Looking at 2016 -- Focus

I don't tend to make New Year's resolutions. I have an unrealistic view of how much I can accomplish and the amount of interest I have in doing certain things. New Year's resolutions only make me angry at myself for failing to meet my unrealistic expectations.

Instead of New Year's resolutions, I have a series of goals I to attain this year. First on my list is improving my drawing skills. As an action towards this goal, I'm taking Jane LaFazio's Sketching & Watercolor class that starts in a few days. If anyone is interested, here is the link for the course:

Jane LaFazio's Sketching & Watercolor: Journal Style ~ January 2016

In addition, I have been doing sketches in preparation for the course. So far, I have been doing a sketch a day, but my actual goal is to simply do a lot of sketches. No need to stress out if my life interferes and I miss a day. If you want to follow along and see my progress, (like you have nothing else to do, of course), I'm posting the sketches on Instagram. I'm gingrichsart.com_ if you don't want to click on links.

Instagram account for gingrichsart.com_

This brings me to my personal word for the year. I was going to go with two words -- Just Be. It struck me that you're supposed to pick just one word. So, this year's word for me is FOCUS.

My life is completely run by my 20-year-old dog, Smokey. He's quite the demanding task master. Bark, bark, bark and mommy springs to action. It's hard to focus with the amount of sleep I'm getting and I seldom get more than 20 minutes of uninterrupted time. It doesn't matter. He's worth it. I appreciate the very long time I've been his human.

I know that the personal word for the year is supposed to give you focus. However, since my biggest challenge is the ability to focus, I'm just going to choose the word Focus. Focus on my life and stop spinning my wheels. Focus my studio into an efficient and inspiring place to work. Rid my life of unnecessary distractions so I will be better able to focus. Read more which will help me focus.

FOCUS -- FOCUS -- FOCUS -- FOCUS.