This year I’ve given myself a goal to create average one new / original piece every week for a whole year.  To some artists, this may seem pretty simple.  But for me, producing a lot of work has been a struggle over the past few years.  Between trying to balance work, spending time focusing on the business end of my art, or recreating old images or commissioned paintings, producing more than about 25 paintings per year has been a very difficult challenge to overcome.  I’ve had to learn to say “No” more often, turning down commissions or opportunities that eat up a lot of my time.  I’ve had to push myself every day to put my art first, and everything else second.

This month it has been incredibly hard to meet my 5 painting goal.  I spent the first half on a wonderful vacation with my amazing girlfriend, Alyssa.  I came home to find my car had been hot-wired and trashed by a thief who took it for a joy ride.  Unexpected projects with quick deadlines came up at the “other fake job”.  Those things along with upcoming projects in June have had me wound up like a top this past week, and production has suffered.  It’s hard to focus, and hard to make time for the things that matter.

But I’m trudging along.  I may be a bit late with this months pieces.  Or I might end up doubling up for most of next month.  But the goal is important to me.  I’d like to have new work every month at Parklane Gallery, new work at every art fair throughout the summer, enough work for an exhibition this fall which has been a dream child of mine for over a year…

This brings up the question.  What do you all do to push yourself through road blocks?  When the creative juices aren’t flowing, and life seems to get in the way, how do you cope and move forward?  What tricks do you have to help maintain balance between proactive and reactive actions?

I would love to hear from you.  Shoot me an email at: Dakota@ArtByDakotaDean.com, or comment below.

P.S.  Next week I’ll upload an album which you can check in on to follow my progress this year.  In the mean time, you can check out my instagram, tumbler, or deviant art profiles to see the work I’ve been making so far.  Just search “Art By Dakota Dean”.

-Cheers!