The first 2 orders of 2013 calendars were all spoken for. Now I have the calendars available for order, right here on my bl0g!
To see the pictures of each month, here is the link to the blog post that showed each painting.
This used to be called the “Senior League Bazaar”. . . I was walking past the Three Rivers Memorial Building and on the marquee it said 17 HOLIDAY BAZAAR. This means it is happening on Saturday, November 17. The hours are 9-4. You are invited! There is no entry fee. This is a pleasant gathering of crafters, artists, artisans, handy creative folks with neat-o stuff to sell.
I will be there with paintings, cards, 2013 calendars ($15 while they last – just 8 left!) and blank journals with my paintings on the cover ($14 inc. tax). Such a deal! And what a way to combine art with usefulness. . . I amaze myself with own brilliance at times. 😎
You can shop inside and outside. It is a great chance to visit with various artists, learn a bit about their processes, and some years a booth has fudge for sale with little tastes.
A very old friend of mine is hosting an exchange student from Russia.
Oops. My friend is younger than I am. We’ve been friends since I was in 3rd grade and she was in 1st grade. . . that’s what I mean by very old friend, not that she is ancient!
Mariya would like to be an artist. I met her during that very bad show, and she is sweet and sincere. She has to interview someone in the profession she hopes to someday join, and so she chose me. I decided to share the interview with you, Oh Fine Blog Readers!
Why did you decide to be an artist?
I chose to be an artist because every thing else I tried just felt like a job. Drawing was the most challenging and fun way to spend time, and getting paid for it was a dream come true.
Did you always dream of doing this work when you were young?
When I was a child, the only profession that interested me was art. I thought it was unrealistic, so I kept trying on other ideas in my head but none felt like a good fit.
What do you like most about your work?
The variety involved with working as an artist is one of the best things. Always looking for subjects, learning photography, interacting with customers, drawing, painting, learning to paint murals, improving my skills, teaching people to draw, finding places to sell, writing a blog, meeting people at shows – there is always something different to be working on!
What do you like best, and what do you dislike about your job?
Whatever I am doing at the time is my favorite thing – if I am painting a mural, I’m just sure that I could spend my life doing only that. When I am drawing, I know it is why I was created. When I am teaching people how to draw, I wish I had 100 students! If I give a presentation to a group, it feels as if I was born to do public speaking. While I am writing, I am certain that I could write forever and never run out of words. When I am planning a new piece of work, it is great fun to take multiple photos from different angles at different times of the day, looking for the best light. I love working with my photographs, cropping, planning, designing and dreaming about how it will look in oil, pencil or as a mural.
On the other side, bookkeeping, record keeping, paying bills, collecting from people who don’t want to pay, and paying taxes are all tasks I’d rather avoid. I also find it more difficult each year to participate in shows – the physical labor of packing and unpacking and the uncertainty of sales while having to stay energetic and positive is just flat hard.
Can you give me any advice?
Find what you love, learn it to the best of your ability, never stop practicing or learning. The hardest part of being an artist is marketing, so it might be wise to be a business or marketing major in college and an art minor. And, it seems that art schools focus too much on being different and creative and not enough on skills, marketing, and learning how to make art for real people instead of for gallery owners.
What means this?? (That’s how my niece asked for more information when she was three, and I thought it was so cute that I’ve been saying for 20 years since.)
Daily Paintworks is a wonderful online gallery featuring new paintings from its members every single day. I’ve followed it for a few years, and learned about some fantastic painters.
Recently, my friend and fellow artist Nadi Spencer joined Daily Paintworks. I don’t jump into new things very quickly (still successfully resisting Facebook, Twitter, Kindle and an iPhone), but I trust Nadi. We listen to many of the same podcasts, subscribe to many of the same blogs and often share information about upcoming shows and places to sell our work.
After thinking it over, I finally decided to join Daily Paintworks. It is hard for me to admit this, as a Regionalist from Quaintsville, a Central California artist, a loyal Tulare County artist, but here goes: The art buying public here where I live just isn’t big enough. It is time to reach out for a larger audience.
I began last week with this painting:
Orange #115, oil on wrapped canvas, 6×6″, SOLD
That’s me – three-in-one, three for the price of one, me in triplicate, a human triptych.
Sometimes it is so fun just to show you what I am doing, to write, to be a goofball, to philosophize, and to ramble. Then, I remember that I am trying to earn a living here, and that perhaps I should tell you some of the products and services I offer.
I’ve said for years that I am a business woman and my product is art. That remains true, but now I am beginning to feel like a photographer who writes, or a writer who photographs and sells art on the side.
Easily confused, I guess. . .
Anyway, here is the list.
There will be more, but you will have to attend one of the shows I will be participating in during November, or visit my studio on the first Saturday of December.
Cowboy Bert and Trail Guy aren’t confused about their careers. They are just enjoying a nice walk on a beautiful fall day in Mineral King.
