Sunday, November 24, 2013

...Concerned About Reality...

...Four Weeks and Counting Down...


Frazzled
   In 4 weeks I am hanging up my hat and stethoscope and taking the frightening leap into following my dream. Reality is scary...

I am blessed to have a supportive family. I think that has came about because I have proven myself somewhat with abilities that were never supported early on.
When I was young, art was folly. Surely, no one could ever make a living doing something you love and I believed that which is why I buried my dream of going to art school.
Twenty five years ago, I chose nursing school instead...
I must admit I love people and all their different temperaments and personalities. You have to be a chameleon in how you relate to people. You have to adapt your approach and tailor your responses and actions to fit their needs. I have always been able to do that with most people but not everyone. I am good at the details but I abhor regulations that stymy efficiency.

   With the new government mandates, I must say I am not going to miss the immense stress involved in caring for people. I will however miss the relationships and bonds created with some people. I will continue some of those bonds after I leave because true friendships and family have been created. The relationships with people is what I will miss the most...
My nursing career has been a gratifying run to say the least! :)



Lets make art!!


Current work in progress... Asparagus still life. Acrylic on panel.



   I do have a plan of sorts on how I hope to make a living from my creative nature.
I plan to do everything I enjoy and try and sell things that are not considered high art.
I will focus my work on my paintings roughly 2-3 days through the week and the other two days I will work on cutesy stuffs to sell and hold a class or two at the studio.

My plan is to start an morning/early afternoon beginning paintings class with 5-6 students and we will focus on the foundations of drawing, color, application, etc. We will also cover other topics such as surface, how to create panels, canvases and framing.
Last spring I held a class and we had a set project that we worked on and people came based on whether they liked the subject being painted so I want to change the class and focus more on teaching the basics so that they will have a good base of knowledge to take with them.
I just want to teach the joy of painting and spread that.



 



My plan is to work from a still life set up and teach how to scale and draw the subject on the surface, see color, recognize value, etcetera...
I am going to tailor this class towards people who are retired and those looking for a hobby.
I will also serve my scrumptious spread of home made snacks, good coffee and juice.
I will keep people posted on when the classes will start on my personal website as well as the 'Just paint It' Facebook page.

I also would like to offer a beginning airbrush lessons as well. Class size will be small and offered one evening a week for roughly 4-5 weeks and we'll cover lots of information during that time as well as hands on painting with every session. I will encourage much note taking as I will be talking and teaching lots of things. I will provide the airbrushes to use or you can bring your own. I will assemble a list of things required for students to bring, which won't be much. I have not decided on a set fee yet but it will cover the 4-5 weeks.

I hope that by doing all this, I will be able to eek out a meager living.



Gettin Crafty!!


Working on my Christmas card image
Christmas ornament production line
 Been getting quite crafty in hopes I can peddle some of my creative ideas and generate some sales. I have started an Etsy shop and will be promoting that and creating things to sell.
Birdhouses
Birdhouse from a gourd I grew

cute 'Foodie' earrings
'Naughty Nester' birdhouse

'Naughty Nester' birdhouse
Note cards featuring images of my paintings



Floor cloths I am making to sell.
So as you can see, I have been quite creative and busy.
I have been attempting to maximize my studio time and create some items to sell in hopes that when my steady nurse wages end, I will have a little bit to fall back on.
It's a start. I know it's an endeavor that will take much time and effort on my part to cultivate however I am willing to go the distance...it's just that reality is scary....
I hope I can make it all work.







With that, I need to throw some clothes on and head down to the studio to finish up some project and get them listed. More floor cloths need to be painted and I also need to work on my current painting.

Have a great day everyone!

Kath

2 comments:

  1. I understand exactly what you are saying Kathy. I had a great talk with a gallery owner, framer, and technical consultant for artists. He is the first person I have really chatted with, that insisted an artist can make it financially if. "You paint your passion and paint the "crap" out of it." (that's exactly what he said.) He suggested doing a lot of shows to get you're name out there. Eventually people will look for you, follow you and buy your work. I was always told the same. "Art.. what are you going to do with that? It will never pay the bills." I say whatever you passion is, you can do it. It has paid my bills before in the tourist industry, and even gave me winters off. So to some degree I was able to prove the art career bashers wrong. :0) I'm glad to hear you have a supportive family that obviously see your talent and know you need to do more. Have fun Kathy!

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  2. Thanks Teresa! I know what I like to do best and I just need to keep that focus and get myself out there more. Slowly but surely I am building a name but it sure takes time. I am not the high end gallery type so I tend to steer away from that crowd but I do watch whats going on in those places as well. It will work, just need to keep the faith and work as hard as possible.

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