The List: One Hundred Things that Marked the Year

Various artists and bloggers I follow do a public year in review. Some write a narration, one publishes hers in an annual report magazine, and one makes a list every year of 100 accomplishments

I always reflect on the past year as a prelude to goal setting. I’ve just never made it public before now and the reason it’s so late is all the hemming and hawing I did about posting it. 

It’s a useful practice to reflect on what you’ve accomplished. Often you forget things you’ve done especially early on in the year. It can make us more thoughtful about how and where we spend our time. It can help in goal setting for the coming year.

So, I’m publishing this as an exercise in visibility and to encourage you to make your own list. Don’t feel you need to read the entire post, as it is long, but please do read the last item since it applies to you.

ARTMAKING AND STUDIO PRACTICE

1. This was a spotty year for art production and I finished only 14 works ranging from 6×6 to 30x19in. That’s way down from past years and is only a quarter of the square inches of canvas I painted last year. What I aspire to is a practice such as Isak Dinesen described when she said that

“she wrote a little every day, without hope and without despair.

 

EXHIBITIONS & SALES

2. My Santa Fe gallery dropped me in February which I recently posted about.
3. I opened my own studio & gallery in downtown Las Cruces which you can read about here. So far, so good. And if my work doesn’t sell well, I can always drop me! Ha!
4. I still have work in Rio Bravo Fine Art in Truth or Consequences, NM, and will be showing there again in a group show later this year.
5. In February, I had an open studio over two weekends for the For the Love of Art month. It’s always nice to see who will come through and the weather was great. 
6. My shop was open for the Spring Small Works sale for Mother’s Day with a good response.
7. In November I had an online show but didn’t publicize it well and didn’t sell anything. It was hastily planned as I was grappling with moving into the new space.
8. My paintings won a Favorite 15% award (the popular vote), in the monthly Bold Brush Art Competition four times – March, April, June & October. Dec was the only month I entered and didn’t win. That was a nice surprise. Maybe I’ll enter more often this year.
9. Last year I participated in several group shows including Here and Now, a juried group show at the Las Cruces Museum of Art. It’s nice to see such strong work from across the region.
10. I sold a painting at the Border Artist group show, Things We Love, at the Cutter Gallery. It was a fundraiser for KRWG, the local national public radio station.
11. I was invited to show in Landscapes Unleashed at Unsettled Gallery.

 

