ASUNM Sale Post-Mortem

In three days, I sold three paintings, about 30 snowflakes, and maybe 25 packets of 3 cookies (8 dozenish). I also gave away about that many cookies (as samples, freebies with other purchases, and as advertising, and as little thank-you gestures.) In the final accounting I came out ahead financially, although for the time spent, it is really of dubious value. (not even minimum wage) I certainly didn't make a substantial chunk of a year's art budget at this show, as some people clearly do.

I did get some good stuff, though.

a new experience!
rid of some of my made-things!
time to pick Jamie's brain!
two new cookie recipes!
a few new money-making ideas to chase down!
some new contacts in my field*!
three nifty reproduction prints to hang up in my naked-walled house!
some great compliments, including a marriage proposal!

* My field being People Who Make Stuff And Then Have To Figure Out How to Afford To Make More Stuff.

If you want to have any of the stuff I was selling for yourself, email me. I am working on getting stuff listed on Etsy, but it takes time, and sometimes is hard to find there. The fastest thing, and the thing I prefer, is that you just tell me what you want, we settle on a price and means of payment, and I send it to you. Because not only is that faster, but also it saves me the trouble of putting the listings together. (Administrivia is not my favorite thing...)

And, yes, I will make and ship cookies to you.

Now, here are some pictures from the three day sale, for your amusetertainment.

Five batches of cookies cooling on the counter. Left to right, PB + Mini PB Cups,  Choc Chunk + Boston Baked Beans, Tropical Mix, Bridge Mix, PB + Honey Roasted Peanuts

The final layout of our booth -- lots of stuff hung up on the backdrop, and the side fence and table moved to the back for maximum visibility from both sides. (we were in the back corner of the show)

First day arrangement - a little crowded! Impossible to tell what was going on from anywhere but straight on.

Jamie just finishing setting up on Day 1.

The long view of the hall from our booth - we were furthest from the windows, furthest from the entry doors...

Very nearly made it through the whole show without dumping all my stuff on the ground. ... but, didn't. Because my rolling cart was just not cart enough to withstand the world's most evil rumble strips.

The world's most evil rumble strips ... three rows of scattered rocks about the size of a gumball.

Anyhow, that's the round up. Out of my many, many ideas, I think the most pressingly interesting is the t-shirt printed with the Tight White Warrior Robot. Yes, there will be pictures.

back in the saddle

I have a provisional goal of doing one small project every day. I accept that this won't happen every day, but it's nice to get to the end of a day and have a Finished Thing to show for it. This is today's Thing -- a bookmark. This is made from copper, and not super-high-polish finished. It's a relatively crude prototype for the next project of the day. Tomorrow, I'll probably go in copper again. Eventually, when I'm happy with the prototypes, I'll move on to silver.

If you're interested to see some COOL metal bookmarks, try here.

New Year / New Blog

Hi there! I know it's been pretty quiet around here. Too quiet! There are some changes coming. I would say soon, but soon is relative. Here are the highlights.

• I'm opening two Etsy shops. One for 'fine art' — paintings, sculptures, prints, etc., and one for functional and silly items. This is taking some time, but I hope when I get it all up and running, it'll be easy for folks who are interested to browse & buy stuff I've made.
• I'm re-doing this blog. Can't say too much about it yet, because I just don't know the details yet, but as soon as I know, I'll post it here, and then you'll know.
• Metal work!! I have my tools and some supplies to get going with, so I'm very excited to say I'm getting back to my true love.
• Printmaking!! I'm ready to start experimenting with this. This goes nicely with some of the metalworking I plan to do.
  
• Other! It's going to be a busy year. I'm really excited about this. I've got cold glass work planned, custom-printed materials such as textiles and stationery goods, and a couple of guerrilla art maneuvers in the world. Oh, and maybe something that will lead to a book.
  

