Week 4 Recap of 30 Paintings in 30 Days

I finished the challenge! Almost.

I was able to complete 14 paintings in my 30 days. I have one more painting which I think I could actually finish today, a day late, so I’ll probably do that one on a livestream today!

In hindsight, I would approach this challenge again by starting earlier with more plans, and dedicating myself to working on abstract pieces every single day to strike my volume. Painting abstract pieces are always easy, then they are hard. Or it is hard, then it becomes easy. Working from a plan is a bit more of a consistent slog up a steady hill—you can always point to your reference or plan and keep chipping away, where abstract work requires a lot of meditation on the next steps, and you never know which steps might be those which block you.

Overall I’m quite happy with the total output. I’m able to ease up on production for a moment while I focus on advertising my work. I’ll be spending most of July working on a few main goals:

• Outreach to local venues and my community

  • I’d like to get into 3 spaces with a few paintings each

  • I’m applying to shows in the fall, here in Phoenix

• Advertise via social media to sell original work and prints

  • I’m aiming to dedicate at least three hours a day to making content with calls to action to check out my site

  • Sub goal: sell $3000 of original art

  • Sub goal: sell $1000 of prints

• Finish my painting and fitness courses which are available here on my site

  • I’ll be offering them for free until I feel ready to charge for them, so check them out now!

• Work on 5 large-scale paintings which I planned for the 30

I don’t know what July has in store for me, but I’m feeling like the sheer inventory will push things along and get the flywheel going. It’s a bit of a tricky spot to make a bunch of work before you know that you have a market—I have an uneasy feeling about having piled up about two dozen paintings in my apartment without establishing a pipeline, but I have to remain confident! I’m leaning on the fact that I’ve been able to sell pieces at markets and online already. I think doubling down on sales for this season will really illuminate the feasibility of my career pivot.

Thanks for reading, and be on the lookout for the release of my collection, dropping tomorrow! If you’re interested in any piece in particular, feel free to reach out and I’ll put you as first in line to receive an offer for sale!

One question for you: which of the recent collection is your favorite? I’d love to hear from you!