Hey there! My name is Laura Noel. I am an artist working and living her dream life on the Southern Oregon Coast. I’m in a cute little town called Bandon where I live blissfully close to a beach that never fails to take my breath away. I’m here because I’d like to tell you the story of how I became a full-time working artist. I could lead with the old “Once upon a time” and weave a tale that began with grade school fingerpainting. This story could track my adventures (and misadventures) through high school, art school, post-college, and finding my way to the “now”. It could hit all the wins and misses along the way in a neat linear progression.
Or I could start at the end. I could project into the future and share my wildest artistic dreams about how I imagine things will look in another few years. How developing my dedicated art practice and taking my business Seriously with a capital “S” will further transform my life into an idyllic artistic fairytale.
Or…
I could start right now. In Medias Res. Right here and right now- grateful about where I’ve been and where I’m going, but mostly about where I am now. Loving my little artful life. My certainly-not-perfect, but pretty-darn-awesome artful life. In Medias Res is a Latin term meaning to be “in the midst of things.” Often used as a literary device in books, I felt it was a good way to relaunch my blog writing, as I certainly am “in the midst” of my artistic journey.
I’m writing this in early 2022 as I’m entering my second year of being a full-time artist. I had a blog ages ago. There are some regrets around that I’d like to go ahead and address so I can *let them go* and start with a clean slate;
1) I regret I didn’t start sooner
As a 90’s kid, I was of age when blog writing became a “thing.” I often wonder if I had committed to writing “back then” and stuck with it and what kind of audience I could have reached by now. Through simple consistency, I could also easily have 20+ years of content under my belt by now. (and oh so much practice!) That in itself is wild to think about.
2) I regret I stopped and deleted a bunch of my old writing
I’ve gone through a couple of iterations of my web presence since my first “Angelfire” (or was it Geocities?) free website. I changed hosting platforms a couple of times, I changed my artistic focus and my domain name. I deleted a lot of old content because I didn’t think it was good enough or consistent enough. Looking back, I wish I would have left those time capsules alone, as it’s all just part of the journey to grow and develop. And so what if I stopped and started a few times? That’s just life. We all go through the ebb and flow of creative output.
3) I Regret I didn’t trust my voice at the time.
A big reason I deleted a lot of old stuff and stopped writing before is that I fell into the trap of thinking it wasn’t good enough. I was still developing my style (reality check; that’s still an ongoing thing!) and confidence as a creative person. I still don’t have it all figured out and I’m bound to make one or two more perceived mistakes as I reboot this writing practice. But I trust my voice this time. I trust that as long as I’m genuine in my writing there is no “wrong” to try. It won’t be for everyone but so what. It’s me. I’m not for everyone, and that’s ok.
So what is my goal in starting up my blog again now?
I’m entering my second year as a full-time artist. (This means no “backup” job. No ‘safety net”. I’ll cover this topic and what it means to me more thoroughly in a future post) Painting and music are my main mediums, but I’m always trying to learn to tell a better story. I’ve learned that the better I can tell the story of why I made a piece or the process I used to create it or why something inspires me, the more I can connect with other artists and an audience that appreciates art. So my aims are to;
- Learn to tell a better, more engaging story through a regular writing practice
- Give a fuller picture of my artistic life.
I have pieces scattered around the internet (Facebook, Instagram, etc.) but feel that a regular Blog can give more context to my work.
- To share insights and helpful tips on what I’ve learned and what I continue to learn about being a full time working artist.
I am not to that elusive “there” where I’m some six-figure artist with more work than I can shake a stick at. Yet. But I have learned a few lessons in my first year as a full-time artist, and a few more lessons in the many years I was a part-time artist before that. I plan to share;
- Work and production tips
- Insights into how I organize my work life
- My learnings so far from approaching and participating in festivals and art markets
- How to stay motivated and silence that doubting inner critic
- And a whole lot about my approach to my painting and drawing practice!
So here I go…again! They say “perfection is the enemy of the good.” I could sit here all day and mull about how this is not a “perfect” blog post, but then I’ll never get started again. And 20 years from now I’ll lament all the years of content I failed to develop as a result of some temporary misgivings. So I don’t promise perfection, but I’ll do my best to make this thing good and worthwhile. Thanks for tuning in, and see ya next time! I’ll end today’s writing the same way I used to end one of those long-deleted iterations of my old blog. I liked it back then and still do live by it as much as possible. It’s a little mantra. I challenge you to give it a try and see what comes of it.
Every day is an opportunity to make Art.
As of posting time 1/24/2022 I have ONE WEEK left of my annual Kickstarter “Make 100” project!
Check out the project HERE and get your very own original mushroom painting or sticker or card. 🙂