I realize that's a lot more exclamation points than I normally indulge in, but what can I say? That was a really good cup of coffee!!!! I mean, there's a lot going on. First, however, there is some administrative stuff to address. Because setting up an online store and a new blog isn't all about firing up the torch, sawing on stuff, or breaking out the paints. It's mostly about filling in the blanks, uploading the pictures, and double checking all the squinty little details.

For now, I'm going to leave you with this picture of the sun, moments after emerging from an eclipse, and a vague promise to post again just as soon as I can.

New! Content with actual content!

OK, last post, total cop out. Fortunately, I don't think anyone looked at it too closely! :)

On the topic of making a living as a gallery artist, versus not:

As I gather my application materials for this studio space thing, I have been meeting with some surprising internal resistance. I DO want the space, that is not an issue. My issue is what I do with my art. For a long time, I've been frustrated by the gallery art world. There are things about it that make me very uncomfortable.

A big issue - prices. It pisses me off to see a scribbled cocktail napkin going for $10000. Even though I think, well, good for them, that someone can make a living at art. In *any* way. But it's irritating. Because I know that if *I* scribble on a cocktail napkin, I'd be lucky if no one charged ME for the privilege of throwing it away. This is NOTHING to do with talent or skill. It's all about place / time / connections. That $10k napkin is a $10k napkin because that artist was in some particular situation to make it that way. Maybe it won't last forever, that situation, but the artist sure as hell will want to sell as many $10k napkins as possible in the meanwhile.

But I don't want that. Watch closely, because here's where it gets very squadgy indeed.

The thing I don't want is something I regard as crap going for a lot of money. Maybe I could make an infinitely superior scribble on a cocktail napkin, but if *I* think it is crap, I would die of shame before selling it to someone, much less displaying it publicly.

But the work I do, the work that meets my standards ... doesn't seem to be in much demand. There are only so many options in this situation. Create demand, change the work, or do something else altogether. (These options all assume I want to make some money with my work, which I do. Not so much for the money-have, but simply not to be a continued financial drain on my world.)

And that's where I get stuck. I know this studio space is a step in the direction of being that gallery artist. Fundamentally, I think it would be great to make money off my work, and that is an avenue that I could pursue. But I don't want to be the cocktail napkin artist, producing crap and selling it for mad money. It was pointed out to me that, in that context, the price is part of the piece. I don't like that. I don't feel comfortable with the meshing of value and aesthetic. Because I don't value money much at all. It is useful, but it's not interesting.

So... whether I get this studio space or no, I am going to need to figure out what I DO want. What IS a good exchange for my effort? How can I recover expenses without losing self-respect, which I can't afford? Knowing what I *don't* want only gets me so far.

Oh, and that picture is the beginning piece of the first complete object I will have made with my scroll saw. It's not very exciting, but I admit it tickles me that removing 18 tiny strips of wood makes 9 flat pieces of wood into a little shelf-esque thing.

Portfolio...

I've been working on my portfolio for this studio residency application ... and because if I'm going to continue faking this Being An Artist thing, I can't really NOT have one. What you see here is a sample page from what I've been doing. It's not amazing, but it's a start. A whole bunch of these in one place actually looks like Something Official, anyway. That's gotta count for something, yeah?

Making a portfolio is kind of tedious, but I admit that it is helping me see how much I have done (because I'm having to weed out things that aren't the best, there are simply more pages than are reasonable), and it is reassuring to see that I am making good stuff, and I am making progress over time. And reminds me that I would like to get back to 3D now, please. (Come ON, studio space..!)

Click to see large, just like always. (... and then click THAT for the full size view!) Sometime maybe I can get all the pages up online so Interested Parties can browse my portfolio at leisure. As a side benefit, YOU will be able to get in it, too...

Still going, and hopefully going somewhere else, too.

Still working on this. I did most of the shaping and rough sanding over the weekend. Now I need to get busy with the drill, wooden pegs, and wood glue, and get it assembled.

