Monday, February 22, 2010

Now Open for Business

I put on an impromptu art show yesterday at the request of one little guest at Mike’s party. In my “studio.” If you were there to witness said impromptu art show, I’m terribly sorry for the mess. Hint: Kirbey, that’s for you ;) The whole time, as everyone was standing around and I was perched on the top step, kind of like a podium, no? I was thinking to myself, “Thank God you decided to clean this place up today, Jamie!” Seriously, earlier in the day, you couldn’t walk through the door. It looked like an art bomb had exploded. Leaving behind all its colors and paint brushes and glue gun sticks in its wrath. Think Jackson Pollock. That happens at the end of each semester; I get so busy with projects and finals and I bring home so many projects from school and have no time to put them away properly, that things just start to pile up. And it doesn’t take long to get out of control. Add that to the fact that I got a new TV for Christmas. What does this have to do with anything? Well, the TV I had in my studio worked, but didn’t have a DVD player. It did have a VCR, but that didn’t work. And have you seen my DVD collection? Yeah, that VCR wouldn’t have been much help to me if it did work. Unless I wanted to watch Tae Bo Crunch while I painted! And no, for those of you wondering, I don’t have cable out there! Ha, I was lucky to get electricity by means that do not include an extension cord draped across the yard. Enter the old TV from my room. It has both a DVD player and a VCR (which doesn’t work either…are you sensing a pattern?). So I decided to move that TV out to the studio. And by move it out to the studio I mean, I took it out there, set it down in front of the door and left it in my excited hurriedness to get the new TV set up in my room. And that’s where it has sat since December 25th.

Next week, we will be midway through the semester. Things are about to get hella busy. I needed my studio to be cleaned. And organized. I needed to be able to actually get into the thing. And most importantly, I needed to actually be able to see my drafting table. So I cleaned. And I threw things out. And I put on an art show. And the best reaction I got was when Abigail saw one of my paintings and said, “You have got to be kidding me!” So funny. And so cute.

All this cleaning and showing of the artwork, it got me thinking. What am I going to do with this stuff when I move? Surely the first place I move into when I finally decide to leave home isn’t going to be big enough to bring all of this artwork with me. And what justice am I doing my work when it’s sitting in bags in my art studio for no one to see. I don’t even see it. Then all of a sudden, LIGHT BULB! Someone recently asked me if I had an Etsy shop. I did not. So, why don’t I start one? Why don’t I try to sell my work? I’ve never sold anything, aside from being paid to do little projects for people. So I logged onto Etsy and set up shop. Literally. I titled my shop the same as my blog so that they have a correlation. For the three pieces that I’ve listed so far, I researched other watercolor paintings of their size and their pricing. I also took into consideration prices my teacher had suggested last semester. And then I upped the price just a little. Aim for the stars, right? They’ll be listed for four months. And if they don’t sell by then, I guess I’ll lower the price.


And what’s even better, the creating of this Etsy shop has gotten my creative juices flowing. There are so many things I want to create and sell. So many things. I almost can’t contain my excitement. I need to be focusing on school and my senior show right now, but I think I’d rather try to make a few bucks instead. I needed to be at the gym last night working off all that food I ate. Remember how I said I gave up sugar for Lent? Well, I’ve made an adjustment. I give it up except for on special occasions. Because what’s so special about special occasions if you can’t enjoy them with everyone? And there are several occasions I can think of between now and Easter that I want to enjoy with everyone in every capacity possible. And did you see that cake last night? Hands down, the best cake I have ever eaten! No joke. So that’s where we stand on the Lent situation. Today, I’m back on track. No sugar for this girl!

And with that, here it is. The official launch of my Etsy shop. And no worries my blogger buddies, you will be the first to know if I sell something!

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