Friday, January 30, 2009

moment to moment

I spend every day thinking about art in some way shape or form. I spend every day wondering when I will find the time to paint again. When I will make my mind stop and sit down and work at it again. Some days I stop and sit down and work. Many days I just think about it. Think, think, think. Lots of days are spent sitting in front of the computer futzing around with listing things in my etsy shop. Other days are spent trying to work up something that I like for my 1000markets shop. One day was spent cancelling my premium cafepress shop because I thought it was silly. I like the cafepress quality but I don't find the need to pay them for a shop that I rarely sold anything on. This brings me to how I can spend my days thinking about what sort of online venues I should use to try and sell thing. Whole days can be spent wondering what to do to market my work. Days and days and days and days....and then I break down. I just want to be able to sit and paint again. When I was 28 I lived in a tiny condo w/ my boyfriend and two of his friends and I would ignore them in lieu of going and hiding out in my bedroom and painting on the floor in a cramped little style. Now I have the luxury of room to paint and I don't do it. Well, I DO do it, but I don't drop everything. Yes I suppose it's true that I have a child to care for now. But I could still carve out the time. Or organize the time more appropriately. Of course, something I really should remember is that when I was 28 the internet didn't exist. Yeah, remember those days? And if you are reading this but are too young to remember such a time....yeah, it existed. I think I need to ditch the computer. But on the other hand...the computer is what has made so many people that I would otherwise never have known, know that I paint. What a conundrum. I don't know what I'm doing wrong, but I'm hoping that one of these days I will get it right.

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

Finding online customers has little to do with how many potential customers you are exposed to and everything to do with the quality of the customers you are exposed to. That is, those customers who are most likely to buy your stuff.

Etsy needs something like the Amazon "people who bought from this person, also liked the artwork of June Blue" with some thumbnails kinda thing.

Also, just FYI, online sales are sucking WIND these days. My biz is.

Sharkey!

Unknown said...

Hey M.. I remember back in the day too when I got such a high from arting that everything else took a back seat.. the laundry, eating, house work.. everything... and I was so blissfully happy. I really miss that and feel like I HAVE to get back into that groove.

BUT now that (ug, can't believe I'm about to type this) Now that I'm more "mature" as it were.. I realize the importance of moderation.. moderation of ALL things.

I remember very well a time w/out computers. It was good.. and now I can't seem to moderate my time on this damn thing either, but I'm going to keep trying. There's a lot more world out there that is sooo much more exciting, you know?

happy Saturday! :)

Monique

Alissa said...

I don't think you're doing anything wrong. I've noticed with all the busyness of running a household and childrearing, etc, I seldom have the energy to make stuff. Then I push myself even harder, and that makes it worse. So right now I'm trying to give myself time, work when I'm inspired, and the rest of the time just do whatever I need to do. Be easy on myself. Gentle.

Anonymous said...

I love your aceo's and that beautiful painting -Mystery.
Thanks for commenting on my blog.

Leah said...

Miriam, don't worry. You're not doing anything wrong.

I think sometimes where we get stuck is in the guilt about not creating and it just eats away at us and keeps us from getting back to what we enjoy.

Sometimes I just need to limit the amount of computer time. Or I can say, "O.k., you can use the computer after you've played with paint for an hour." And then once I start I don't want to stop!

I also like to take the selling equation out of it to make it more fun. If I'm thinking too much about how and where I'm going to sell a piece before I even create it, I get totally stiff and usually end up not liking what I've created. Give yourself permission to just play with no end in mind. This always helps me get started (and sometimes getting started is the hardest part!)

Anonymous said...

Nothing wrong at all with the computer, it's more how we spend out time on it. I think we also all need to help each other more as well, which is what I am going to start doing this very day by posting about your paintings on my own blog, which I should have done a long time ago.

Mimi, also, utilize the computer by embracing it as a medium. Have you tried to get hold of something like Photoshop? That program can do some crazy shit.