The New year is a time to face the future. It’s time to work out how to do things differently next year if you need to or want to. This is challenging and you might think a hangover would be the least helpful thing to get that process started but it is a popular approach.
You say you want a resolution
However you approach it you will need to take some time to reflect on how you could put things together in a different way this year. For this to work you somehow have to get a new perspective on the same basic ingredients from inside the same head probably with very similar resources to what you had last year and the year before. There is no doubt this is a tall order but it is worth remembering that the most basic way to learn things is recursive.
Incremental learning
Recursion is a learning method where you repeat things with small variations each time. It’s how you learn to walk and talk and ride a bicycle. From the outside it can look like a stubborn refusal to give up despite repeated reversals. It does take a strong sense that the learning you are attempting is really worth doing, but when you are trying to start walking or talking you are surrounded by examples that tell you it is possible, all the other kids can do it so why shouldn’t you?
In this context the question now is what do you want to learn, what do you need to change? Only you can know this, it’s unlikely anyone else will be able to work it out for you.
So what’s new?
What do you want to change next year? And how do you go about changing it?
I know what I need to do, it mainly involves getting better at marketing my work. I am part of the way through a series of incremental changes in the way I publicise and sell my work. I have a long list of tasks I still need to complete before I will be ready to re-assess my progress probably half way through the year.
I may also pay someone to help me with that review when it becomes due. It is healthy to be able to reach out and get someone else’s perspective on questions you are trying to work out inside your head.
The Artists Space
What are the small things you can change that will make a big difference? If you want a forum in which to work that out, I run individual 1 hour sessions to help you do just that. There is no general answer to these questions, every artist is different and has different questions with individual answers.
These sessions are not tutorials or critiques nor are they portfolio assessments. The work in these sessions is about discovering what you think, finding out what is at the back of your mind and what has been obscured by distractions.
To get 2019 off to a good start I am offering a 25% discount on these sessions From now until February 16th. Instead of the usual £60 a one hour session will cost only £45
Full details and booking will be on Eventbrite shortly. If you are interested please fill in the form on the Artists Space individual sessions page
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