Planning and record keeping

You have to decide what your highest priorities are and have the courage - pleasantly, smilingly, non-apologetically - to say 'no' to other things. And the way you do that is by having
​a bigger 'yes' burning inside.
~ Stephen R. Covey~ 

As an artist, you know I would much rather be painting than keeping up with business records, but it’s an unfortunate necessity for those of us who are self-employed to keep good records. So this post is about how I organize and keep track of the business side of my art practice. As I just delivered new paintings to With These Hands Gallery last month it seemed a good time to share my organizational system and maybe it will be helpful for some of you.

Pictured here are four of the new paintings now at With These Hands Gallery at Edisto Island, South Carolina. If you are ever at Edisto please do stop in the gallery, it has a wonderful variety of fine art and crafts. And there is a charming bookstore right next store!

But back to organizing. With paintings in two galleries, plus listings on Etsy, as well as the occasional show entry, it can be a challenge at times keeping up with what’s where. Continue reading to find out my system for artwork record keeping and planning.

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