7 Powerful Reasons NOT to Have a Job

Great Post from Christine Kane - this one really resonated with me!

One of the scariest things I ever did was quit my first (and only) "real" job so I could begin my own brand of creative work in the world.

I became - gasp! - self-employed.

I was warned of the risks. I was told I'd lose my benefits. I was told it's "hard out there" working for yourself.





It's funny that the assumption so many people base one of their biggest life choices on is that working for yourself is risky. Now - after 16 years of making a living on my own terms - I believe the exact opposite!
 Hands are by Anne Copeland.

So, here are seven of my favorite reasons to NOT have a job.



1. Having a job is way too risky.

When you have a job, someone can take away your income in two words: "You're fired." This is happening more and more as companies crumble in the face of global changes in commerce.

If you ask me, there's nothing secure about that.

When you create your own business, and a client or customer moves on â?" then guess what? You get to say, "Next!"

2. No Bonus Pay for Messing Up

When you mess up at your job, you get punished, maybe even a pay-cut. Then you have to run around "making nice" to the people who might lay you off or promote someone else who's younger and "hungry." (Hungry for what? More time at the office?)

When one of my clients faces challenges in her business, I cheer. She's getting paid to learn! Every mistake teaches her more about how to succeed.

Instead of getting an MBA - she's getting a TBF. (Trial by Fire!) TBF's can really yield a high ROI!

3. Your Ceiling isn't Adjustable.

Often, I show clients multiple places they can generate income in their business within the next few months. Their eyes light up as they realize that the possibilities are endless. They stop thinking in terms of "hours for dollars," and start thinking of passive income. (Hey, why not get paid while you sleep?)

In a job, you can't adjust your income based on the value you provide. Instead you have to ask for a raise. Not fun.

4. Pantyhose.

As I write this, I'm working.

I'm wearing a Tarheels baseball cap, a t-shirt, and jeans. I've got my feet propped up on the deck railing as birds sing at the feeder.

When I had a job, there was a dress code. And rules about what you could have on your desk. There was limited time for lunch, and no time for creativity. And don't even get me started on pantyhose!

5. Your money doesn't go as far.

Did you know that employee income is the most heavily taxed income in the U.S.? As an employee, almost half your salary will go to taxes. You get to spend what's left on living expenses.

One of my first self-employed discoveries was that my money went MUCH further - because I could invest in myself or get equipment and supplies with pre-tax income. Any good accountant will help you make your dollars expand in your own business.

6. Focusing on your Weaknesses.

Have you ever heard of a "360?"

That's when your co-workers and supervisors (and anyone else who wants to chip in) analyze your job performance. You learn all about your weaknesses - and you get a review outlining the ways you need to work on them. Often, people leave these "360" reviews in tears.

In the world of the solo-preneur, we don't mess with our weaknesses. The motto is Strengthen your Strengths. Hire your Weaknesses. In other words, as you become aware of your weaknesses, you don't waste your precious energy fixing them.

7. Negative Environment.
Many office environments don't encourage creative thinking or positive energy. Instead, there's lots of negativity among employees who feel powerless.

In your own business, you set the tone, and you choose who enters your environment. You become deeply personally responsible for every aspect of your life.

This is often more uncomfortable than sitting back and blaming "The Man," but it will absolutely free you.

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There has NEVER been a better time to have a business. The world is now at your fingertips. If you are self-employed and still find yourself struggling - don't blame yourself. The "job" paradigm can be a tough one to break. (I've been there!)
 
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Five Rose Bushes and How They Grew (Or Not)

I have five rose rushes in pots in my yard. It is interesting to watch the way they grow (or don't).  Now these were rescue rose bushes - I got them in one of those very cheap way-too-late-for-bare-root-roses sales. I looked at all the ones that were available and picked the ones that had some signs of growing or trying to grow.

I think watching the five rose bushes grow is a good analogy for life and how people choose to live it.  Of the five rose bushes, despite good care, watering and fertilizer, one of them didn't even try to make it and died within days. It just plain gave up, for it had plenty of green, and it could have chosen to grow, but for whatever reasons, it didn't even give it a try.

