Is “goalless” a word? 

I do set goals – finish X number of paintings, get website redesigned, finish drawings for the next calendar, etc.

But I don’t set big sweeping overarching business goals, or as one of those motivational speakers says, “BHAGs”, which stands for Big Hairy Audacious Goals.

And many of us have heard the acronym SMART for goals, which means goals have to be Specific, Measurable, and 3 other things that I never remember.

In thinking about goals for my art business, all I could come up with is Paint Better And Sell More Paintings.

“Paint Better”? What is this? Better than what? Better than I paint now, but what constitutes better? Tighter and more photorealistic? Looser and flowier? Plein air? Brighter colors? How is this specific or measurable? How is this even attainable when I can’t define “better painting”? 

And “Sell More Paintings”? I can count, and set a higher number, but am I supposed to put them in my little red wagon and pull them around the neighborhood? Must I get a smartphone and join FaceBook? (Have mercy – Please please please don’t make me get a cell phone and join FaceBook!!)

I have no earthly idea how to sell more paintings. If I did, I’d be selling more. 

Goalless suits me for now. 

I wonder what all those motivational speakers would have to say to me . . . probably “Don’t let the door hit you where the good Lord split you”.

I am painting better each time I revisit this oil painting of the Oak Grove Bridge that is too hard for me. I am making up some colors for the background, just experimenting, trying to learn what “better” might look like, outside of my natural bent to just make things look as realistic as possible.

Will it sell? Maybe if I chant to myself while painting, “Paint better, sell more paintings, paint better, sell more paintings…”

Perhaps it is time to listen to music instead of motivational speakers while I paint.

Today’s painting: