Back to the studio - Again!

Not long after my last post, I got a call from the lady running the arts and crafts show at the fair, telling me there was an open space for the last weekend of the fair. Sooooo, I spent another weekend at the fair. This time I took my beads and spent my time wisely making jewelry. It was fun and more people bought chokers since I was making them right there. I even gave a couple of knotting lessons!
Now I'm back in the studio again, where I left off. I spent yesterday browsing reference photos for an idea of what I want to paint. I get bored so easily, always on to a new subject. A customer at the fair this weekend pointed out the wide range of subject matter I do, I told her I have a short attention span. The truth is, there is so much out there to paint and I only have so much time on earth! I want to paint everything! I guess I will eventually have to narrow it down a little, but I still haven't found that one thing I love to paint more than anything. Until I do, I'll continue to paint whatever subject catches my attention for the day. So I'm currently on an animal kick (maybe it's the state fair influence!) I painted a bald eagle yesterday and I may do a horse today. Still haven't decided. I've just finished another group of peace paintings, these are the "Peace Wave" series. More abstract, which I like for loosening up after I haven't painted in a while.

Off to paint!

Cleaning the studio

I've been back in the studio for a week now and I'm just getting the place clean enough to work. If only I could KEEP it clean so I don't have to go through this every couple of weeks! Actually, it wasn't all my mess, Aaron just moved his computer back into his studio. So I had to rearrange my computer desk, plus clean up the mess I made getting ready for the fair.

What's truly cool is I just received a FREE flat file cabinet to put all my prints in! It's perfect! So now, between the free cabinet and the $20 cabinet I found at the flea market, I can get organized. The value of these two cabinets if I were to buy them new would be over $2,000! These aren't your regular filing cabinets, these are large size flat files usually used by architects for blueprints, etc. So, no, I don't usually get excited about filing cabinets, but these are something I've been dreaming of for close to 10 years! Up until this point, I've used portfolios and shelves to store my flat paper, art and prints, not to mention the boxes and boxes of prints in the closet! Now I can actually FIND things because I can label each drawer with it's contents. Maybe now I can stay organized!

Pretty funny the things I get excited about! Well, there's still lots of work to be done, and I haven't had time to paint in over a week! I may spend the entire day painting today. Time to get some new originals up on Ebay and my website.

State Fair

I spent the past 5 days (Fri. - Tues) sitting my art booth out at the New Mexico State Fair. It was fun to meet other artists and other people from around the state and even some from out of state. The days were long, the food was expensive, but the atmosphere was festive! I hope to have a booth for the entire fair next year. This year I only had enough money and energy for the first 5 days. There are still 12 more to go before the fair ends. So now I'm finally back to work in my studio. Lots of orders that need to go out, and lots of mess to clean up since the boys were home alone in the evenings while I was there. I was also reminded why I stopped doing arts and crafts type shows. I made my booth fee back, but not much extra, considering all the hours I had to put in, I wonder if it's worth it. While it was lots of fun, it wasn't very profitable. Sometimes, like today, I feel like I'm spinning my wheels, but not getting anywhere. Aaron and I have been talking more lately about opening the Art Center we've always dreamed of. I think we'll start looking for a building in January, once the Christmas season is over. I have at least 4 other artists interested in studio space, so I think it could work. We shall see! Back to work!!!

What can I do???

So after days of shock at the devastation left behind by Katrina, I'm left wondering what I can do to help. I donated what piddly amount we had in savings to the Red Cross, but that just didn't seem enough. What disgusts me is that our Federal Government still hasn't sent aid!
I don't even want to go there, I'm so disgusted!
Anyway, so I decided to put up an auction for one of my paintings and donate 90% of the final sale to the Red Cross for Hurricane relief. Follow the link below to view the auction. I hope I can raise a couple hundred more to donate. Although, I still feel like it's not enough, it's all I can do. That and pray!

my auction for aid