The beginning of a new year is a time to consider what will bring clarity and focus to your art practice in the months ahead. For many artists, that means setting goals and intentions, and to do that means gaining clarity about what to prioritize. Artists’ goals tend to cover a lot of ground--some may be for the work itself, for improving and advancing skills and techniques, or for completing projects. Others may be more personal, like taking steps to overcome procrastination or negative self-talk. Still other goals fall into the realm of career or professional goals like gaining gallery representation. Which are most important for you?

Setting goals and intentions and making resolutions is common practice at the start of a new year and we are often advised to do this as artists. But it doesn’t make sense to do this randomly or to do it just because it seems like good advice. What you really want is to gain ground in some kind of logical progression. With all the moving parts in a studio practice, how do you prioritize what you want to work on?

Some of the kinds of goals that artists can work with include working on mindset and inner issues, intentions for your studio practice overall, things about your work you want to imporve, and career or professional goals. Separating your goals into these categories and writing your thoughts about them can help you see where to focus your energies.

How you set goals and pursue them is up to each person--there is no approach that works for eveyone. Some people need or want a lot of structure, others are fine with simply having some clear ideas in mind. But thinking about these areas of focus, how they are related, and where your priorites lie can help you gain clarity and focus going forward. Being aware of where your own issues lie is the first step to making progress.

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Also-- please visit https://www.espacioart.org to learn about Rebecca and Jerry's newest project, Espacio, dedicated to providing beautiful living and working spaces for artists and writers. Espacio's first offering is Casa Clavel, a modern, fully equipped house opening this September in the beautiful cultural city of San Miguel de Allende, Mexico. A few booking openings are still available in 2023, so please incquire if you are interested.

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