🎨💙 What I'm Actually Working On

I'm creating a triptych right now. Large-format panels, mixed media: acrylic ink, texture mediums, collage, and real botanicals. The color palette is predominantly blue: water, depth, movement, the feeling of being in something bigger than yourself.

It's not finished. These images show the work in progress: blank canvases becoming something, materials being arranged, decisions being made and unmade and remade. This is the honest version of what an artist is actually doing: layering, testing, adjusting, sometimes starting over.

But here's the thing: I wouldn't be doing this work the way I'm doing it without spending the last five months learning how to actually run an art business sustainably.

💡 The Education That Changed Everything

In May, I enrolled in Martha May Ronson's Artist Accelerator: a comprehensive program based in the UK. Five core modules covering everything from foundations to leveraging studio systems. Plus additional courses on selling online, Instagram strategy, pricing, digital marketing, and being your own gallerist.

I completed all of the coursework, still in the year-long course. The readings, the videos, the asset reviews, the strategy calls. I refined my entire business infrastructure: pricing worksheets, inventory system, certificates of authenticity, a 14-part Mailchimp email series, tested lead magnets, experimented with Facebook and Pinterest advertising, daily Pinterest posts, multiple weekly social media updates.

The philosophy is what resonated with me: do one or two meaningful launches per year with cohesive, brand-new series. Not constant discounts or giveaways. Quality over quantity. Sustainability over burnout.

I believed in this approach so completely that I decided to prove it by doing the work. Pronto!

🏆 The Production Gauntlet (June-August)

Completed the "What Remains" series: 6 original large-format mixed media paintings + 6 limited edition prints. Built all the launch infrastructure. Showed up to four events: outdoor juried show in June, featured artist show in Chewelah in June, gallery featured artist position in July, local outdoor fair in August.

Set up. Displayed. Broke down. Packed up. Repeated.

The computer work is/was intense. Implementing everything Martha had taught me, testing new marketing approaches, trying to build an email list the right way.

All of it was worth it. All of it was also... a lot.

💔 The Plot Twist Nobody Expects

Around the same time I enrolled in the Accelerator, my arms started hurting. Progressive loss of function in both arms. Numbness, weakness, pain shooting down from my neck and shoulder.

Neck issues had started a year ago, but this was different. This was serious.

I kept working. My mantra: "I'm not a quitter."

I showed up to the shows. Set up displays. Packed up at the end of the day. Went home and iced my wrists, heat pack on my neck. Repeated.

I worked on the "What Remains" series despite the pain. Adapted my process. Found positions that caused less discomfort. Kept going.

But the computer time ~ the intensive Mailchimp setup, the daily social posting, the testing and refinement ~ that's what finally broke something. The very tools I was using to build a sustainable business were making it impossible to create.

⏳ The Pivot

I had planned to launch "What Remains" in October. This month.

Instead, I had a spine injection this week. I'm waiting for appointments with a wrist/carpal tunnel surgeon and a neurologist. I'm learning what it means to work differently, move differently, ask for help.

The launch is moving to March 2027.

The core release is ready: the 6 originals, the 6 limited editions, the email infrastructure, the launch strategy. A few final pieces to get in place, but now I'm pacing myself.

🎨 Still Here, Still Moving

This is the part of creative life they don't put on Instagram: the adaptation, the adjustment, the refusal to give up even when the timeline shifts.

I'm working on the triptych with my hands in braces. Typing this with wrist support. Managing pain while managing a business while creating art.

Real creative life isn't the highlight reel. It's not "I launched the perfect series on the perfect timeline." It's "Life happened, I adjusted, and I'm still moving forward. Just differently than I planned."

Martha's teaching about sustainable practice has taken on a different meaning now. Sustainability isn't just about not burning out from constant sales pressure. It's about building a practice that can survive when your body decides it needs to rest.

I'm learning that lesson right now.

💚 The Invitation

Creative life is hard. Not in the romantic, tortured-artist way. In the real, practical, physical, emotional way.

If you're working toward something ~ a series, a launch, any goal ~ and life throws a curveball, you don't have to abandon the goal. You just have to adapt the timeline.

I'm still creating. Still building. Still not quitting.

The triptych will be finished. The "What Remains" series will launch in March. The work continues: just on a different schedule than I planned.

And maybe that's okay. Maybe that's even better.

🎨 What challenge are you navigating right now? Have you ever had to pivot your timeline or adjust your approach? I'd love to hear your story: share in the comments or send me a message. Sometimes the most powerful part of being an artist is knowing you're not alone. 💚

Ready to see how this resilience shows up in the work? If you haven't already, sign up for the Inner Circle and stay tuned for the March launch of "What Remains." The work is ready. I'm just taking the time to do this right.