Completed Dog Portrait: Numero Uno.

Ladies and gentlemen, meet Russell, the lovable subject of my very first ever dog portrait. I can't even tell you how badly I want to give him a treat right now! ;)

I'm a couple days behind schedule due to a mystery illness that slowed me down the past few days, but I'm finally starting to feel better. Actually, interestingly, I feel better every time I get myself down to the studio and start painting. Or perhaps by painting I'm able to quit thinking about how miserable I've been feeling? Either way, I've decided that painting is good medicine and am going to make a point of spending time with paint brush and canvas on a daily basis (not that I have a choice if I hope to be ready for March!).

Last week I worked on Jamie's assignment (for Circe's Circle) to think about how I can gain an audience for my work. Since I was naturally gravitating to these sorts of thoughts anyway, I very happily and with great energy made a list of the things I could do to turn my pet portraits into a reliable source of income--because this, my friends, is my ultimate intention.

I got hung up on the idea that I couldn't really act on any of the things on my list until I had a website built. I could barely wait to get started, but when Jamie asked me what on that list I could do RIGHT NOW, I sort of stammered an "uh...I don't know. I think I should just paint." But the question continued to naggle at me and has caused me to think about it all week long. And so I went back and made another list. These are the things I realized that I can do right now:

• Create and order business cards (almost done).
• Create and order postcards.
  
• Contact our neighborhood newspaper and ask them to include an announcement for my upcoming show in March.
• Do a mock-up for my web site. I mean, duh, it doesn't happen over night! Why was I thinking I should wait? (in progess.)
  
• While I'm waiting to get the "real" site up and running, I could create a page with basic contact information.
• Make fliers and at least get ready to hang them up around the city.

Yeah, so that's a good start. Tonight I'll hopefully finish painting "Louis" and tomorrow I'll begin paintings number 3 and 4. These paintings, by the way, are quite large and even though they take a considerable amount of time to paint, I can't even tell you how much fun I'm having!

I'm even going to admit something: I've quit looking for another job. Yes, it's true. I have hereby taken a leap of faith and am putting my absolute belief in the universe that I will make a living doing artwork and web design. There's a little part of me that's afraid I might fail myself. But there's a bigger part of me that feels like I'll fail myself even more if I don't give this a shot. I've also started thinking about when I'll know it's the right time to start painting full time. When I get enough commissions to support me for 3 months? Or maybe 6 months?

Did I mention that I'm planning on advertising in Bark magazine and Modern Dog? Oh, I love those magazines. I've been saving my money for a color ad in both. And, you know, I feel like I've started running and the only thing I'm waiting for is the gate to OPEN! Wahooooooooooooo!

I'm doing my best to live fearlessly and confidently. I'm investing my whole self and, truth be told, I couldn't be happier. You know that moment just before you jump into a cold lake? Yeah, that's the moment I feel like I'm in right now. And you know what? The only thing I want to do is

JUMP!!!!!

Wish me luck. ;)