Upon the Ending of a Year of Bladerunner, Welcoming the Era of Mad Max and the Reigning in of Horses

 It will be a new year in a few days and much of society will not miss 2020 as it fades into the past. It's been a hard and trying year for a lot of us. The virus has taken loved ones and the economy has impacted so many of us it is like trying to keep your head above waters in tumultuous seas. 

But forgive me if I am still a bit apprehensive about 2021, after all Mad Max is set in 2021. But then again 2020 was the year that Bladerunner was set in and though we didn't get replicants and flying cars that patrol the skies, we did get sex robots, so maybe the pleasure model Pris became a reality. 

You know the old saying, New Year Resolutions are made to be broken so I am hesitant to make commitments out loud lest they return to haunt me. But I have decided to devote much of my energy to INK this year and want to at least complete a story arc that will take at least three or four more chapters. 

The shops I have online have given me a passive income, but nothing that would be a sustainable income and hence I picked up a part time gig. This had led me to be honest with myself about the direction I need to go, I expected too much from online sales. After viewing multiple videos on online marketing and trying to be self promoting without being annoying is a fine balance. Also facing the reality that really your work is more of a niche and not mainstream and trying to fit a square peg into a round hole is a frustrating endeavor. I simply had to face the reality that what I do is not for everyone and that though I am grateful for every purchase and will continue what I do, I can't rely on it for the returns I had hoped.

Trust me, if I knew the secret to make it rich online, I would tell you. But I can say this, marketing can be a full time job and it can also drain you creatively. You also have to gauge the market and what the market wants, fads are a thing, unfortunately I have never been a slave to fashion. I don't say that haunting pride, but with honesty. 

Every artist wants appreciation for what they do. If they say they don't, they're lying. I am fortunate enough to know that much of my work is greeted with appreciation and it means much to me in fact, probably even more than monetarily. I am foolish like that. Though my expectations were high and weren't met, it really doesn't dampen my spirit of creativity. 

It's probably difficult to explain, but being an artist is an extension of what and who I am. I create a world or worlds I like to play in and if it entices others to visit those worlds, my job is done. 

Though I am hesitant to build up expectations of the New Year, this doesn't mean that I am not hopeful. My personal goal is to finish INK, which means I will probably be doing less Tee designs. I am not saying I am ending it, not at all, just focusing more on finishing INK. 

Artist of the Month will change too. I will be focusing on artists that inspired me. Originally I wanted to do it to bring unknown artists to the spotlight because I feel other artists should support other artists. To establish a network so to speak. In a way I have done that and glad I did. I will continue to promote other artists and also suggest that they do the same. But it is time for me to reign in my horses and focus on my own creative survival. So beginning in January I will be more focusing on artistic inspirations.

It's also a time for reflection, what areas I need to hone in my craft and what areas I need to lessen. That's how I see art, as a craft, a mad craft, like seeing myself more as an artisan than artist so to speak if that makes sense. Illustrators always enchanted me more than Fine Artists. It is the way I am bent I suppose.

I recently turned 64. So with age, expectations lower and you start to reflect more on what you haven't done that what you have done. So INK is something I don't want to haunt me as I grow older thinking what it would have been if I didn't finish it. 

This year, 2021 is the Chinese Year of the Ox whose traits are diligence, persistence and honesty. Three traits that I will attempt to aspire to. 

 And to everyone, here's to a New Year...get the flames burning.