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June Quote

May Photo a Day

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Business

A while back I listened to a webiner about business and how to promote yourself and your art online. One person spoke about how search engines are now looking at blogs more and how it is important to have a detailed description about the piece of art or product and to tell a story of how it came about. Well as you can imagine I haven't completed this task yet. I think I wrote a list of the paintings that I would like to write about but that was as far as I got. I have started to write more and I am almost enjoying it. I really want to change how I feel about writing, I have been making more of an effort to write on my blog. I write more comments within the Facebook groups that I am members of and I now have a few pen-pals. This is all helping me face my fears of writing. 'The more you practise, the better you get' however I am one of those people who thinks that I should be good before I have even tried! So over the next few weeks/months I am going to write a description/story about my artwork that is for sale in my shop.

Feel the fear

This is something that I need to listen to...I am always shy about sharing my art work, so I rarely make the effort to tell people about it. I really think that needs to change!

Manifesting Abundance

My Abundance altar

The start of this month saw the start of the “Manifesting Abundance” with Laura Emily from the Apothecary Circle. It is all about getting your finances in order; so you have control of them and they don’t have control of you. I received my loan deferral pack from the student loan company on the same day, every year without fail I return the paperwork late, every year I think I could of paid it off by now, why the heck didn’t I start by paying off xxx amount each year. Every year I look at it and ask myself was going to art college really worth it, would I be in the same position now had I not gone. Each year I say I will pay it off each month. Each year I say I should be earning way more than I do...I completed my BA 13 years ago!! Just seeing that has made me realise I should have paid it back by now.

I have never struggled with money. I put myself through Art College and I also did two years to gain an MA in Contemporary Craft. To this day I have no idea how I did it, I have always had enough money to get by. When I left college I had no idea what to do next! I hadn't thought beyond my degree show. I can remember to this day being sat on the sofa in no.4 with the yellow door with my friend talking about what to do next; when reality struck me like a slap in the face, “Shit, now I need to live in the real world, I need to get a job.” So that afternoon I popped into a gallery and asked if they needed anyone and low and behold they did! So I worked there for five years, two of those years I worked part-time while completing an MA. Every since then I have worked, apart from a couple of blips and the year we took off when we spent four month in New Zealand and then house sat for the in-laws while they travelled. I would love to earn a living from my art but as yet I have not put in enough effort in to make this happen. I have decided that any sales I make form my artwork will be going towards paying off the loan.

I think I have a good relationship with money, I am good at budgeting and never over spend. I hate to say it but I would like more, I feel a little guilty saying that. I do have enough each month but if I had more I could pay off the loan quicker, and give more to the charities that are close to my heart. I would love to pay my loan off in the next year, watch this space the universe works in wondrous ways.  

Heat Tool

At the beginning of April I purchased the most amazing tool ever. It was sold as a tool that burns wood 'Pyrography Wood burning Tool Pyromaster Dual Heat' I bought it from Antex.  It came with 18 different tips. It has other uses apart from making marks on wood. Some of the tips can be used for cutting and bonding synthetic fabric; this is really useful as it stops the fabric from fraying as the heat melts and bonds the fibres together. I have used it to etch photographs, this is really effective and gives the photography a completely new look. I am also going to try printing with an etched photograph as I feel the etching is deep enough to leave a mark on the gelli-plate. Watch this space...

But my all time favourite thing I can do with the heat tool is cut stencils!!! I use acetate/transparency film to make my stencils. I would normally use a craft knife to cut the design out but after a short while it would hurt my finger, using this heat heat tool it makes it so much easier and I can't believe how much quicker it is too. I am so pleased with it. I am sure I will find other uses for it!