HOLY *^%*!!! ONE THOUSAND PAINTINGS???

Some days it is hard to believe that I have been working as my own boss......as a full time artist for so long.
This year, more than ever, I have begun to feel like an 'elder statesman' in my local art scene. I have freely doled out hard-won  advice to very talented artists that are just starting out.
WHICH IS WEIRD AND FRIGHTENING!
 
I guess it means that at this point in my career I have been doing this art thing long enough to know basically what I am doing!

ISH!

That is NOT so say I have it all figured out. Truthfully, I have more questions/worries NOW than I had 14 years ago when I completed my first painting! But after going through my inventory spreadsheet today I realized I have hit a career landmark.
​I wanted to share it with all of you!!!!!

I HAVE NOW PAINTED 1000 paintings!!

Yes.....that is
ONE
EFFING
THOUSAND!!!!!!!!!!!!!

If you amortize that over my 14 year career, it works out to about 71 paintings a year! ​Now....let's be clear....some of these paintings have been only 6" x 6".....but still....it's remarkable! RIGHT??

I am actually kinda proud of myself.....and as I look back, I am astounded with how much better my skills are than say......990 paintings ago....

This is one of my first paintings....Husband calls this one "Frau Blücher" (from the Young Frankenstein movie):

Sadly.....he is right on!!! I REAALLY hate this painting....it should be embarrassing....but the truth is....it took Frau....and these hideous failures......

....to get the right feeling for these three from a decade later:

In another decade, will I look back at these paintings through an objective (aka critical) lens to see their flaws? Probably! Sounds like me! I am super mean to myself! ;-) 

​I have improved with my landscapes too....

Don't get me wrong......I still stand by this painting.....that is from 2005....about 940 paintings ago.....but I DO think my new piece is just a bit stronger.....

CLEARLY, as the years have gone by, my skills have improved, but what of my concept? 
I am 100% sure that my inner-artist voice has gotten stronger.
I know what I want to say, and I know how I want to say it.
My work now is all about a clever....some might say 'smarty-pants' approach. And that is how I LOVE it. NO! It is NOT for everyone. But that is more an more okay with me.

I guess that being clever-ish is my "gimmick", it is what makes me unique, and also what makes it all worth doing!!

My art is the truest reflection of me as a person.
I am BEYOND GRATEFUL that I have been able to be a part of my clients lives, all 700+ of them!

THAT....is what art is about!
To touch other people,(no, not literally) to make them laugh, or to make them think, to enrich their lives - or at least enrich their walls!!!

And I know the next 1000 paintings will be better still because I:
 
FOLLOW MY INNER COMPASS! 

WORK HARD!

And most of all I LOVE WHAT I DO!

Thanks for coming along on the journey!!!!!
ONTO THE NEXT 1000!!!!!!