Rocklawn Arts 2016: the year in review

Happy New Year! I hope your 2017 is full of laughter, adventure, and excellent company.

For the past 359 Fridays, I've been tracking my efforts to create a life of art for myself. Here's a look at what I accomplished in 2016.


I created 19 new patterns and photographs for my shop including more hand-painted designs:










I created 25 more Collections, curated groups of related products. For example:

Stylish Case-Mate iPhone 7 Cases
by Claire E. Skinner

Eye-catching Geometric iPhone 7 Plus Wood Cases
by Claire E. Skinner

Stylish 2017 Calendar Posters
by Claire E. Skinner

#Resist Kit
by Claire E. Skinner

See all of the Collections at Rocklawn Arts together and click on any you would like to see more of.

I added 937 products to my shop Rocklawn Arts, and

19 New Product Types:

•Natural Wood Posters

•Tank Tops

•Acrylic Wall Art

•Power Banks

•Duvet Covers

•All-Over-Print Tote Bags

•Samsung Galaxy S7 Cases

•OtterBox iPhone 6/6s Cases

•OtterBox iPhone 6/6s Plus Cases

•OtterBox iPhone SE/5/5S Cases

•OtterBox Samsung Galaxy S7 Cases

•Luggage

•iPhone 7 Cases

•iPhone 7 Plus Cases

•OtterBox iPhone 7 Cases

•OtterBox iPhone 7 Plus Cases

•Metal Art

•Wood iPhone 7 Cases

•Wood iPhone 7 Plus Cases

Though I added significantly less products to my shop this past year, their descriptions are more individually tailored which should make them more attractive to search engines. I also spent more time promoting each product I made. I'm still endeavoring to create the best experience for potential customers, making it easier for people to find what they want. There's always more work to do!

The more fun life of art experiences in 2016 were the numerous exhibits, museums, gardens, and houses I toured. Tallying them up, they amount to 12 days spread through the year, up from 10 the previous year. Pretty sure I could use more soul lifting days in 2017.

As usual, I watched some Creative Live workshops sprinkled through the year.

Gah, last year I wrote, "I imported most of my photographs into Lightroom and look forward to sharing more of them as I get the hang of the program and develop a workflow." Clearly I suck at the sharing front so far. I plan to be better in 2017, get some sort of system in place. I am making headway on learning Lightroom.

In 2016, I created over 3200 photographs and 220 videos (that I kept, I probably culled that many photographs as well). The scale is what bogs me down, I think. Just need to start small somehow when it comes to sharing.

How was your year? What would you like to do more of in 2017?


10 years ago on TTaT: 2007: Engage