Deiter

My 16 year old kitty is really sick. I took him to the vet this morning and his poor tummy is filled with fluid and we don't know where it's coming from. So I think this could be the end of big D. I'm very sad. I'm just going to post some more pictures of him. I'm going to miss him so much.

Christmas

I just received an email from one of my holiday customers who was inquiring about her portrait. I shipped out Thursday via US Mail and she's only in Abington MA so it should have taken a day - 2 at most. It's now Monday and she still hasn't received it . I go to the USPS website and they're telling me that they can't track it with the information that they have. I swear this is the last year that I'm using the post office. Next year, it's fedex or something else. I can't have this "not knowing where it is" over my head anymore. It causes more stress than deadlines. Not to mention all the presents that I ordered online and are coming via the post office and they're not here yet!! Or the gift I ordered for my father's birthday (Nov 13) and I haven't seen that yet. Granted it had the wrong zip code on it, but you'd think that the folks at the Cambridge post office would know where Mass Ave is and just send it along. Lord knows where that freakin' thing is. I remember working at a catalog company and we ran into lots of problems with UPS so I'm wondering is there any delivery service that works????

On that note, I'm still scrambling for Christmas .. although my party was last week and work party is this Tuesday and should be a lot of fun. I still have to finish some paintings and make desserts to bring to Christmas dinner.

I wish everyone reading this a happy Christmas and Merry new year!!!! Ho Ho Ho

Christmas Stress

Well, the 14th was the cut off day for orders and I'm all caught up on the commissions so I think that part of my holiday stress is over. Not bad season for a recession stressed economy. Lots of people opted for the smaller sizes out the sizes that I offer (Last year I had done 2 big ones). And lots of people took me up on my coupon offer. Which was fine, because with 20% off a small size you're pretty much only saving $10 or so. But as I do these portraits and a lot are of pets that had passed away over the year, all I can think about is how much these paintings mean to these people and that on Christmas morning that my art work will effect those people in such a meaningful way. THat's what it's all about!!

Now it's time to start stressing about the WedNight Christmas party and then after that I should be cool as a cucumber, right? I am doing a lot of made gifts for Christmas so I'll have those few days after Wednesday to take care of those.

I spoke to a friend of mine on Saturday night and that was a real buzz kill. He was scolding me for not making more money in this "art business" and that it "breaks his heart" so see that I'm actually loosing money on a yearly basis. I had to remind him that I'm also having a great time doing it and that it's not all money and we all have to start somewhere and all that. He wouldn't really listen to me and instead said that I should join forces with him and work for him selling plumbing parts. I may not be making money hand over fist, but I'm sure not going to be spending my time with plumbing parts. Needless to say, I ended the phone call fairly quickly.

Welcome Christmas!

It's been 2 weeks since I blogged (I was stuck in Dullus {Washington DC}) airport last Monday. Missed my connection by 5 minutes. Literally watched my plane pull away from the gate as I was running down the terminal. *sigh*. Was able to get on "standby" on EVERY flight headed back to Boston. When I was talking with customer service I had told her I was willing to fly to Manchester NH or Providence RI if she could get me on. I realize (after having working in customer service for many years myself) that you can't take it out on the person who is sitting behind the computer. Yeah, it sucked being in that airport. It sucked knowing being on the first plane I would miss my connection but I can't take it out on her. And you know, she gave me a $100 voucher for the next time I fly. Of course after this incident I'm thinking "I'm never doing this again." But you know I will. So be nice to the people who are trying to help you. You might get a sweet deal out of it.

Speaking of being nice .... the holidays are here!! I did the Jamaica Plain First Chuch art/craft fair on Saturday and made +$75. That may not seem a lot for standing around all day but sometimes I walk away from these fairs negative in the hole so any + sign is a good sign!! :) However - it was SUPER tight. I put my things up on the piano and only had some walking room around so people could check out my things. The woman next to me who mittens and hats and other sewed items was also a member of the church so she had a fan club in her booth that was overspilling into mine. Which was fine until one of her friends layed down her purse on all my stuff. She was just so unaware. I did mention something to her. And I had a small girl "playing" with my magnets. I don't like repremanding children but this was getting out of hand. I just asked her "What are you doing with my magnets?" and she said. "Playing with them" then I just said, "Hmmmm. Are they toys?" And she looked at me like, Huh? and then I said, "You know, I did put these in a certain order for a reason so I really don't like it when they get all messed up." She just took off after that.

I've also started getting some commissioned orders and redeemed orders. Just as I had predicted people are holding on to their gift certs for the holidays. That's okay. As long as I can get all the things I need to get done, then I'll be okay. It'll be interesting.

