Sunday, July 29, 2012

Free at Last!



It feels like centuries since I last wrote, primarily because I have been sequestered in the basement working on an art project for most of that time. I left alibris as I said I was going to, but it wasn’t all that easy. Turns out you have to email them to close your account. They immediately zinged back a note encouraging me to switch to the second payment plan which now allows you to keep your whole inventory and pay as you go. But it’s not about payment plans, it’s about ideology. So, I said thanks, but no thanks, and got out of Dodge. They had me off the air in an hour! So much for thirteen years., huh?

Oh, well, I really don’t care. In fact, the following day I woke up feeling blissful with a sense of having crawled out from captivity which is why I decided to make something to celebrate. The contractor was temporarily off banging on somebody else’s house and I had bought four canvas boards for $5 at an estate sale which clamored for attention. I thought I was close to done the first day I worked on it, but soon realized that I had a serious design flaw and boldly ripped it up, sacrificing  two amazing antique design elements which I shouldn’t have used because they didn’t belong in it, but plowed on with anyway because I wanted to make them work. Is there a lesson there, or what? I finally got it right yesterday though and here it is above. It’s mixed media, with the top portion consisting of layered white  tissue paper painted with watered acrylics. I made the block letters at the top from tiny scraps of the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Christmas catalog. The entire section below came from magazines and other modern catalogs with the exception of the woman in green on the right – she was an illustration for a short story in a magazine from the 30’s.I still need one more tiny piece circling into the arch on the left instead of away from it, but I can’t find the right thing just yet.  Look closely at the jungly part though and see if a theme emerges.

The other thing I did this week was call the antiques mall about the large booth opposite mine. It’s $120 a month more than the one I have, but it was rented the day before I called. That’s okay though because they said I could have the next available, but I told them I want to wait for one in my own row, so it may be awhile. But that’s okay too because it gives me time to stockpile merchandise. This time it feels totally right to forge ahead – in fact, I feel like maybe  what happened there this month is a portent of good things to come. For the first time ever my mall sales trumped my online sales, making this month  the best one I have ever had there.

This is a short post I know, but I wanted to check in and  tell you what’s going on and show you what I’ve been doing. I have a great story to tell you about last Thursday’s library talk waiting in the wings (a TOTALLY different experience!), so check back soon because I’m excited to write about it. Right now I’m off to walk with Nancy and then head to Akron with Eric to buy a mat for my new creation – the first ever done on a flat surface! – and various assorted art supplies. We have a Hobby Lobby here, but they aren’t open on Sunday and I really don’t like it anyway. So we are off to Pat Cattan’s, fondly known around these parts as Pakistan. Talk to you tomorrow!

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Enjoy the day, Tess!