Thank you @Christine Craft! Yip, that dip can be really, really hard, but I suppose it does make it all the worthwhile in the end!😅

Thank you @Nomsa Mo 😊

@Nomsa Mo OMG, don’t get me started with some of the galleries out there. Most of the time when you go in to enquire about exhibiting, they will ask you to email and send some images of your work and then Voilà, no response, not even thank you, but no thank you! Event exhibitions can be very costly as well. See if the exhibition organizers will allow a shared stand. Some exhibitions have massive amounts of wall space so to share would cut costs. I personally don’t have massive art pieces so I do sometimes find the stand sizes will be too big to consider exhibiting in if I can’t share. Lastly, why not get a group of artists in your area together and approach a venue to do a pop-up exhibition? The costs are likely to be much less than exhibiting at an established event. You will however need to put a bit of effort to market the pop-up in order to draw some more traffic. I do think @Kirsten Jooste is definitely right about befriending gallery owners or even networking with other artists in your area. When you can’t get into exhibitions due to limited space or are looking out for other events that would work for you, you definitely should chat to others you have connected with. They could recommend you to the gallery or tell you of upcoming events you were not aware of.👍

@Kirsten Jooste you are right! Rest is really important, and there is nothing worse than forcing something especially painting or drawing when you’d rather be doing something else or unwinding. It’s always better when you come to doing something you love with a clear and rested mind.

Thanks for your insight @Graham Brown, you make some good points about balance and it’s very reassuring when, on my end, some days can appear like I am just burning valuable time away. I do however appreciate when I do have that time away from my work and am able to reflect on certain aspects of how I want to approach something, instead of diving straight in, guns blazing so to speak, and ultimately realizing I was a bit hasty with some of my choices.

Pietermaritzburg, KZN, South Africa

Very nice @Graham Brown. I like your use of colour and detail not only in the Giraffes but also in the background. I hope you get your hands on your materials soon!