Tennessee Craft Southwest put on a show at Crosstown Arts last weekend that I had the pleasure of having a booth in and the experience of coordinating. 13 artists in a small space is something akin to herding cats, but it was a great show, all the participants were excellent and we had an amazing turn out for a 1st year show. I think everyone was quite pleased. My booth setup was a little different as we had 6x6 spaces and I was out in the middle so my space was fully visible from all directions. I think I pulled it together ok :) (Marilyn's gorgeous art quilt is in the upper right corner of the image below- her work is so detailed and deep, it's truly inspiring)
I'm going to be adventuring for the next two weeks, so not much creative time. I was working on getting some stuff done for an upcoming private enameling class and I was playing around with a piece that I had put a counter enamel coat on long ago and forgotten. This was supposed to be the back of the piece, but with some vintage lump enamels, some leaded powders, and some unleaded liquids, I accidentally created this last night. The clear when teal, so I had to add more blues- it actually matches the studio - almost exactly the wall color. it's a 6x6 piece, so I'll probably put some counter on the back and call this baby done. the depth doesn't really show much in the picture, but the way the copper oxides are dispersing through the clear coat and the white looks like leather in a few places, it's a neat piece and I'm looking forward to having time to play with the techniques more.
Something that keeps showing up on my radar is growing my business. Conversations, blogs I follow, my horoscope, whatever, there's a theme of pursuing my passion, and how to get the funding necessary to do that. I did the Go Fund Me thing, and I need to revisit that as we have changed the plan as it unfolded- the Mobile Metal Working Studio is still a thing- it's still in the 3 year plan and it will happen.. just not in a VW bus and not on the time line I thought it would happen. We decided a small trailer is the better way to go last year, and if my recent google search is to be believed, mobile boutiques are BOOMING, so having a small studio/gallery that I can cart around the country, especially the west coast, is doable. And there are now resources out there to help me be successful instead of me having to figure it all out on my own. I've priced it out and since I need a new daily driver soon, it's a better investment. Also, to be fair, there are some logistical issues that have put the acquisition of the MMWS on hold- namely where to store the thing when I'm not on the road, which with my mainstream job, that will be a lot of the time.
I want to do this full time. the teaching, the art, the shop. I need funding to do that, but I feel bad about asking for money, (loan, Kickstarter, go fund me, whatever) when I can't give definitive dates of when I will do things because of the day job. and If the money isn't enough, like partially funded go fund me, then it all falls through and I'm left with a really guilty feeling. I want to be one of those people that dives off in and makes it happen, I just don't know how. :(
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