Today marks the beginning of my full commitment to my self as an artist. Although it may seem to the outside observer that, since I’ve quit my job, I am just going to kick it for the rest of the summer and live a life of leisure, this is not the case. In fact, last week I wrote out a very detailed schedule to help me stay on track and attain the goals I have set for myself. I actually have quite a few projects and areas to focus on for the next three months (so many that I am not sure that I will be able to get them all done). The idea is to stay busy, inspired, keep aiming high, and, most importantly, keep building on my skills as an artist. You can see the transformation of our little pepper plant above; I hope, with a small amount of daily nurturing, to achieve similar growth and development as an artist (hot-pepper status 
).
So here are the types of goals have I set for myself. The first major goal is to spend six hours in the studio every weekday. That means about 30 hours a week and more than double the amount of time I’ve been spending on my artwork over the past year and a half. I have also decided to develop and market a small screen-print t-shirt line. Just the art portfolio and screen-print line are enough to keep me quite busy, but I am also hoping to get into a more regular exercise routine, cook dinner about five nights a week, write on my blog three times a week, and work on a few sewing projects for the boat (and for me). As for this blog, I am hoping it will keep me on track this summer. I will be browsing the internet regularly for inspiration and information to help me in the studio, and I think writing about it will help me take a deeper look at my own work. I hope to inspire, not only myself, but my readers as well, and provide access to information that I find useful.
So let’s jump right in. Today I found some inspiring screen-printed posters on a site called Brainstorm (I found the site through OK Great‘s blog). Here is the direct link to Brainstorm’s work: Brainstorm – Print – Silkscreen – Graphic Design – Posters. I really enjoy the colors and concepts of their work. Printing with multiple colors is one of my screen-printing goals and a skill I have been meaning to work on. Up to now, I have only dabbled with it, but since I now have the time to spend on it, I am hoping to tackle it this week. I think that printing in multiple colors and layers adds a complexity to the images and builds connections between the subjects in ways that can be quite insightful.
