Wonders by Meg Lyman
Metallic ink on ACEO
$20 – e-mail to purchase or visit Etsy
I feel like this toucan today. There is inspiration in the air. It’s probably because it was a beautiful, full-blown spring weekend, the sun was out, the daffodils were peeking up through the pine needles, and I spent yesterday afternoon out in that beauty, arms deep in my car’s engine compartment. Ahh, spring. Too bad it’s going to get cold and nasty again this week.
I haven’t done much art the last few months, and let’s face it, the end of February is a bit late to be planning the year. The weather is partially to blame. But I also think I needed a break to decide the direction I want to go with my art, which is why it has taken so long to figure out what I want to do with this year.
I doubt now that art is ever going to be my main source of income, and I’m OK with that. A lot of my inspiration isn’t terribly marketable, and I just don’t want to paint things for other people for the rest of my life. Luckily, all my commission work has involved cephalopods so far, which makes it enjoyable, but 1) it doesn’t pay very well and 2) it’s hard to knuckle down and do it when you have a dozen more inspiring ideas clamoring for space in your head. Because of this realization, I decided to do fewer conventions this year. After two years on the circuit, I know which ones are money makers and which are the most fun with friends. I’ll stick to those, and probably mail in art to the rest. Note that most of those I’m attending are in Atlanta, or nearby, which cuts down on expenses.
2010 Convention Schedule
- FWA (Atlanta) – Artist’s Alley, volunteer at the art show
- OutlantaCon (Atlanta) – Dealer’s Table
- Mobicon (Mobile) – Mail in art
- Imagicon (Birmingham) – Mail in art
- RCFM (Huntsville) – Maybe attend with a Dealer’s Table; depends if friends go
- Anthrocon (Pittsburgh) – all in (Dealer’s Table, Art Show)
- Dragon*Con (Atlanta) – all in
- AWA (Atlanta) – all in
- Con on the Cob (Akron) – all in
Other than conventions, I of course want to keep improving my art. I also want to focus my inspiration more in order to refine my style and start giving my art more meaning. Just because I have a vision of a tractor tire nautilus shell doesn’t mean that anyone will buy it. It needs to tell a story or make a point… otherwise, it’s just my subconscious barfing on the canvas. As fun as that is for me, very few other people dig it enough to pay for it.
I’m using mind-mapping to help me focus. Specifically, I’m using the tool “VYM” for Linux. If you are having problems with art block or with inspiration, check out mind mapping. It can be done with a pen and paper, and can really help you filter through your ideas and pick the ones that will take you somewhere. Without it, I probably wouldn’t have posted this plan until July.
