The Reinvention of Self- The Early Stages

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My mentor reminded me that this reinvention of my life is not going to take 2 weeks, or 2 months - more likely 2 years!  It gives me permission to be easy on myself, take some time to recover from 21 years of a very stressful job,  and not put so much pressure on myself to immediately get to work.

"All will work out" is what others tell me,  and what has become my mantra.

So day by day I do things to help align the stars for my success. I put out feelers, I am building my Internet presence. I am developing relationships with shops that are carrying my cards. I have one private student, and am nearly finished with a bevy of paperwork to teach autistic adults for 1.5 hours once a week.  I held my first mentorship/art meeting with fellow artists. I have spend some time outside traveling and painting plein air, and photographing the landscape.  I have a solo show in October, and the gallery owner is coming tomorrow to see what I have so that I can figure out which direction to go.
I am doing some "junking" so that I have papers to make cards with and some things to resell to make money.

Not shabby for my first month of freedom.

I also have a pile of books and magazines on the subject of making art one's career, and finally hope to get to read all of them. I have finished a few, and each book had solid suggestions and points that helped me focus. Two that I read are The War of Art, and Living the Artist's Life. Both excellent reads, and come highly recommended. I must be careful to do more than read about it however- I must act.

Tonight's photo is of a painting I just finished.  Snowy fields in Rhinebeck that I had been dying to paint. My plein air paintings need a bit more work before I post, but they are coming along.  Finally I am painting several times a week, not several times a year.

I am happy. Really happy working my dream... no regrets. For sure.

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