We got our tree yesterday so I'm finally feeling the spirit creep into me. LOL!!

Thanks

So this is the week of Thanksgiving. I have to give thanks for all those who have supported the arts throughout the years. Whether you went to a show, bought a painting, attended an art show or even gave your kid a box of crayons to keep their imagination going, you are indirectly supporting art and creativity that keeps us being human. Thank you.

This past weekend I did a fund raiser for the Friends of Greyhounds. It was a long day with no customers and a lot of the same CD played over and over (some American Idol BS that was driving me crazy). The woman who organized it wasn't thinking about traffic in a literal sense. The event was held in a lobby area in an high end apartment building off the beaten track over in Waltham. She explained to me that she works in real estate and had shown apts in that building and there was always some sort of traffic going through the lobby. I can only think that maybe at 6 or 7pm on a week night maybe. But this was a Saturday and it was freezing out. She did send an email out to all of us and she was able to raise $150 for the greyhounds and that she "learned a lot of lessons" for next years event. Lets hope so. I ended up being set back by $11. I really wonder if I could do any better organizing an event. There are so many things that I've learned through out the years....

This week I'll be flying out to SC to see my sister's family for Thankgiving. I have a lot to do this coming few weeks including 2 portraits, holiday cards, Christmas presents and prints of the watercolors. Ebay sales have picked up a little bit, so that's good. I'm really wondering how this holiday season is going to play out. Just wait and see.

Happy Thanksgiving.

Holiday madness

Hello to all. Well, Oldies 103.3 in Boston here has started playing Christmas Carols on a 24 hour basis...which gets me thinking "here we go again!". It's 2 more weeks til Thanksgiving but there are a lot of people out there already buying, making and selling for the holidays. I've gone ahead and downloaded the paintings that I did in the fall (business was slow for me which is better for the portfolio) and plan to do a constant contact marketing promo this week. Next weekend is also the greyhound benefit show, however the Commonwealth of Massachusetts has banned dog racing starting 2009, so I'm not sure how many people are going to turn out to this event. I've also downloaded and older painting that I did for my Christmas card this year. I have a feeling that this year is not going to be that busy. Let's hope not.

The weekend

So I went to an little art show on Friday night. It was free and I just stumbled upon it because it was in the church next to the gym I go to. (and I went to kickboxing on Friday night). Anyway, I went after class to see what this little church in Cambridge had to offer.

One woman I spoke with was very nice to talk to. She jumped into a conversation with me asking me about the boots I had just purchased at another store. They're golashes with roses on them :). Anyway, she was a beader, lots of jewerly - one of those crafters that you see at every craft fair. Although she did have bracelets made from old typewriter keys that were cool. I asked her how she knew about the fair and how it was going for her. She told me that she knew about it from a connection that she made through the Christmas Dove artisans association. And then went to tell me about the event that was last year. Funny thing it about this is that I was thinking of doing the Christmas Dove last year. But they ask you for a fee, you display with your own display things and then you had to work the weekends in December. She told me that it wasn't worth the effort. Lot of work for no reward. I'm glad that I opted out of that show.

I also saw a terrific artist who would cut out landscapes in metal and then print them on to paper, then take the metal template and make a painting on that. It was very unique and that was impressive for me. You see so much of the same thing at these shows - I think that's a big reason why people don't go to these shows anymore. But we were talking (I believe her name is Rachel but I left the business card at home... I'll find it and post her site. She's worth checking out.) and we were talking about having a studio. There are many reasons why I don't have a studio. Number 1 is money and the lack there of. Number 2 is that I have this feeling that if I had a studio that I'd never go in there. It'd be a outa sight outta mind kind of thing. But she made a point saying it was the paying for the space that made her feel obligated to go. I can see that for sure. She also talked about when her work was at home in the house that she had a tendency to put things before the artwork. Like, oh there are dishes to be done and there's laundry to do.... I'm thnking Oh this is me like every day. Wasn't it just last week that I cleaned, did a bottle return and grocery shopping on a Saturday and by the time I got home the day was shot. No painting got done that day. SO I knew exactly what she was talking about. Jason was funny: when I retold this story to him, he's all "What? Does she do her laundry with a washboard? You just load the machine and go."

Well, that aside, I didn't go out on Saturday at all and was able to get Nicole's dog, Arthur, done. He's a cute Yorkie puppy and this painting resembles both him and a little old Japanese man. Jason said it looked more like an oil painting from a distance and that made me very happy. I have one more commissioned portrait on my table and then we'll see if any other Christmas orders come in. I have to do a holiday promo email soon. I have a ton of new emails from my Facebook connections so hopefully some of these people that I haven't talked to in 20 years will place some orders.