Or, wait, maybe the 2nd sanding comes after the pegs are fitted, but before the wood glue.

Man, I don't know. Can you believe I do my own taxes, and can't even figure out the order of operations for a simple woodworking project?

I did learn that I probably want to spring for a shop vac one of these days. A little one.

In the spirit of collecting moral support, I want to share another project I'm working on. It's not quite as concrete as what's in the picture here. I'm applying for a studio space in a local art-in-residence program. You don't speak German, and this is not posted in English this year, so I'll just tell you the deal... it's rent-free studio space for up to a year, there are 8 studios on the 5th floor of the building in the picture. The 6th floor has live-in studios for 4 artists, as well. I hope to do work I can't really do at home (glass, metal, larger scale...) and interact with other artists, maybe get some shows and contacts and possibly collaborative projects out of it. Assuming I get the studio. The application is due by 31 May, so I'm hustling now to get a suitable portfolio and statement together. Thought I'd missed the deadline for this year. I don't know if they extended it, or if I was just confused, or what. Not going to waste time worrying about that.

I admit, I felt much more hopeful about this before I knew how many people applied last year. I'm sure it's even more this year. I'm just not a competitive person. Probably what I need to keep in mind is that I don't need to be cooler than everyone who applies. I just need to be cooler than enough of them to get a spot.

Also, in the course of digging up the necessary info about this artist in residence thing, I also discovered that this city has some great resources for artists. I am going on Thursday afternoon to find out what exactly I'm allowed to do legally (given my resident and work status here), and what my obligations are in terms of taxes, etc. Good info, and they provide it at no cost. Even if I find out that I can't do anything, at least I won't be out any money for the info, and will not be stuck wondering what the deal is and how to find out for sure.

Last sketch for today, I promise.

I know. Way more sketches than anyone cares to see. I like to post them here because occasionally I read back through my blog and see how things have change / stayed the same. Sometimes blogging is more like journalling, I guess.

Sketching with Oil Pastels

I'm trying to make friends with my oil pastels, because they seem like the kind crayons that I would like. The colors, the blending, the relevance to paint colors. Seems like a good way to make sketches for things I want to paint properly later on.

The problem is... I always hate new media. Almost always. I never hated metal or glass. But even new pencils are problematic for me at first.

Although this first picture looks kind of sloppy and disjoint, it has an alibi: The left side was drawn with my left hand, the right side with my right. I wanted to give both sides of my brain a little workout. There are only a few places where the two sides diverged significantly, and most of the size/shape/angle differences I chalk up to the fact that I do have a dominant hand.

This is just more goofing with the oil pastels. I suspect this would look a lot better in paint. And I might try it sometime. Without all the white around the edges, though. It's pleasingly amorphous and twine-y.

Last one for today, I promise.

Today I spent some time rummaging the stash of older drawings and paintings. I hung a framed thing on the wall, and took down a bunch of not-framed things. I chose some papers to stick in the recycling bin. I chose some items to frame, and I found new enthusiasm for some things I'd stick in the portfolio instead of the trash. All of which means I'm learning some things.

One of things I'm learning is not to judge too fast, or too harshly. I have learned that no matter how much I hate something when I'm working on it, if I stick it in a file until later, I can get some objectivity about things. I can throw it out later, too, and this practice significantly reduces the likelihood of discarding something that wasn't so bad after all.

The significant consequence of this habit is that after some period of time passes, I am confronted with some evidence of productivity, and of progress, and of the accumulation of a body of work. See, if I throw out every single piece I work on that doesn't satisfy me in some way, I would have exactly zero works left.

Today, after doing the spring cleaning, I actually felt somewhat pleased about what I've done in the past year. I can see the progress. I can see some directions to go. I have enough things in the file that I actually need to see about a new file. This is very encouraging. It flips the bird in the face of my inner critic, which is good.

Where Are You Going With That?

