I, Anchovy

After catching up on my art-related reading as a result of not being able to create in my studio, I have come to a realization. I have read about approaching galleries in SAQA Journal, I have studied the biographies of those profiled in American Craft, and I understand now what I am.

I am an Anchovy. A fish among fish. A really small fish.

And I think I am o.k. with that. I don't think there is any other choice. I must accept that I am a little fish. Then with lots of work, perhaps I can become a bigger fish. Maybe a Bass or a Trout. I do not want to be a Flounder.

In an article in the Fall 2008 SAQA Journal, three gallery owners were interviewed about artist/gallery relationships. The owners made it quite clear that this relationship excluded selling in any other venues, except perhaps juried shows, other than galleries. I'm not saying that I disagree with this. For those well into their art careers, this is definitely the way to go. I know this is not the way for me to go at this point.

I have spent a great deal of time researching galleries for the past several years. I have acquired a bit of mistrust of galleries, as many have not returned portfolios even when I have included postage-paid return envelopes. These are galleries at which I felt my artwork would fit in. Smaller galleries. Maybe they were not as professional as they should have been. Maybe I was not as professional as I should have been. While I will continue to do research on galleries, it will be on a smaller scale and, for now, for information gathering only (and enjoyment of couse).

I have had a good deal of luck in the past few years selling on Ebay. My website has brought me several commissions, and I am going to get more involved in selling on Etsy. These are things that gallery owners do not want their artists to do. It is working for me now, and I will do my best to have it work even better for me. This will be where I do my swimming for the time being.

I am going to continue working on smaller pieces and working in small series. I am going to enjoy creating and swimming in my little pool. Hopefully, when the pool has become too small, I will be able to realize this and find deeper waters.

In the meantime, I will visit as many galleries as possible and enjoy looking at the beautiful work of the big fish.

Besides, an Anchovy is a small fish with a lot of flavor.

New Wreckage

Ah, the wonderful world of renovation. I suppose, from a great distance, this room doesn't look so bad. Yes, I am frequently thankful that I have indoor plumbing. I enjoyed explaining to my daughter that people used to have to go into a little building in the backyard and take care of business. And at night, to avoid the cold and wild animals, you could pull out your bed pan and take care of business. She is not impressed with the old days.

One day, we will look at these photos and talk of our old days. We'll say, "Hey, remember when we had to go downstairs in the cold and use the shower so the upstairs shower wouldn't rain down into the office. Remember when we had to lovely ant traps stuck to everything. Remember when we couldn't use the exhaust fan because those birds lived in it. Remember when chunks of rotten wood would fall off of the wall near the tub."

So some fellows came yesterday and starting ripping our personal world apart. I never realized how important my bathroom, nasty as it was, was to my daily life.

So far, only a couple of surprises have been found. Some "lovely" tiles appeared behind the shower surround. An extra half day will be spend chiseling them off. We were discussing what was remaining behind to the burly men who were removing items. Only the toilet and radiator (after cleaning and painting) are returning. One man mentioned that some items could be saved. I overheard the head guy saying, "No way, its all sh*t." How true.

The countdown begins with a two week time frame. The plumber, who had been here for 20 minutes informed us that many of the plumbing items had not been delivered. We called the bathroom place only to leave a message. I have a sinking feeling that these things have not been ordered. The plumber had nothing left to do here, so now he is gone. Good heavens. That could definitely add to the time frame. Meanwhile, my new tub sits out on the front lawn. I do hope it gets to move inside before the weekend. The local college students will no doubt use it as some sort of receptacle late at night.

Anyway, I am thankful to have another toilet in the house.

I am looking forward to having a shower that works, a tub that drains (not just leaks), a faucet that does not shoot water into my eyes, a fan that has no critters in it, no mold, a shower door that opens and closes, a window that opens and stays open, a floor without rust stains, a ceiling without a hole, a house not filled with burly men, etc.

I somehow find it difficult to be creative today. I will stay close to the computer. Check out Etsy, keep up with emails, create some new business cards, and other computer things I normally avoid.

New photos soon!

An Old Idea

The Mid-Life Crisis series is floating around somewhere.  One piece is being auctioned on Ebay, another is for sale on Etsy.  I was going to link to the series which should be on my Website, but it seems that Webmaster Hubby has not put them on the Website yet.

I finished cutting out the bee series, and covered them up until I got Mid-Life Crisis completed.  Somehow, I managed to forget that they were ready to sew.  Instead, I walked by idea board and something caught my eye.  I am surprised it did not catch my eye before now.  The little scrap of paper cut from a magazine has only been there the entire time we have lived in this house.  It may have moved here from our last house.  An idea that has taken at least 11 years to find its way into my head.

Yes, this does look quite a lot like my recent work.  However, the scrap on my wall contains most of the colors I have been working with, but also a fascinating dark robin's egg blue.  While I did not have this blue in my fabric stash (pretty astonishing), I was able to put a transparent wash of green over a light blue fabric.  Two layers of paint gave me the color I wanted.