ART BUSINESS/TEACHING/WORK

12. My mastermind/accountability partner is the bomb. We had monthly calls and I found it quite helpful.
13. I sent out 5 newsletters. That’s up from 2 in 2017 (one of which was a show announcement). Remember the days when I sent it out monthly?
14. Last year my blog posts tended to be longer and I posted 17 times. 
15. According to the stats plugin, I have 5,583 RSS subscribers and 2,349 people have requested a feed in the past 365 days. I think this must be a mistake as I got exactly 10 comments on blogposts the entire year. That was up from 2 the previous year. Haha.
16. This year I advertised in SW Art Magazine. Any results? Not so much.
17. Several times I advertised in our regional arts newspaper, the Ink. Results? Not sure I can tell. 
18. I put up fliers for my classes/workshops. Results? We’ll see…
19. My bookkeeping was up to date all year since I posted when I spent any money. Yay. That means I’m ready for taxes (or maybe not).
20. In February, I hosted a “Clean Studio Challenge” on my blog with a related Studio Heaven Facebook group. It was fun connecting with others trying to de-clutter and organize.
21. One of the art residencies I shortlisted to apply to was the Whiskeytown Lake Artist Residency in California where the CARR fire started. It burned the entire area where the residency is located. You can read about it here.
22. I visited galleries on my trips including, among others, Elliot Fouts Gallery in Sacramento, CA and a few in Taos, NM, including the DAFA gallery.
23. In July, I got to talk with an artist I’ve admired, Jenni Morgan, at her show at NMSU.
24. Not being a social media maven, I’m not a huge fan of Facebook, and I don’t post regularly, though it’s nice to see what my friends are up to when I do get on it.
25. Believe it or not, I also have a Facebook Art page where I posted a dozen or so times.
26. I added some pins to my Pinterest account. I just save stuff I want to look at and don’t know much about how to use it or connect. Can you connect there? I don’t think so.
27. Instagram is my jam. I posted erratically but about half of all my posts were from last year. This year I hope to do better. You can follow me here to see if I do.
28. I have 324 followers on Instagram. That’s about 20 new followers in 6 months. Woo woo. Look out!
29. I know I’m supposed to track my statistics and I mostly just can’t be bothered, so I didn’t. But, if you’re following me on social media I do appreciate it and I thank you.
30. I updated my website template and added my blog and shop as tabs and re-did some stuff there. I’ll probably do it again this year. 
31. On Mar 20^th My Blog Got Hijacked!!! It took a bit of panic and a lot of expensive help to get it back. After fixing my blog, I took down the second and third blogs: my paintingHabit blog of small works and the Beyond Art School blog. 
32. One of my more onerous tasks was to research and write a GDPR compliant privacy policy. It was hard, it took a lot of time, it’ll probably soon be out of date, and it made me want to get rid of my blog. GDPR is complicated. Most people don’t care.
33. For the new studio, I got 2 new easels and 6 taboret tables for teaching.
34. Now that the front room of the studio is a gallery, I bought a bench for the center of the room so that it looks quite museum-like.
35. I opened the studio for two First Friday Art Ramble nights and sold several paintings.
36. I changed the name from Jean Wilkey Studio to Jean Wilkey Gallery since Studio could mean anything to anyone. Hair salon. Dance studio… I have a sandwich board so it’s official.
37. At long last, I invested in an air purifier for the new studio space which has no windows.
38. I marked my 6th year as a member of the Border Artists
39. It was my 4^th as a member of ArtForms and participating in the annual Studio Tour they sponsor which is going on this month. (Hint: I’m open every Saturday 10-4)
40. I served on the Border Artist’s board again this year.
41. For the second year, I was an active member of the international Artist Working Group.
42. I served on the interview committee for hiring new art instructors at the museum.
43. I sold 10 paintings – down from the previous year.
44. I donated/gifted 2 paintings.
45. My painting sales generated 17% of my income.
46. 22% of my income came from teaching weekly studio classes.
47. At the Las Cruces Art Museum, I taught portrait and landscape painting classes for the Spring and Winter sessions. That accounted for 14% of my income.
48. My part-time Import Company job generated 47% of my income. (Clearly, I’m not ready to go solo yet!)

 

THINGS I LEARNED / EXPERIENCED

49. I spend a lot of money each year on learning (my largest budget category and vice-well, except for Chocolate). This year I attended a plein air painting workshop with Dean Fischer at Soberanes point on the Monterrey coast of California. It was fabulous, and Dean is a supportive, kind and knowledgeable teacher. In sunny April, the wind off the ocean made it feel quite cold. Did I say it was fabulous?
50. I met a friend in Santa Fe to see artwork at Site Santa Fe, Evoke Gallery and others. While there we made a fun but expensive visit to the Art expo vendor room and polished it off with dinner at the Tea House on Canyon road. 
51. For the first time, I visited the Anderson Art Museum in Roswell, the museum associated with the artist in residence program. It has some great contemporary artwork, including some by my major professor from grad school, Joshua Rose.
52. I visited the Art Museum in Sacramento which was quite nice. Impressive space and artwork. I got to see Christopher Brown’s paintings which I had seen only in reproduction before.
53. I visited lots of galleries in Monterrey when I was there.
54. I read a lot this year but didn’t track them. I finished fewer books than in the past and read way more on the internet than I should have. Some things I read or re-read included: Como Agua Para Chocolate, Carlson’s Guide to Landscape Painting, World Order of Baha’u’llah, Theseus: Vincent Desiderio on Art, Blue Zone Solutions, El Esclavo by Anand Dilvar, Isabel Allende’s story, “Dos Palabras,” and a monograph of the fabulous artist Sigal Tsabari entitled, Sigal Tzabari: Hymn of Weeds. She’s one of my all time favorites. I love her work.
55. Art videos I watched included a Matt Smith video, several Nicolas Uribe livestreams, a Michael Klein demo, an Antonio Lopez Garcia interview in Spanish, the Antonio Lopez Garcia video called (in English) Dream of Light, and a Sean Cheatham demo.
56. Some movies I saw included The Crimes of Grimwald, RBG, and The Insult.
57. Movies I saw again: Chocolat, Princess Bride, All the Harry Potter movies. Like Water for Chocolate. Can you tell I like Magical Realism?
58. A movie I want to see again is Rosanna’s Grave
59. Music: A good friend invited us to a Jack Johnson concert in Albuquerque for our anniversary. Nice!

