a slower pace with, well, every creative pursuit including this one. Which is ok. And it’s the upside of putting monetization on the back burner. For now 🙂
Your creations are beautiful. I especially like the Klimt and the cactus designs. That you find time and take time to be so creative with a career and family is impressive to me. Thank you for sharing.
Thank you! Switching to part time work has been a life changer, literally. I have so much more guilt-free time for my hobbies and I feel so fortunate for that opportunity.
Love them all…you’re so talented! You may end up keeping more of them than selling lol.
Thank you, Jennifer!
Absolutely GORGEOUS! Beautiful pieces. Great job.
Awww, thank you so much for the kind words.
That Matisse is really about the excellent stitching – nowhere to hide and you really pulled it off!
Thanks! It is actually quite tricky because covering TOO large of an area with satin stitch can pose challenges with maintaining consistent tension throughout, plus consistent directionality. In my experience, there is a sweet spot for how long/wide a satin-stitched section can be and still look neat and tidy. This Matisse print works because each segment of the figure is a good width, and there are breaks between the segments that helps with directionality. Anyway, I’m not good at explaining this, but trust me — this hoop looks simple but actually required quite a bit of planning, haha!