I might be an artist, but I’m a weirdly analytical one. As a numbers nerd, I always enjoy a little look back at the beginning of a new year, even if I have to hold my nose like I do when I gaze at the stink that was 2020.
Despite the many challenges I do not need to revisit here, 2020 turned out to be my most successful sales year to date as an artist – I actually blew all my other years away. I’m certainly still far from being anything other than a starving artist, but it feels good to make progress on further establishing myself and to know that my work is resonating with people. In all, I created 44 paintings during 2020 and sold 23 of the paintings I created during the year. I sold an additional 33 paintings created in previous years, for a total of 56 paintings that found their forever homes.
My printed merchandise also had a successful year. I sold 65 packs of cards and thirty 2021 calendars. I received proceeds from a variety of items purchased with my designs on them via Redbubble (p.s. - I’m generally open to adding additional artwork on there. If you are looking for a specific design, just email me and let me know: me@teressaljackson.com). I also collected royalties for sales of my photography on AdobeStock. The approach around here is all about multiple streams of income!
In more of a qualitative realm, I changed artistic styles a bit during 2020, straying from realism and returning to some of my traditional loves of bright color and bold pattern, an approach that dates back to my high school years, if not before. I’d like to think I’m incorporating more of myself into this work, and that this is resonating with people. Regardless, I’m having fun creating it!
Despite the pandemic, I did enjoy a few opportunities to show my work. Before the coronavirus hit, I had a solo exhibition at Industrious Scottsdale Fashion Square and had a painting in Salon Forty Eight, a group exhibition at Mood Room in Phoenix. Unfortunately, my solo show at Agua Caliente Ranch House Gallery in Tucson that had been scheduled for March 2020 was postponed, and remains postponed indefinitely. During the pandemic, I participated in three virtual exhibitions: Raices Taller 222 Art Gallery & Workshop’s Corazones Unidos and Regalitos shows and the Arizona Watercolor Association’s COVID Virtual Show.
Lola dog, because she’s cute!
Last but not least, I did enjoy some media exposure in 2020. I was featured in a ShoutoutArizona feature and had my Quarantine Queen painting featured on the cover of and reviewed in the September 3, 2020, Tucson Weekly.
Personally, it was a sometimes (many times?) challenging year. Like most people, I felt stressed, depressed, disheartened, unmotivated, and dehumanized at various points. The Arizona summer was the hottest on record, making it nearly impossible to enjoy time outdoors which is the only real reprieve from a pandemic that seems to exist and one of my greatest joys even in “normal” times. Our dog Lola, adopted in January 2020, provided us with a lot of laughs, a few curse words, many hugs, and abundant cuddles. We purchased a home in Phoenix that gave us more of our own space, a yard, and a neighborhood that has served as a bit of a muse for me.
In closing, I’m not sure what the final score is for 2020. It was actually very good in some ways, but the absolute worst in others. I suppose I will just be grateful that I made it through, that there was some good, and focus on what is ahead of me. That’s all I can really try to control, anyway.
I’d love to hear what the highs and lows of 2020 were for you. I’d also be interested in your thoughts on why this year was such a successful year for my art sales. Let me know in the comments section!