a little help

During the years of art as a full-time business, I have needed help from time to time. When the studio was a public space, it took a tremendous amount of time for all the work of retail in addition to producing all the art.  Back then, notecards were a huge seller for me, and at one time I had about 30 different packages for sale. Once my husband said “ENOUGH” to being used as free labor, my parents would take cartons of cards home for packaging. Around 1998 or 1999, card sales began slipping as the internet started growing. This cut into sales, but it also lightened the physical, hands-on assembly-line type work. This year there are several events where cards are expected to sell well. Cards have continued to be a steady part of my business,  just in a smaller quantity than in the 80s and 90s. Suddenly I am realizing that there are many many unpackaged cards that need to be ready for the first event on November 22. This happens at the same time my commission customers are expecting their drawings! (I’m not even going to think about the paintings I’d like to have finished for these events. . . oh-oh, is that a twitch beginning under my left eye?) As I pondered the mystery of how to be 3 people at one time, my friend Nina said she’d love to help me! Oh my, what a blessing! Today we had the nicest time together in the studio: I drew and she packaged. You may have seen this before, but here are a couple of the cards she worked on:

The General Grant Tree is the Nation’s Christmas tree and is in Kings Canyon National Park. This image sells consistently, and I have reprinted it many times, in different sizes and even once using dark green ink. The Four Guardsmen don’t actually have a sign as you pass through them on the way up to Sequoia National Park. They are consistently beautiful and awe-inspiring, regardless of the time of day or the time of year. In reality, there is a small redwood tree somewhere near the middle of this scene, and I have chosen to omit it in the drawing. There is also a road sign with an arrow that didn’t seem to enhance the picture. . . and it is the artist’s prerogative to clean up the messiness of life!