Catching Up

Being gone for 9 days leaves a pile of "stuff" to do on your return. You ever feel going on vacation is hardly worth it - in that you feel punished upon your return?However, if you can keep up with emails (thank you to my new laptop) the burden is lessened.

One of my ongoing blog topics will be how to handle the business of doing your art. I actually teach a course called "Smart Business: Creative Management Techniques for Artists". The next classes will be in January at Wellesley College, The Salmagundi Club in NYC, and The Creative Arts Center in Chatham for the Pastel Painters Society of Cape Cod. Check my website for details: http://www.haywood-sullivan.com/pastel/index.html

One technique that I employ religiously is I make sure that every day I do one thing that relates to promoting myself. Today, since I have little time that one thing will be to update my resume with a new award. My painting "This Way Not That" was not only accepted into the PSA Annual Show, it won an award and then was selected to go off to the Butler Institute of American Art for their show of a selected group of PSA award winners.

What I recommend is that you have three different files under your resume.
1. Master resume - here you write down EVERYTHING. Keep it in categories - solo shows, group shows, awards, articles/press, teaching, judging, etc.
2. Current one page resume. Always have a current one page resume ready to go.
3. Current two page resume. My two page is an expanded one page which includes past work experience and more background info on my education.

The reason for all this is that when you are requested to send a resume it is usually when you are in a rush and don't have the time to produce a comprehensive, well-written resume. Better to send nothing at all then to send something thrown together because it is your representative and if poorly done will reflect that of you. Also, how many of us can truthfully remember what happened to us 6 months ago? What about 6 years ago?? You don't want to neglect to mention something important that has happened. And lastly, the reason for the Master is then you can tailor your resume to fit the need. Perhaps you have been asked to teach and you haven't taught in many years - you can easily go back to your master and pull up past information that will be relevant to your particular need now.

That being said, I've been a bit lax myself. So time to stop blogging and start remembering what I did this past summer.