2019: Year In Review

2019, what a year!

Wow, 2019 was quite the year! Will and I sat down exactly one year ago today, eager for 2019. We were so ready to save money, work hard, and have a little more stability than the years prior. Little did we know, those goals became much more challenging than we could have anticipated.

Japanese Magnolia oil painting, by CoCo Zentner

I’ve discussed in previous posts the (minor) challenges we faced in early 2019, so to be brief, we both started the year out with no employer. We decided to pack our backpacks and travel throughout Southeast Asia for a month. This trip opened my eyes in more ways than I could describe, and for the first time in years, there was nothing I needed to attend to other than to relax and enjoy another culture.

Once we returned, we began working at a summer camp that my in-laws are involved with for three months. We set up a tiny table in their upstairs loft, and I painted any free moment that I got. The Porcelain Series was born!

Reflecting on the Highs

Success:

The Porcelain Series was my first series that truly reached a wide network - I sent paintings and prints all over the entire US to complete strangers. Knowing that my artwork was going into homes and as gifts to so many was such a gratifying feeling and accomplishment.

Meet CoCo

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Community:

In 2019, I joined an art community called The Studio Source, taught by Allie Dattilio and Lindsay Emery, of Suite One Studio. I learned so much from other artists in similar shoes, as well as from these two incredible, successful artists. If you are just starting out in your creative career, I highly recommend joining this group or finding a similar community.

Growth:

Although this year I thought I would have a full 12-months to create, having this time to really spend to myself was so important to my art-making. At the beginning of 2019, I didn’t understand how to track my numbers, or the importance of building a community. I had no system for tracking my income or expenses (thank you, Quickbooks!), and I certainly didn’t understand the importance of marketing. There were some very stressful nights and a lot of tears along the way, and moving forward in this new decade, I know that I need more people alongside of me to succeed.

I have some BIG goals for 2020, and I can’t wait to lay it all out on the table in my next journal entry. Until then, thank you for choosing to follow me along on this crazy, wild journey. I hope that your 2019 was also a year of growth. Wishing you a wonderful, prosperous 2020!

All the best,