Hello, and welcome to my first newsletter! Through this letter you will find out all my latest happenings with both my art and non-art related events. Ultimately, the letter will be art centric, but I feel that the so called non-art stuff relates to the direction of my art. I plan on publishing the newsletter on a semiregular basis, perhaps monthly, depending on how much I have to say and the engagement I get with these letters. So here we go:
Health, eating, running
The last year and a half has been kind of rough for me. Back in August of 2021 I experienced a heart attack which had an impact on nearly every aspect of my life. Thankfully I had no heart damage, but it has taken a long time to get myself together from the experience. Initially, it didn’t feel like it had much of an emotional impact on me, but as months passed I experienced some anxiety which has made it hard to lead a productive life. But slowly, day by day, I’ve been getting better, and now I rarely have any anxiety at all. I am looking forward to the next year being very productive.
One of the things that has helped me is that I have changed my eating quite drastically. I eat a mostly plant based whole food diet, with sodium intake being very low. This has helped me with my blood pressure, losing extra weight, and feeling better physically. It’s nice to feel good in my skin again! In the coming months I actually plan to adopt a vegan vegetarian diet to see if that has an effect on lowering my blood pressure. I am hoping that I can minimize my medications with my diet. I don’t know if it will work, but I am willing to give it a try for a couple of months to see.
Another thing that has helped me is exercise. The doctors and nurses told me that I should exercise most days of the week. This also helps lower blood pressure. So I started off with walking, which was very slow for the first couple of months after my heart attack. But after a while I was able to start running. Then I ran, and ran, and ran! I trained for a 10 kilometer run, and completed it. I trained for a half marathon, and I completed it too. I did a 100 mile running challenge where I had to complete the mileage by the end of December. I did all the miles during the month of November. I even started training for a marathon, but unfortunately I injured my knee, so no Modesto Marathon for me. Hopefully I can get back into running soon. In the mean time I’ve been doing lots of walking and weightlifting. I’ll also be adding biking to my routine.
Art
Changing my diet, my exercising habits, and focusing on my health have taken a lot of attention. It hasn’t left much room for creative endeavors. Last year saw me starting a lot of projects but not following through to complete them. I also didn’t gain any new clients and business has stagnated a bit. With all that had been going on I just didn’t have the drive to make those things happen the way I wanted. It has been disappointing, but sometimes failure has to pave the way for success.
What’s next?
For 2023 I have a lot of things that I would like to do. First of all, I am going to be reaching out to more potential clients for the editorial illustration side of my art business. I haven’t done any self-promotion for the past year or so, therefore I hope to gain a significant number of clients in the coming year. I want to be a busy illustrator!
Secondly, I want to create more art. I plan on doing a lot of drawing, especially on location. I’m thinking that I’ll probably frequent local coffee establishments for interesting sketches. Since drawing is at the heart of everything I do, I really want to focus on it.
Abstract art is another area that I want to develop in my portfolio. I have a method that I think will yield interesting results.
Finally, I want to publish a few books. I have ideas for the comics genre, a how to book, and then a humorous book on things people say to artists. There will be more about these in future newsletters.
Till next time,
Be creative!
D
Health, eating, running
The last year and a half has been kind of rough for me. Back in August of 2021 I experienced a heart attack which had an impact on nearly every aspect of my life. Thankfully I had no heart damage, but it has taken a long time to get myself together from the experience. Initially, it didn’t feel like it had much of an emotional impact on me, but as months passed I experienced some anxiety which has made it hard to lead a productive life. But slowly, day by day, I’ve been getting better, and now I rarely have any anxiety at all. I am looking forward to the next year being very productive.
One of the things that has helped me is that I have changed my eating quite drastically. I eat a mostly plant based whole food diet, with sodium intake being very low. This has helped me with my blood pressure, losing extra weight, and feeling better physically. It’s nice to feel good in my skin again! In the coming months I actually plan to adopt a vegan vegetarian diet to see if that has an effect on lowering my blood pressure. I am hoping that I can minimize my medications with my diet. I don’t know if it will work, but I am willing to give it a try for a couple of months to see.
Another thing that has helped me is exercise. The doctors and nurses told me that I should exercise most days of the week. This also helps lower blood pressure. So I started off with walking, which was very slow for the first couple of months after my heart attack. But after a while I was able to start running. Then I ran, and ran, and ran! I trained for a 10 kilometer run, and completed it. I trained for a half marathon, and I completed it too. I did a 100 mile running challenge where I had to complete the mileage by the end of December. I did all the miles during the month of November. I even started training for a marathon, but unfortunately I injured my knee, so no Modesto Marathon for me. Hopefully I can get back into running soon. In the mean time I’ve been doing lots of walking and weightlifting. I’ll also be adding biking to my routine.
Art
Changing my diet, my exercising habits, and focusing on my health have taken a lot of attention. It hasn’t left much room for creative endeavors. Last year saw me starting a lot of projects but not following through to complete them. I also didn’t gain any new clients and business has stagnated a bit. With all that had been going on I just didn’t have the drive to make those things happen the way I wanted. It has been disappointing, but sometimes failure has to pave the way for success.
What’s next?
For 2023 I have a lot of things that I would like to do. First of all, I am going to be reaching out to more potential clients for the editorial illustration side of my art business. I haven’t done any self-promotion for the past year or so, therefore I hope to gain a significant number of clients in the coming year. I want to be a busy illustrator!
Secondly, I want to create more art. I plan on doing a lot of drawing, especially on location. I’m thinking that I’ll probably frequent local coffee establishments for interesting sketches. Since drawing is at the heart of everything I do, I really want to focus on it.
Abstract art is another area that I want to develop in my portfolio. I have a method that I think will yield interesting results.
Finally, I want to publish a few books. I have ideas for the comics genre, a how to book, and then a humorous book on things people say to artists. There will be more about these in future newsletters.
Till next time,
Be creative!
D