Now (finally!) live: Archive page, featuring earlier artworks

Hi everyone! This week’s post is a just a quick update to tell you that I’ve FINALLY published an Archive page which shows of some of my earlier works (2018 and prior). There’s more to add, but I’ve at least made a start. If you’ve explored the rest of the site at all, you might have seen the “coming soon” bullet point on my Gallery page. It’s now live here! It’s also the start of a bigger project I’m planning out and hoping to debut this fall — more details about that soon.

I like to look back on my earlier work, to get new ideas or just to see how I’ve grown as an artist over time, and what I’ve learned since then. Now you can see it too — hopefully there’s a progression! I’ve still got more recent work to add as well in the coming days. Working on these “non-creative” tasks when I don’t feel like painting helps me feel like I’m still moving forward with my art business. (On the other hand, when I am feeling creative, these sorts of tasks can feel like a burden.)

I also entered my first juried art contest yesterday, the first annual Women in Watercolor competition. I’m keeping kind of quiet about the details and such because I don’t have particularly high hopes (especially after seeing examples of the work done by the founder of the competition) but I also feel like it’s a step toward getting my name and my work “out there.” I don’t know what the timeline is for the jury (the entry deadline was yesterday) but I will of course update if I get good news. I will share the painting I entered, which I’ve now titled “Golden Afternoon”:

Prints and sale information to come; one of the benefits of the competition is that my painting will be listed online for sale with the other competitors. I’ll share that link on my gallery page once I have it.

Have any of you ever entered art competitions? I did some writing competitions back in the day, but it’s been a while. How was the experience for you? Did you win or place?