the end of a decade, reflecting on the past and planning for the future

So here I am at the begining of 2010 setting goals for the year ahead.  It is obvious that one thing I can no longer ignore is online networking, or that rather ugly term 'viral marketing'.  Networking in the real world has never been a problem for me, (the term verbal diarrhoea always springs to mind thanks to a comment by my sister when I was a nipper), but there are limitations as to how many people you can meet face to face whilst still getting some actual work done.  Despite my technical limitations I have challenged myself to make sure that in this decade I don't get left behind as more and more people tweet, blog, myspace and facebook their way to a successful career. 

At the beginning of the last decade I took a leap of faith, left my comfortable career and jumped into life as an art student.  That was one of the scariest things that I have ever done in my life, but ultimately one of the most vital and life giving experiences.  It was a hard slog, but came with some really life affirming rewards.  After four years at University I was assured that it would take me a minimum of five years to build a reputation and start earning my living through my new creative career.  I am glad that I  took that advice seriously and planned for it by earning money to live off utilising other skills, otherwise I would have become disheartened and given up the dream like so many of my contemporaries.  Six years on I can finally say that all those years of networking, writing relentless letters, proposals, begging for opportunities and doing creative work for little or no financial reward are finally starting to pay off.  Now my phone rings with offers, commissions and requests for my input and I believe that in the next decade life will get easier, the non-creative work more sporadic and my time in the studio more frequent. 

So, my plan for 2010....

• lots more online conversations with both like-minded and incongruent people
• revamp my website www.judestoll.com
• get one good retail outlet for my 'New Identity Glass' recycled glass giftware range in each county in the UK
• develop international exhibiting opportunities for the art side of my practice
  
• curate a space showing quality art and craft in my 'town that culture forgot'
• do an architectural glass commission, even if it is for free, to help to build a reputation
• continue to develop Free For All Community Recycling Ltd www.freeforallwigton.com

and then there is the non business stuff to keep things balanced

•  take one day off work each week to spend with my husband
  
• drink a glass of champagne every day
• explore more of the UK in our campervan
• do more gardening
• walk further and more often
  
• smell the roses
• make the most of my appearance (in other words, just because you are working it doesn't mean you have to look like a tramp)

so I suppose that should be it for my first post, I do have a tendancy to ramble on, and on, and on, and on....(remember the verbal diarrhoea comment?), how will I ever know when to stop?

And so I will say, goodbye, I'm off to write an article for the CGS about the Catching the Light contemporary glass exhibition that I saw today at Blackwell Arts and Crafts House in Windermere, Cumbria.  Beautiful location, some inspiring work and some that left me cold, but that is a tale for another day.