Aaaahhhhhhh. Now What? All done but the, cough cough, blogs.
After I turned in my final pieces for the Creative Pinellas 2022 Emerging Artist Exhibition, people kept saying, “…well, it must feel good to get all of the work turned in and be ready for the big show…?” No! “But aren’t you glad to have all of that stress behind you?” No! Something that most people don’t understand about chronic anxiety is that when a trigger is removed, the vacuum can be another trigger. It is a loop. It isn’t fun, but at least it is predictable.
Now I have to figure out what is next. And honestly, I have no clue. I should put a heroic spin on things and say that, with the completion of the works for the show and the exhibition itself up and running, I am off on my next great adventure or project. I am just not really sure what that is yet. I am currently taking a business class as a part of the Co.Starters program offered through Tampa Bay Innovation Center and Creative Pinellas. Lacking much business acumen, I don’t really have a sense of what to do as a business entity. From the Co.Starters class I have been able to think deeper about what some good business directions might be for me and how I might best structure them. In my dream world I would be able to stay home and paint and somehow, with as little human interaction as possible, sell enough work that I could comfortably pay my mortgage and eat.
I am really fortunate to have been accepted into the Co.Starters program because it is giving me volumes of information that I wish I would have had when I was young and just starting out. Participating in the class while also working on the Emerging Artist Grant gave me another way to look at the work that I was creating and how I might structure the road ahead. The class has offered way more info than my artist’s brain can absorb, but so far the two big takeaways have been: Don’t Quit / Do More. This sounds almost trite but it really is 1000% spot on. This is something that we all know, but actually embracing it is very different. Be it in the arts, business or life, don’t quit / do more.
-d
