Happy New year 2008

Happy New year 2008. It's been another wild year around here filled to the brim with adventures. I'm amazed at what I was able to accomplish when I look back at what my goals were last January. From attending a two week artist residence at Shakerag to visiting Barcelona and having my artwork reviewed by a museum curator. (and that baby born in August), not to mention the heaps of new artwork I created in 2007. Last year I started off fresh by doing as many pieces as I could in three weeks - it turned out to be about 80. An exhausting but illuminating experience. At that time I realized how motivating that process was and considered doing it every year - now that it's January (and my son is taking a nap) I'm thinking every other year will be fine.

For me it's all about a plan. As my former boss said there's no line like a deadline. I need my loose list of goals to reach for every year to keep me on track. I just sat down last week to brainstormed my artistic goals for the year. It includes applying to another artist residency, developing and teaching new workshops (including one coming up at the National Museum of Women in March and two this fall in Oregon and Tennessee), applying to the Torpedo Factory again, finding a new gallery, a solo show, visiting MoMa, (or another Guggenheim if I can squeeze that in) and of course developing new work. I think this year there will be lots of painting, printing and book making - I'm currently working on a piece that combines all three... Check out the print inc. studio 325 in the Torpedo Factory this month...

Thank you to all my students from this past year. You have challenged me to keep my classes engaging and exciting and I've always come away impressed with how unique your pieces are. Here are a few shots from the workshop I taught last month at Donald W. Reynolds Center for American Art and National Portraiture Gallery. For more images click here.

Happy New Year - Cheers to your health and happiness!