My values journaling session at the end of 2024 led me to really think about what I want and need from life. I realized through that session that I wanted to put a focus on my own art making and art career.

As a result of this I started to look for artist residencies and grants and opportunities to be more involved in my local art scene.

I missed out on most of the residencies for this year, but I will be applying for residencies next year. I was able to apply for and get into a printmaking workshop as professional development for my DayJob. More on that in another post. I am treating it like a mini residency.

I also missed out on most of the grant opportunities for 2025. I will be looking at grants for next year and the year after that.

I joined a local art association. It has not raised it’s membership cost in many years. It is very affordable. The association is also offering studio spaces inside of the association building. I can also run classes and workshops there WITH association approval. I’m exploring my options.

Joining the art association has been interesting. I joined in on the spring show and won 3rd place for mini art works. I can now say I’m an award winning artist!

Following up on all of this, I have not used my studio space at home in many years. Probably grad school. Due to lighting it has always been more of a storage space. But through grad school and covid it has become a dumping ground for all art supplies and it’s an abysmal mess. The whole basement is a mess.

​With my next few days off I’m starting the process of cleaning and organizing the studio space. This means I need to also organize the whole basement. There are bike parts in the studio and art supplies in the non-studio part of the basement. There’s a long reach pruner and kayak stuff in the art studio.

I need to set up a charging station for all my outdoor supplies and get it out of the art studio. (The saw and pruner are in the art studio due to an easily accessible outlet.) I’ve got a table that I used for potting up plants that is now covered in tools that I never put away plus parts and pieces of various stuff that needs to get organized and put away.

Last night after work I brought the speaker out, turned up the music*, and cleared a path through the studio space. I need to really get into the stuff and get some bins to really organize the space though. Getting the path through the space was the most important first step. From that path I made some piles- garbage, recycling, good but donation, and move to a new location.

I also realized this spring that I have seasons with the materials I like to use. But overall I’m a huge fan of watercolors, gelli plates, and bougie oil pastels. So you’ll see more of all that. I also happened to get a whole bunch of en plein air supplies that will work with a lot of my favorite materials so I’m working on some set ups that will work with my bike set up. I will attempt to remember to take pictures.

Honestly I’d like to know when I got so bad at taking pictures of my progress.

I’ve completed a few hundred things challenges over the last few years. I’ve always done them in my own way. I know that I can’t and won’t complete a daily challenge or mostly ever be able to complete a monthly challenge. But when I do a challenge in my own way, I can get it done.

Yesterday I hit 102 in my own personal challenge- 300 Vehicles. 

I don’t think I wrote about it here, except in a post that I hid away in my drafts. I got some news that has forced me to speed up some of my “focus on art due to values journaling” plans. A direct result of this was to put in an application for a pop up gallery show at a local art gallery and art association. It’s a long story and I fear not one I can share here.

Anyway, when I was putting in the proposal for the show I had to decide on a number of images like those I was already making, that would look cool on the gallery wall and be impressive (to me.)

For whatever reason I settled on 300.

Why 300?
100 is a challenge that most of us can do.
200 is only double that and would look okay on the wall.

300 though, that’s kinda crazy. It’s not a bananas number like 1000. It’s enough that the small gallery will look filled and the walls will be packed.

It’s a stretch for me. I KNOW I can do 100. Can I do 300?

I hit 102 yesterday. 

To complete 300 I need to make 1.75 images a day.

I’m usually making 2 or 3 with some weekend days 5.

One weekend day I did 10!

The process for the images is simple- I tape postcards up to some sturdy chipboard, a little heavier than soda box carton. Each postcard is taped with a little bit of a thicker margin at the bottom, probably 3/8th of an inch. With the other 3 edges getting 3/16th of an inch. I then sketch on site, en plein air, each car. 

The media used for the sketch is a little different. I use colored pencils, mechanical colored pencils, and inktense colored pencils. The Koh-i-noor giconda magic colored pencil has been a real favorite. But inktense have been adding a lot of really nice base color to the images.

This is key to the process, the sketches are done QUICKLY. I try to spend no more than 5 to 10 minutes on each sketch. I am looking for vibes not realism. I’m looking at light and shadow.

When it comes down to it, I can less about the vehicle itself and more about the shape, shadow and light.

After I complete the sketch it gets shoved into my bag and I start another, if I have time.

Then I add color in studio. I’ve been playing around with a lot of different paints. Beam paints* have been giving me some really nice granulating effect that I REALLY adore. I also have been leaning back on my favorites Holbein paints.

After painting I let the images dry and then I layer on some more colored pencils, some Neocolor 1 or 2s, then some china marker, or Stabilo Woody. I’ve added in some ink too.

Over all I’m really liking how free I feel as I make these images. I also really like that they go from a sketch that feels rooted in realism to something even more loose and free.

Anyway, here is number 100:

*Beam paints are really quite amazing but a little pricey. That said I really like their plastic free aesthetic and devotion to less toxic practices. It also makes me REALLY want to attempt to make some of my own paints and inks.

One of the main goals I mined from my values journaling session was that I really want to focus on making my own art for 2025.

Somewhere in my research for values journaling someone suggested (I really should do better at keeping notes) that you ask yourself the question, “When was I the most happy?” When I applied that to thinking about art and making art, I immediately thought to AJ Ning and the summer I paid my bills with art.

I believe I told the story here before, but back in the summer of 2002 I had moved home, had a disastrous break up, well 2*, and decided to focus on me. I had a summer where I didn’t have a full time job and I would wake up in the morning, drive to a scenic spot, hike, draw and paint. My pieces ranged from little 5×7 inch drawings and watercolors to large 22×30 inch watercolors and gouache pieces. There were a few small desk top sized driftwood sculptures too. 

All this went up on eBay and sold from anywhere from 10 cents to $125. $125 was decent money in 2002. It was close to half my rent for the month. 

Anyway, back then I looked at the landscapes and drawings of lighthouses as selling out a bit, no matter how much I enjoyed making them. Landscapes sold to tourists felt like selling out.

Today I see landscapes as an exploration of my space in the world. I always enjoyed painting and drawing them, but now I’ve embraced landscapes and portraits and everything else as something that I can just enjoy making. I’ve released the idea of “selling out” as a judgement I made on myself and made by others onto myself. It was a juvenile judgement.

From this goal, to focus on making my own art, I’ve decided that I want to apply for grants and artist residencies. In my research I realize that I’m late to the party when it comes to residencies and grants for this summer. I’ve missed most deadlines for residencies that occur during the time I can take vacation this summer, and likely will have to schedule into the following summer. Though summer 2026 will be more flexible if I can find things out in advance. My summer schedule at the DayJob is flexible.

It’s an interesting thing, applying for grants and residencies as I approach 50. When I graduated from my undergrad program I was told I should apply for residencies, but I saw application fees and also the various fees associated with the residencies. The information I had access to didn’t show any residencies that paid the artists, and many do. Many just cover housing. If I had done more research I’d have found what I’ve found now. And that are a lot of grants and residencies that cover expenses of the residencies. There are some that make sure the artist can even eat!

Anyway, if I can’t find a residency for this summer, I’m going to see if I can get a grant and craft my own. Maybe it’ll be a residency on my bike- I’ll ride my bike places and paint and draw there. Maybe camp. We’ll see what happens. All I know is that like last summer I want to immerse myself in making art then set about having a show.

*It turned out that my now wife and I just needed a break from one another to grow the f*ck up and be a good couple.