Year in Review: 2015

L-R (top): Big Blue at Pisces Restaurant, Artist Profile in Cape Cod Chronicle, "To The Point" 24x36. (middle): Millie and Fenway in front of Skyview Triptych, One side of my Shark in the Park, Perfect Day (sold) at Mark August. (bottom): me and "Faith" at Skidmore College Reunion Art Show, "Swinger of Birches", my new studio!

This is a post I always enjoy writing.  So often, I think I didn't finish enough art or get enough done as I often feel pulled in a million different directions (like so many moms, I'm sure) and I'm constantly thinking, "how can I be more productive this year?"  Then I write this post and reflect on the past year and what I have done.  This post always makes me feel pretty happy.  I did a lot...a real lot, especially amidst a somewhat chaotic and normal life!

WHAT I DID IN 2015:

Started the year with a 30 paintings in 30 days daily painting challenge...yikes, those were intense!  (I didn't do 30 that round, but I definitely got a chunk of small paintings done right off the bat and sold most of them also.)

I'm learning where to put my energies and talents and bookkeeping isn't one of them so I finally hired a Liz McHutcheon, an awesome bookkeeper (and cool human), and my got my books converted from pen and paper to electronic!  On this year's list, learning how to actually use Quickbooks.  

I was hired by NYC/Palm Beach interior design firm Celerie Kemball to do a large painting for the living room at The Wianno Club in Osterville, Cape Cod on a very short time frame and managed to get it done on time.  

Thanks to my sponsor, Munson Gallery,  I got to paint a two sided Shark in the Park for a fundraiser sponsored by the Chatham Merchants' Association, which led to some great press and a successful auction at the end of summer which benefited some great local charities.  It was so fun to see how many friends would look for and then post pictures with my shark!

25th College Reunion Art Show Skidmore which also included a fun weekend with a great group of dear friends.

Painted a bunch this summer...large and small.  

Had some great sales at Mark August in downtown Chatham and through Munson Gallery (online), including my largest painting to date, Big Blue, which sold from Pisces Restaurant the first weekend in July.

Had some great press, including a fun interview with Debra Lawless for a profile piece for The Cape Cod Chronicle.  If you want to read the article, click here.

Moved from my basement studio at ArtSpace Maynard to a big bright upstairs #110 studio on the first floor.  Wow...SPACE and LIGHT.  This was perfect as I've been wanting to paint larger lately and when you don't have room to step back from your work, it's really hard to paint large!

Had my first Studio #110 Open Studios.  A great turnout! 

Birches commission (diptych) (total dimensions 72"w x 60"h)

Got hired by a great Interior Designer in Connecticut to paint a large seascape triptych commission (total dimensions 90"w x 36"h) for one of her clients

#WhitsArtflix (my series of time lapse videos of paintings in progress) was born and quite the hit!  Stay tuned for more of those in 2016. To see them follow me on Instagram.

Secured several commissions for 2016

Had a painting ("Faith") in an exhibit in State Rep Kate Hogan's office at the State House in Boston

Had several paintings on display at the new Wayland Home and Design Center (PS they are still there)

Some personal highlights (and a low):

I started a daily meditation practice during the holidays.  I need to get back to that!

We got a puppy, Millie (short for Mill Creek Road) (yikes that was crazy, but glad we did it). 

Fenway, our 9 year old yellow lab, was diagnosed with Lymphoma (which was same kind of cancer I had 3 years ago).  We treated her with chemo and for most of the fall, she did great and enjoyed her new sister. Sadly, the cancer was too aggressive and treatment stopped working.  The end of our year was spent taking care of her and preparing to say goodbye.  We were glad were were all home on Christmas break so that we could be together during that time. :(

***Spoiler Alert: This is the part about my personal life where I brag about my family.  I'm super proud of them and no worries if you don't want to read it.  I won't write about all the times they drove me crazy (or vice versa ;), our struggles or our bad days (yes, we definitely had those, too!)

We took our oldest daughter on a LOT of college tours and she applied to several colleges.  Wow, that's a lot of work!  In June she went onto and won US Rowing Youth Nationals in Florida coxing the boys' 4+ boat after an incredible year with her team (Bromfield Acton Boxborough)!

My youngest daughter started high school, raised a ton of money for her Relay for Life cancer fundraiser overnight, won a Presidential gold medal for a lot of volunteering for so many wonderful organizations including AB Buddies, an Audubon daycamp and Miracle League.

My husband was super busy running Expect Miracles Foundation (formerly Mutual Funds Against Cancer) which broke previous records and raised a lot of money for applied cancer research (at Dana Farber Cancer Center and Sloan Kettering Memorial Hospital).  He also organized and rallied our community to support a dear friend in need.  I'm pretty darn proud of him...especially given that he's so good about sharing the parenting duties so I can get to my studio!

WOW, a very busy and great year indeed!  Now time to get going on 2016!  I'm hoping to get my 2016 goals posted soon.