 

PERSONAL/HEALTH

60. I started off the year with the flu after having a cold Nov/Dec and spent almost 6 weeks sick, most of it in bed.
61. I made a sudden movement last June that tore the cartilage in my rib. There were no movements after that, sudden or not, for about 3 months!
62. I recorded my six-year mark of eating gluten-free.
63. I passed two-years since I quit eating sugar, flour, meat, chicken, pork, & dairy. I still eat fish and eggs but perhaps one day I’ll be totally vegan. If I only ate at home maybe I could be.
64. Started working out at a nearby gym. It has been an on and off again affair.
65. For more than a decade I’ve been wanting to study Qigong. This year I took a workshop in Heaven and Earth and Circling Hands Qigong with Steve Barowsky. I love it!! He’s a knowledgeable and excellent teacher.
66. I’m also learning the Yang style long form of Tai Chi (108 movements) in a class with Steve.
67. Re-zoomed Bright Line Eating in July after I had lapsed, but the end of the year holidays did me in. Sigh. It’s time to re-zoom again.
68. I joined the Rancho Gordo Bean Club, so I get a package of heirloom beans quarterly. It is so fun trying new beans. Yum! So far my favorite are Rio Zape beans.
69. In a fit of optimism, I constructed a trellis and made an unsuccessful bid at growing Italian heirloom beans. They burnt up in our desert heat, of course.

 

FAMILY/FRIENDS/FUN

70. In order to meet new folks and recover some of my language skills, I joined a Spanish book club. It’s been great conversing in Spanish and makes me feel more like the person I was when I lived in Central America. I don’t know if that’s good or bad.
71. Re-connecting with friends that you haven’t seen in a while can be great or awkward. When I visited my friend Mojgan after almost 20 years of not seeing her, it was like no time had passed. We laughed together for 3 days. Wonderful.
72. Glenn and Rick and the golden wonder-dog Jazzie were here for a night sans spouses on their way to Arizona. It was a great visit. Wish it could have been longer. 
73. In June we drove to Colorado Springs for a family reunion. Deciding the back way would be quicker, we didn’t count on the missile launch that delayed us by an hour at the start of the journey. It was a fun trip and wonderful to reconnect with family we hadn’t seen in too long.
74. Of course, I went to various artist openings, artist talks, and dinners with friends.
75. After 28 years I managed a visit to my 96-year-old aunt Marlys in California. She’s still living alone in the home she and her husband built by hand 70 years ago. Luckily they were not affected by the fires in Northern California.
76. One of the things I love about selling artwork face to face is developing friendships with the people who buy the work. This year saw several of those friendships deepening through ongoing activities including a lovely dessert party at one friend’s home.
77. For a year I donated monthly to Spring Water, the donation site for Charity Water, which helps create sources of clean drinking water for people around the world who have none.
78. For my birthday, I sponsored a fundraising campaign for the same charity to which my friends and family gave $272!! I’m so grateful for everyone who donated. You can learn more about this worthy cause here. 

