So sorry - no new art for you today. :) I am cleaning my studio which is dire need of it. What a mess! Where did all this STUFF come from. Ah...I have no one to blame but myself.

I think one of the biggest challenges for me as an artist has been finding a place to settle into. I have so many interests that it can be really hard to focus. And that, coupled with my my pack-rat tendencies, often leads me to be a bit scattered in my art focus. Still, I think that part of maturing as an artist is finding your voice. Not that we don't still grow and change and all of that - we do. But eventually the extraneous stuff we like to do needs to settle into the background so that we can focus on what we really want to be doing and putting out there for the viewing (and hopefully, buying) public.

It's not much fun to think about selling art. I mean, it would be a lie to say that it's not exciting to sell something. Or that you don't get a thrill from positive feedback from others. It would be nice to say that I only create for myself and that if someone likes/buys by artwork then that's just a nice side-benefit.  I confess that I DO think about this stuff. I don't exactly work with this thought in the front of my brain, but it's there.

And yet, I am not good at the self-promotion aspect of being an artist.

Anyway...

I've decided that in order for the fall and winter months to be at all productive in here, I've got to get some of this clutter under control. I've got to purge. To weed out. To donate. To throw away. To pack up and store. It pains me in some ways. And I have to keep reminding myself that it's all for the good because I will be more productive in the near future. Right?

I am still trying to decide if I want to sell at the Puget Sound Gift show again this year. I want to - I just know that I need to do a bit of different stuff for it - more gifty type things - things that are priced well, small maybe, things that can be given as gifts.  Art is not a thing that people usually give as a gift. Art selection is rather personal. So paintings are not usually big sellers at these things. that's a shame of course. So I think that if I can come up with something I will do it. If not...well. There is always next year.

OK - I am off to do stuff. You know...stuff!