It's been such an exciting time launching my new High Vibration™ business! I've spent many years producing art and it is super rad to see friends and colleagues showcasing my artwork on their tees and hoodies. Many of the paintings I have produced throughout the last couple decades have been full of colour and playfulness. The images just seemed to lend themselves to being printed on apparel, and paired with my newer graphic styles, I was able to create a complete collection for the apparel line.
For many of you, the artworks I have included in the apparel line may be new to you, yet to me, exhibiting them is actually the closing of a cycle. Offering them to the world to be worn on teeshirts has allowed me to bring closure to the pieces, and move on to new and exciting works. I am keen to explore more depth and subtle tonal changes in my paintings and dive further into the art of both muralism and illustration.
Now that you've seen what I've created in the past, I am excited to keep on going deeper with my art and produce what is yet to be my best work.
Not to say there won't be new works available on teeshirts in the future, I am bursting with design ideas and look forward to offering many more collections over the years to come!!
As a youth and young adult, I often shut out the rest of the world to go deep into my work, not caring much for promotion or exhibition. There was so much to learn! I had a dedicated practice of art exploration. I experimented with various techniques, not afraid to take many attempts to get it right, or get my hands messy in the process. How else can we become masters of our chosen field if we don't remain open to the continual process of learning, growing, digging deeper, exploring, experimenting and taking chances?
And so, reflecting on the past few months I realized that in my effort to build a business and monetize my work, the time that I devote to the actual art making process has been whittled away, some days to nothing. I find myself spending many hours at a time on the computer, following up on emails, writing blogs, creating ads, trying to understand how to leverage social media, chasing grant money... You creatives out there catch my wave I'm sure!
And I think to myself, what about the actual process of art making?
I recognize that life can be busy, a balancing act of sorts. And sometimes it is necessary to put the logistics and marketing aside for a moment to remember what is truly at the root of my career as an artist, my passion for art making!
So as I move forward in the process of building an art business, I choose to honour that wild free-spirited creative in my heart, and carve out time each day to focus on some type creative project. It may even just be a quick sketch, or if I am particularly busy one week and can't get to it, I will select one day in the week to barricade myself in my art studio and selfishly dedicate it to the art making process.
Of course for larger projects I block off big sections of time, days or weeks, find childcare etc. so that I can dive into the work and complete the projects. But in terms of keeping the art practice alive and skills on point, I encourage you creatives out there to guard your creative time fiercely!
Make it a priority to carve out moments amidst the busyness to do what drives you, what fuels your passion, choose to make your art!!