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Another year has come and gone. For many, myself included, 2022 brought on significant change & difficult challenges both as a country and in our personal lives. As we began the transition from a pandemic to endemic, getting back to business as usual in many cases, the wake of the economic wave of damage done continues to affect us all with rising interest rates, inflation and general disruption of just about everything financial.
The beginning of the pandemic brought an astounding increase in business for for me throughout 2021 and the final three months of the year exploded in sales as people were boarded up in their homes, staring at empty walls and longing for the nature and travel they had been all but shut off from by the pandemic. Then, like the flip of a switch, 2022 buried its face in the dirt and gasped for air for the majority of the year.
A rush of clear water races down from the forbidden peaks of a range of misty mountains. Along the rocky banks, flashes of gold announce the arrival of autumn to the high places. Fine Art Limited Edition of 50.
Too Blessed To Be Stressed
Fortunately, as a e-commerce business, I didn’t have to worry about paying my employees, costly overhead or any of the other expenditures and worries that go along with operating a storefront. Many of my friends, competitors and business associates alike weren’t so lucky, with photography galleries and the print shops who produce the artwork both significantly downsizing and in some cases shutting their doors altogether.
All in all, in 2022, my sales decreased by more than 40%. This, at the same time as the cost of doing business, from materials to shipping, rose across the board. Despite the fact that I had to drink a few less cups of Starbucks this year, I still generated 3x more revenue selling art, working for myself, than any year of my life working for someone else and for that I am extremely grateful.
A bed of colorful river stones glitters beneath the clear waters of a high mountain stream. The interference of crystalline ripples forms a web of light hung with jewels of emerald and amber. Fine Art Limited Edition of 50.
Slanging Rocks | Open Doors
The number one difference between myself and others in the business of fine art who don’t make it is my unwillingness to sit still. When one door closes, I don’t waste time sitting around pouting, I simply go searching for other doors. Through the pandemic, in an effort to keep my creativity exercised, I began dabbing in abstract macro photography of semi precious stones. That decision in 2021 ballooned into an entirely new business in 2022, making up for all revenue lost from the downturn this past year. I try to keep the two businesses separate for the most part but if you’re interested in geology and some of the most beautiful stone and mineral specimens the world has to offer you can follow my other account on Instagram @abstractrocks.
For each and every one of you who supported my business this year, by purchasing by work, trusting me to guide you in the field or simply by supporting me every day in words both online and in person, I want to personally thank you and let you know that you are greatly appreciated by me and my family.
Typically I create these end of the year top ten lists showcasing the most popular work of mine from the past year based strictly on sales. This year I decided to mix it up a bit and share a hybrid list of both my best selling and my personal favorite images created over the past twelve months. I hope you enjoy seeing them as much as I enjoyed capturing them. Here’s to 2023 and all of the opportunity it brings! Without further ado, I present to you in no particular order….
The Dirty Dozen | Aaron Reed Photography
1. Prodigy | Portland Japanese Garden
A young and fiery Lace Leaf Japanese Maple tree glows in all its autumn glory just inside the gates of the Portland Japanese Garden in Portland Oregon. Fine Art Limited Edition of 50.
2. Sweet Dreams | Telluride, Colorado
Golden light from the early morning sun illuminates a forest of beautiful aspen trees at the peak of autumn in Telluride, Colorado. Fine Art Limited Edition of 50.
3. Out To Sea | La Jolla, California
Gentle waves roll through the hollow corridor of an old pier near La Jolla, California. Out at sea, the brilliance of the sunset is hushed by a heavy blanket of marine fog waiting at the horizon. Fine Art Limited Edition of 100.
4. Heavens Gate | Portland Japanese Garden
The gnarled branches of a Japanese maple spread forth a flaming crown in a sculpted garden in Portland, Oregon. Beside a tranquil pond, the winding footpaths and soft beds of moss are scattered with the gold and crimson stars from this dazzling display. Fine Art Limited Edition of 100.
5. The Mountains Call | Ridgway, Colorado
There is no question why they call it colorful Colorado as dappled light and dreamy clouds drift over the top of the San Juan Mountains outside Ridgway, Colorado. Fine Art Limited Edition of 50.
6. The Window | Mesa Arch, Utah
7. The Empire | Studlagil Canyon, Iceland
Iron columns of antique stone jut from the turquoise waters of Studlagil Canyon in Iceland. On their faces, the strange, geometric pillars bear the scars of millennia of erosion, chronicling the evolution of the very land itself. Fine Art Limited Edition of 50.
8. Lonely Afternoons | Telluride, Colorado
Like a ghost ship floating on a sea of gold, an empty rowboat drifts across a pond near Telluride, Colorado at the peak of autumn. Fine Art Limited Edition of 50.
9. On Earth, As It Is In Heaven | Mt Rainier National Park
The whites and ingidos of an alpine meadow of lupine mirror the crags and glaciers of Mount Rainier National Park’s eponymous peak. The highest summit in the Pacific Northwest, the dormant volcano slumbers peacefully beneath the quiet grandeur of a midsummer sunset. Fine Art Limited Edition of 100.
10. Tunnel Vision | North Bend, Washington
A royal carpet of scarlet leaves winds through a stand of maples in the deep of fall. A quiet country road bears its hidden splendor before the snows that will hide its brilliant chromatic display until next year. Fine Art Limited Edition of 50.
11. On Golden Pond | Telluride, Colorado
Striking white aspen bark, backlit by the glow of the morning sun, reflects across the surface of a pond in Telluride Colorado. Fine Art Limited Edition of 50.
12. Autumn Branches | Ridgway, Colorado
Branches like arteries stretch in every direction providing the nutrients of life to the leaves of this Aspen tree in Ridgway, Colorado. Fine Art Limited Edition of 50.
Onward & Upward Into 2023
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