Crossing an Imaginary Bridge

Today I realised that due to unforeseen circumstances which I won't bore myself with here, I am currently without a suitable art studio, I have no art students and don't seem to be encouraging any either, I have no gallery for a period of time, no income of my own and by choice I have no spiritual home to rest my weary head. Woe is me!

When I'm not feeling lost in space, I am slightly more grounded, like I'm crossing a bridge. I don't know what is ahead. I only know that I must keep moving toward the other side and exactly what I need to do next will become apparent once I have crossed over the bridge. I'm encouraged not to look back and count the losses and not to interpret the emptiness I feel as a bad thing. Instead, it helps to see it as an emptiness that in Gods good time will be re-filled. A time to stop, breath and reevaluate...AND keep walking across.

I have to admit, there is a mix of anxiety and excitement brewing in my belly and a quite confidence that God has a firm hold of my hand.

Meanwhile I will try to keep my creative ideas flowing. What motivates me to keep producing canvases? It is because I know that my painting time is never wasted, even when I make a mess I am always learning and improving. It is also because I want to present myself to a number of high profile galleries in the future and offer something very unique and different. I don't know what that will be yet, but it is only through my commitment to painting and experimenting that I will discover what it is.

There are many aspects to becoming a professional artist. The networking. Sticking your neck out and taking risks, continuously gathering all your thoughts and ideas, photos,  art materials and sketches...and there is the business side. Promoting, presenting myself to galleries, exhibiting, entering competitions, keeping customers happy, commissions, doing taxes and keeping the bank account balanced. These are just a few of the things I need to get more serious about. I have choices now and I can work towards a plan. I'm thinking of chatting to an artist friend who is doing well with her art business and see if she can be my mentor. I think this will help me to stay focused, especially in getting a body of work together that expresses the deepest parts of myself and touches and moves my viewers.

Stop...breathe...reevaluate....create!