If you are over 50, you probably are experiencing the rush of time. I don’t mean “rush” as in thrill, but rush as in hurry, fast, speedy-gonzalez. Didn’t I just particpate in First Saturday about 2 months ago? Nope, it was in May. Or was it in February?
See? I sound like an old person, which over 50 used to be.
In addition to the change in how time passes, there are always those questioning conversations, plus the ever-shifting definition of “old age”.
But that’s not why I am blogging today. (See? all those conversational diversions also go with middle-age!)
First Saturday Three Rivers is happening in two days, on November 3, 2012 and MY STUDIO WILL BE OPEN.
Sorry for shouting. I get a little carried away sometimes with the enthusiasm of actually having folks come to my place of normally solitary and silent work.
You’ll have to go to Anne Lang’s Emporium to get a map to find me. I’m not posting directions or my address on the World Wide Web for all those weirdo spammers to see!
The theme is Oak. Or is it Oak Leaves? Maybe it is Oak Trees.
If you come, you’ll have the best selection of my new blank journals with my paintings on the cover ($14 inc. tax) or my first ever calendar with paintings for each month of 2013 ($15 inc. tax, special deal for you only this Saturday.)
Lone Oak, oil on wrapped canvas, 12×16″, $250
Trail Guy had a great idea for me this summer. We are now beginning to develop it. Here are the photos we used in our designing phase.
“Phase” makes it sound huge and extensive, don’t you think?
More will be revealed. . .
Tell us, California Artist, what would you be doing if you weren’t an artist?
If I knew then what I know now, perhaps I would have been a business or marketing major and an art minor.
This is a no-spin zone – I asked what you’d be doing, not what you would have studied!
Soooorrrrrrr-EEE. I love what I do. But, with what I know about myself now, I think I could have been an editor and proofreader. Or a professional organizer. Or maybe a landscaper. Or maybe just a gardener. Farming had and still has some appeal, although the regulations and paperwork definitely steal much of the joy of producing food.
Do you ever wish you were doing one of those things?
Only when I am wishing for a larger paycheck. Or a paycheck. Or when I am washing brushes or doing bookkeeping or wondering if I will get a bid or where new students will come from or when I want to rid the world of typos or wish I could be outside more or when sales are low and I wonder if this is just a glorified hobby instead of a business.
You sound a little insecure!
I said you sound a little insecure.
I heard you. I was waiting for a question.
Are you insecure?
Nope. Are you finished?
Nope. I’d like to know if the blog readers have any questions about choosing a career path as a self-employed artist.
Me too. I will answer any question that will help someone find his way. (or hers, but you knew that, right?)
Why did you decide to become a self-employed artist?
Because most jobs are repetitive, boring, and full of sanctioned incompetence. Because I had to pretend as if I was busy when there was nothing to do, because too many bosses were dumb, petty, moody and inconsistent in their instructions. Because making and selling art and teaching drawing makes me HAPPY HAPPY HAPPY! And self-employed was the only way I could design a job that made me HAPPY HAPPY HAPPY. I like to be happy. 😎 See?
Hmmm, sounds like you might have been a difficult employee.
Nope. I was a dang good worker.
What were some of the good jobs or helpful jobs you had?
1. Working for an architect, a terrific guy (who was also my architectural drafting teacher) in the Gaslamp Quarter of San Diego. Just being there was an education!
2. Working in a picture frame shop – helping customers choose, learning the basics of framing. The work was great; the manager was a drug addict. He fired me. He used a flimsy excuse. It was humiliating.
3. Working in print shops – type-setting, graphic design, learning about papers, helping customers make decisions, bookkeeping, learning about standard sizes, understanding the printing process, meeting people with whom I am still in contact.
4. Working in a gift shop – this is where I learned some marketing, display and selling techniques. For example, did you know that Presentation Really Is Everything? It is! Truly! (Thanks, Shirley Goodness!)
What were some of the non-helpful jobs you had?
All jobs were helpful in some fashion, even if it showed me how to NEVER run a business or treat an employee or a customer. Generally I met great people, both the co-workers and the public. If you put your mind to it, you can learn from almost any situation. . . isn’t that why people refer to “The School of Hard Knocks”? (My very wise Dad used to say that. I thought it was dumb. It was smart; I was dumb.)
Tell me, Gentle Blog Reader, what is the best job you’ve ever had?
If you call my studio during work hours on a work day, often you will get the answering machine. You might be thinking, “That flaky artist doesn’t work much!”
Au contraire!
Sometimes I just can’t get to the phone.
The phone is on the far left of the photo, atop the filing cabinet, and requires that I put down my paintbrush from my left hand, take the one out of my mouth, put down the one I am using, and climb over the cords to the speakers and to the laptop. Ain’t happenin’. Sorry.
When it is hot, I can’t even hear the phone over the swamp cooler on high and the music coming from the laptop. Sorry.
This is what it looks like while I am painting a large commission. I’ll show you more about it tomorrow.