Now I will go and sew these pieces together.  Then I will determine how to attach those floating squares.  I decided to save all quilting and embellishment ideas until needed.   This is all about color first.  I will figure out a meaning later.

Say readers, where are all of my tips on selling on Etsy?

Hesitant Turtle

So, I decided to stick my head out of my shell and see what is going on.

I have decided to start small.  Yes, there are plenty of big ideas in my head, but I'm going to suppress them for a while.

I decided to learn a bit more about Etsy.  How to get more people to my site.  How to join teams, how to get onto showcase pages.  I thought my superior intellect (Ha) could grasp these things.  

What are avatars, widget platforms, virtual labs, team grants?  What the . . . 

This situation is helping me to more understand my first-grade daughter.  How it must feel to be learning to read.  Grasping two or three words in a sentence and missing the meaning entirely.

The more I learn, the less I seem to know.

If anyone has any pointers for an Etsy illiterate, I sure would appreciate it if you would pass on some of your knowledge.

N/M

No Message.

I wanted to write about a lot of things.  All of them involved whining.  I do not have the right to whine.  Cancer, oppression,  war, child labor, etc.

I can't complain.

I shall enjoy today instead.  Somewhat volatile weather.  Warm, sunny, cloudy, windy, cool.  Sometimes all at once. 

Tomorrow I shall write of happy things.

Yeah, right.

Hocus Focus

Here is one of my new pieces from the "Mid-Life Crisis" series.  Perhaps another detail or two to add.  Then I must sew on the dreaded hanging sleeves.  The most hated part of the job.  I often put it off until I sell a piece or have to hang my pieces in a show.  Then I feel pressured.  But who wants to sew (by hand) hanging sleeves? 

I am somewhat proud of myself in doing this series.  I set a small goal of completing 4 pieces.  Then when the tops were completed, I went straight into the quilting process.  That often is put off for weeks or months, as I want to begin designing something new immediately.  If I can do the hangers next, it will be an amazing feat for me to complete a series before moving on.  Think I can do it?

I must focus.

I find that a hard thing to do.  Since I am able to get back into the studio again, I am like a kid in a candy store.  I want to jump from oranges to reds to blues to yellows to browns to blacks.  I want to get into galleries.  I want to enter shows.  I want a quilt to show up in Lark Books upcoming 500 quilts book.  I want a greater Ebay presence.  I want a greater Etsy presence.  I want more marketing power.  I want to sell from my website.   I want to sell from my home.  I want to create a newsletter (gotta get some news first), I want to create postcards and brochures.  I want to create a marketing package to send to local businesses (health care, salons, etc).  I want to get commissions.  I want to design commercial fabrics.   I want to be a better blogger.  I want to create large, intricate pieces to get into  juried shows.  I want to design smaller pieces that would sell like hotcakes in local stores.  I want to make more money.  I want to donate more pieces to charities.

Jeez.

Like a butterfly, I would just like to light on a flower for a few minutes and soak up some sunlight before I take off again.

I need to focus.  I need to find something I want to focus on.  Where is the need greatest?  Do I look at the big picture?  Is the big picture too big (like an IMAX screen)?  Do I select some related details and let that lead me somewhere?

Does anyone out there feel this way, also?  Did anyone out there feel the same way, but then found their path?

Does anyone know where I can order a set of blinders?  Should I make them myself?  Could that be a new business idea?

Mini Mess

Thanks fellow bloggers for your input on how you handle your own messes.  

My mess is a bit smaller now.  I cleaned up a few projects that I knew were not going to be completed immediately (if ever).  It really pains me to do that.  I feel that I have failed.  I completed five pieces in a series of brown and blue squares.  I had about five more to be pieced together.  I stacked up the squares and put them away in a drawer.  I do feel better without those laid out on boards on the floor. 

I discovered some pillows and blankets stacked up after we had guests early this summer who slept in our attic.  I still have to put those away.

Several other pieces (the bee series) remain laid out and stacked up on foam board.  I really want to complete them, but I know I have to finish up the "Mid-Life Crisis" series.  I find it very hard to complete any piece.   I love the stamping of the fabric, the cutting of squares and the placement of colors together.  I'm just not much on the quilting part.  The "work" part.  I need to put on some aggressive music and get it done.

I also have drawers of unwanted fabrics.  I have flat file drawers full of 2" squares.  Thousands of them.  I used to have a thing for watercolor quilts.  I have no idea what to do with these squares.  I probably have 20 drawers full of these squares.  Then there are the starched pieces!  I used to do mixed fabric and paper collages (will show photos if requested).  These collages involved the starching of several square acres of fabrics, then cutting out flowers, vines, etc.  So I have drawer after drawer of stiff little vines, veggies, fruits already cut and ready to use.  But I know I will never use them again.  Should I try to relieve myself of these through Ebay?  Will anybody buy them?  I have so many supplies now that do not have homes because of lack of space.  Get rid of the squares and bits, and I will have plenty of space.

So, off I go to do some sewing.  After I get that load of laundry out of the wash.  And take care of those important sticky note messages that are covering my back door.  And I think there is a hairball that needs my attention.