With the holidays and a new year, I always find myself thinking about milestones: what has happened in the last year? What will I remember? What have I already forgotten as significant? Where do I think I’m going?
Possibly coincidentally, one of the interesting things about putting up a website is the notation of the passage of time. As I’m going back and trying to find significant art milestones and achievements, separating old art pieces into categories, and generally tidying up what I want to show the world, it keeps hitting me far I’ve come.
In November I went to the Audobahn Society of Portland’s Wild Art Festival, which is probably my favorite event of the year. Each year for the last few years I have submitted a piece to their 6×6 art project. If pressed, I would have said I had done this for two or three years. But when I was at the event I saw a poster from their 2008 event and I realized I’ve been submitting for 6 years. As I looked at my earliest pieces (sorry, I didn’t take a picture and I couldn’t find on on the internet) it struck me again how far I’ve come.
In 2009 I submitted a painting of a hummingbird and did not attached it to the provided canvas. I remember coming by on Sunday and looking at its lonely, forlorn self sitting alongside all the other 1″ thick canvases. It was a big step on my learning curve: always see how everyone else is submitting their stuff.
In 2010 I submitted a watercolor of a pelican. This year it was adhered to the canvas.
In 2011 I submitted a painting of a song sparrow. Adhered to the canvas.
In 2012 I submitted an acrylic (my first) of a fox sparrow.
Fox Sparrow (acrylic)
And this year I submitted a watercolor pencil piece (my first) of a hummingbird.
2013 Hummingbird (watercolor pencils)
I wish I had been able to find a record of all my paintings in this series because I was able to trace my progress in them. Each year I saw better lights and darks or painting application or design.
When putting up this site, I saw the same sort of progress as I put up series of horses or other subjects that I come back to repeatedly.
Today I’ll announce to my friends that this website is up. I hope they’ll enjoy looking through my past as much as I’ve enjoyed organizing it.
I hope they’ll continue with me as I keep painting.
Congratulations on your new site Tara! It looks great, and so does your artwork.
You’ve hit on one major reason that I love having my own site… I enjoy looking back at my art, and seeing how far I’ve come too 🙂
Tara, what a great site! I like hearing your insights about your progress as an artist. I think I’m sometimes guilty of looking at a painting and thinking, “Wow, that artist has a lot of talent” without considering the work it took him/her to develop the skills.
I also love your glimpses of nature. I’m thinking I might need to go for a walk in Canemah one of these days!