Echoes of time..... Carrying on from where we left off in Part 1
I managed to squeeze in whatever time I could where I could and produced some interesting pieces in this time. Looking at them now they feel chaotic to me and disorganized. A direct reflection of my life and the roller coaster I was on.
My development as an artist has become extremely important to me, and because of this, I made the decision to enter a Mentorship programme with Creative Compass in February 2019. These two ladies have proved instrumental to date into my vision and understanding of what opportunities are available. It is a very long and winding road going it alone and I chose to get help. This was a fundamental shift in my thinking and one of the best decisions I have made.
Photography and Photo Artistry are solitary pastimes to be sure and meeting other artists in New Zealand and around the world has been an important step. Recently I had the pleasure of meeting one of those said artists at Zealandia in Wellington (Thanks Judi!), perhaps, that will be a blog for another day.
This is a journey of never-ending learning, the skills I have learned now see me able to create a piece of 100% digitally painted work using a reference image. And render 3D humans and animals.
I have completed courses on painting human faces, bodies and fantastic creatures.
I have completed a course in Creative Photographic Portraits which will be put to good use through my own self-portraits. Food Photography and Still life have also had a feature, and we are only into month 4 of the year!
My work is being submitted to at least three magazines a month and two to three juried competitions a month having come away with each piece recognised in some way or another.
My website has had a complete overhaul, something that has desperately needed to happen for quite some time.
My logo now also incorporates my name, bringing together the combination of Sapphire and me. How very fitting, it brings me joy to add that final stamp to my work.
My camera has been used consistently for the past several months, with a lot of my photographs used in my own work. This was a goal of mine; these are mostly used as background elements.
I have purchased memberships to stock sites for my human models, ensuring that ALL my work is fully and 100% copyright friendly so you can be sure when you purchase something from me, it is all completely owned by myself and I have the rights to use it.
I have had photographs featured in a headline news article in the region, work on magazine covers and artist features.
On the flip side, I have also heard several no’s, had critique I didn’t much care for and some less than favourable questions as to my own moral stance (regarding copyright).
Photo Artistry in New Zealand is very new and at times the “it’s not art if it’s made on a computer” does rear its head. It would be easy to become disillusioned, I, however, happen to be quite a stubborn and determined individual.
Finding my own path and niche to date has proven to be the biggest challenge I face, one which I have not yet conquered. Whilst money does not make my world go around, I would love to see a return on the blood sweat and tears I have invested to date.
(Stay tuned for part 3!)