Sometimes I wonder what the various shapes and forms that plague me mean. And they do signify, one way or another. Would it take the fun out, to know what the story is? Would it add to the fun, to know where the connections lie? Who knows. Someday maybe I'll sit and think about it, and perhaps tell myself a satisfying story about that. Maybe I won't. There are definitely some strong recurrent images, themes, and relationships, not only in what I draw, but also with things I make in 3D, and in the techniques I prefer for making the magic happen.

Someone remind me later to put the quote from One Hundred Years of Solitude that basically sums up how I'd like my relationship with art to be. Unfortunately, I don't have time to dig it out right now, because I've got a class to get to. But it seems more or less relevant to the thoughts of the day.

Second Verse...

I've been thinking lately about the tension I feel between what's necessary for any kind of remuneration in the art world, and personal satisfaction as an artist. If you continue reading past that last sentence, please bear in mind that I know my situation is not the same as some other artists, and I'm acutely aware that my stuff isn't exactly going to win the Grand Prix. However, given that by any objective comparison, there is ample evidence to support the idea that my work is no worse, and substantially better than, much of what's for sale in the world. I could, in theory, be getting paid for this. At least enough to keep me in expensive papers and slick mechanical pencils.

What's needed to get paid for art is, in a nutshell, marketing. A person has to be willing and able to show their work to other people, and not only expect them to like it, but also expect them to want to pay for it. These things have historically been difficult for me, for a variety of reasons. I'm starting to get on top of it being OK to show my stuff to people, and I'm starting to be OK with the idea that some of them will like and possibly want to buy some of it. What's still troubling me is that final step about expectation, and the further bit about setting a price and collecting the money.

I feel dirty when I think about making art to sell. I don't know how to explain it better than that, but let's just say that whatever I make generally gets made because it seemed right, in the part of my brain that governs my sense of how the world should look. I can see that the perfect combination is to make stuff that appeases that part of my brain, and then package it in a way that sells. For instance, a scribble on a cocktail napkin looks like a scribble on a cocktail napkin... but if you have it professionally mounted and framed, it will then look like art... even if you don't LIKE it, you'll still recognize that it is an object that someone is trying to pass off as art.

So... when someone looks at something I've done, and says, "Oh, you could totally sell that" I am immediately seized with the urge to destroy it. Why? Who knows. I'm not sure that matters. But this puts me in a bit of a bind. Sure, agents and gallery representation is GREAT for people like me, because I don't have to get my precious psyche dirty. But in order to get an agent or gallery representation, I have to show it to someone, and I have to expect them to like it, and as soon as I start thinking about that, my brain seizes.

Probably my best bet is to stockpile a portfolio, and then get it all professionally mounted, and photographed, and then sucker someone else into showing it around. Preferably someone with style, and charm, and a general lack of scruple. I think that'd be worth a percentage.

What's out there?

My obsession with what's on the other side of a sturdy wall or door continues unabated. This sturdy wall or door belongs to Burg Lockenhaus, on the Austrian side of the border with Hungary. Knights Templar nested there, as did Elizabeth Bathory. Those odd birds laid all kind of crazy-eggs in their nest.

Sitting outside the castle, I had a moment of perspective vortex, where I could see the rolling hills and valleys of the region as the ocean, which I was in, and the sky was the surface of the water, which I was looking up into and through. It was a strangely secure feeling.

Gratuitous First Test Post

As required by internet law, I'm beginning this blog with a test-post, consisting of no substance whatsoever, and a picture of the cat.

OK, I give, there's going to be a tiny bit of substance: I'm trying to figure out a way to have everything I want from the internet all in one place.
I want a place to write about crap I see, here, think of, create, make photos of, and want other people to think about. I want not to have to go to 4 different web sites to get that done. I want it to look less like crap than when I tried to write my own web site from scratch. And I want it to be less, hmm, canceled, than some of the other venues I've been using for these purposes.

There is a non-zero chance of me never posting here again after this post, but maybe it'll work out. We'll see, won't we?