Goals Review Time

Mary Cassatt, After Degas - detail
@ 32" x 26"
Charcoal
Casey Klahn

Time to review goals from the past bi-anum. I made the decision to make a two year plan back in September of 2008 because the handwriting was on the wall for the economic downturn. I took a chill pill, and one thing I decided was that the monetary economy would be less rewarding for me, so I made goals that would relate to an economy of reputation. Call it the "profile economy," if you will.

If financial kibbles weren't forthcoming, then I felt that this would be a good time to focus on exposure and reputation. In a strict art sense, I wanted to bring up the quality of my work. But how?

Blue Trees in the Middle Distance

7 - 3/8ths" x 5.75"
Pastel
Casey Klahn

Brought forward from 15 September, 2008:

Since my children are starting school, and my summer art fair season has ended, my goal review and new goal setting exercises happen now. One of the things that I learned from Alyson Stanfield, the Art Biz Coach, has been to think about and state your desired character traits along with your goals. In other words, what are the traits you aspire to along with your career progress?

The artist that I aspire to be has:

Commitment
Courage
Creative Integrity
Decisiveness
Excellence
Generosity
Knowledge
Self Understanding

These are loaded words and "heavy" language, but they have deeper meanings for me. I'll be posting on each one, to expand on what these attributes mean to me.

Need Motivation? Try this renowned article (soon to be a book?) by Gaping Void. Hugh MacLeod is the Gaping Void cartoonist, and a Marketing Strategist. Excerpt:

Ignore everybody.

The idea doesn't have to be big. It just has to be yours.

Merit can be bought. Passion can't.

Thanks, Katherine Tyrrell, for this link.

The navel gazing will begin in the next few posts. I hope to review old goals and write new ones. I already have some traits sketched out, but will have to mull them over. Thanks for reading.