 

BAHA’I SERVICE & ACTIVITIES

79. As many of you know, I’m a member of a religion called Baha’i. I spent a lot of time involved in Bahá’í activities this year. (It would take another list). I spent a good deal of my time in social and devotional gatherings, or in activities for three areas where I serve, the Local Spiritual Assembly, the Area Teaching Committee and as an assistant to the Board member for our area.
80. One of the fun Bahá’í activities was a weekend retreat in northern Arizona at the Native American Bahá’í institute with about 80 other Arizona and New Mexico folks for a weekend. It was in a lovely part of the high desert and they had a beautiful little Native American prayer Hogan.
81. Some things I did were to keep up the Las Cruces Bahá’í website, compile the newsletter (possibly more often than my own), and sort and organize over 900 books for the local lending library. Only 200 to go.
82. Dean and I had 4 prayer breakfasts in our home and this year we plan to do them monthly. If you’re in the area, please join us.
83. I also organized hosts for the every 19-day Feasts (meetings held once per Bahá’í month), 3 of which we hosted, along with hosting 6 different holy days.

 

THINGS I THAT MADE ME SMILE

84. My husband. I just love him to bits! My friends also make me smile.
85. I’m a sucker for those cute dog videos on Instagram. You can see my all-time favorite one of Border collie dogs herding sheep in this Extreme Sheep Herding video I’ve watched it many, many times and each time it makes me laugh. I just watched it again. LOL
86. Marveling at what my 96-year-old aunt can still do. When I called her last year for her birthday she was cleaning the house! She still drives and cooks for herself and my cousin.
87. Watching my friend’s heroic struggle with cancer which she has now beaten by getting a new liver. She is a kind and noble person and not only a great friend but is one of my heroes. (I would say heroine, but that sounds like drugs.)
88. Seeing jackrabbits, coyotes, and roadrunners on our morning walks with the dog and the borrowed dog (although it is a bit stressful when the dogs chase the coyotes).
89. Watching the turtles in our yard. We’re not sure how many are there. We think it’s in the 20s.
90. Cuddling with our dog, Schuster. He’s a very mellow fellow and thinks we exist to pet him and take him on walks. Perhaps he’s right.
91. Someone mentioned when looking at my still life paintings that I have a lot of respect for fruits and vegetables. I like that.
92. Having breakfast at Pushkin’s Gluten-free restaurant in Sacramento. I ate there 3 times and my favorite was the vegan, gluten-free Portabello Benedict. YUM!

 

THINGS I LEARNED

93. Some movie theaters have reclining seats. Wow! Who knew? Where have I been?
94. I re-learned how to play Backgammon. It was fun. Now if I could find time to play more.
95. I learned that after about 6 hours of continuous driving the seats in our Honda SUV get really hard!
96. My thumb drive still works after going through the washer and the dryer. Who knew?
97. I learned that I need to simplify. I tried to do it all and of course, I often failed. I did a little of everything I wanted to, but at the end of the year, I felt a bit like when you finish doing the dishes only to discover you left the pots and pans still dirty on the stove. I definitely need to simplify. 
98. Alas, I’m still having to learn that if I want to have new paintings to show, I have to actually spend time in the studio making art! I’ll try to focus more on art and say ‘no’ to many other things.
99. In the greater world, the year was both alarming and depressing on some fronts. Sometimes we can become overwhelmed by the selfishness and darkness we see developing all around us. That’s when it’s good to take the long view and realize there are two processes happening in the world: a breakdown of the things in society that don’t serve us (like prejudices of all kinds) and a slow, sometimes almost imperceptible application of positive qualities in the world. I learned I’m happier if I listen less to the news (which these days seems to be more gossip and backbiting than factual reporting) and read more of the good things that are happening. One place you can find positive stories is at the Good Newsletter. There is also a printed Good News Newspaper that comes out quarterly. 

 

FINALLY

100. The kindness of friends never ceases to amaze me, and I am blessed to have a lot of them. I am grateful for those of you who helped me find my new space, who helped hang shows, who inspired me with your positive wishes, who baked cookies for my openings, who gave me flowers and kind words of congratulations, who bought my work, and who subscribed to my list and who read my blog. To all of you who have supported and accompanied me on my painting journey, I wish you every joy and happiness and hope you all have a wonderful year ahead.