I took it back and the store let me pick out another one, so again, I brought it home and gave it the same treatment.  This one didn't look THAT promising - it had two spindly little greenish-white twisted branches coming out, but somehow I felt good about it.  I wasn't wrong either because it took in all the water, the fertilizer, and everything it could get and it put out the largest leaves and healthy red-green leaves, and lots of them too.  It is really pumping to grow with everything it has. The leaves and stems are quickly reaching up as if to catch every drop of available sun.  This rose bush is not only going to make it; it is going to outpace all the other ones as if in a race to be the biggest and strongest.

One of the rose bushes has green on the trunks and it looks healthy, but it is as though it hasn't made up its mind whether to grow or not.  It just sits there with its green trunk  but it hasn't even tried to put out any branches or leaves.  It almost feels as though it is waiting for someone else to do its work.

Another of the rose bushes was green, and it sort of sat there for awhile, and then finally decided to grow. It took a longer time, malingering  day by day, seeming a little hopeful as it held onto its green for a long time, but then it finally just gave up without any little fight to survive.

Another of the rose bushes is trying too, but it is a timid little thing.  It too had the greenish white branches, and it is putting out little sweet leaves, but keeping them close to the trunk.  It is growing, but slowly, as if not quite sure of each step it takes  like a baby that is trying to take its first steps but has to hold onto the wall for security.  It doesn't know how to trust its own self to make it .

The final rose is taller than the rest in its trunk, but it has just put out one spindly branch and it has leaves, but only a couple and it is growing so slowly that I often forget to look at it to see how it is doing because my eyes are drawn to the most robust of all of them and how truly hard that one is trying.

I always think about these roses when I think about the challenges I hear that people are having in their lives and the ways they handle them.  I think about the ways they chose or chose not to go on and live no matter what the circumstances.  Like that robust rose bush with its huge leaves reaching out to grab everything it can to live fully, it was a trash rose to start out with as all of these were, but it will go forward and it will make it in life. Even if this rose didn't get regular watering and fertilizer and a lot of good sun, I have this feeling that it would be the kind of rose that would grow between cracks in pavement.  It really wants to live and nothing will stop it as long as there is even just a little trunk and roots left.

What kind of rose bush would you be in this life?

What Are You Really Earning With Your Art?

You have made a sale, and you feel rightfully good about it.  You may have priced your work by the square foot and it seems to be a decent amount. In your own area, your work may not sell for much more. Although it is a consistent way you can create a value, may be an inadequate method, for basically what you are looking at with that method is how much time it takes to create a square foot of work.  But that square foot is not the total time involved in making the piece.
The following table gives you a clear idea of what you are actually making an hour for your work based on the number of hours you have put into it.The top row of dollar amounts (thousands) is the total you might earn, and how that boils down in terms of how many hours you put into it. Might be good before you get too excited about that sale to see how much you REALLY earned.
Artwork, "Wabi Sabi" by Anne Copeland




Total Hrs Total Days $1,200     $1,800     $2,500   $2,800     $3,200    $3,500    $3,800    $4,200 
100             8           $12.00    $18.00     $25.00    $28.00     $32.00    $35.00    $38.00    $42.00
200           17             $6.00      $9.00     $12.50    $14.00     $16.00    $17.50    $19.00    $21.00
300           25             $4.00      $6.00       $8.33      $9.33     $10.67    $11.67    $12.67    $14.00
400           33             $3.00      $4.50       $6.25      $7.00       $8.00      $8.75      $9.50   $10.50
500           42             $2.40      $3.60       $5.00      $5.60       $6.40      $7.00      $7.60     $8.40
600           50             $2.00      $3.00       $4.17      $4.67       $5.33      $5.83      $6.33     $7.00


When you are looking at the time it takes to create your art, you need to consider the actual design work, the time spent selecting the fabric and other materials, as well as any time preparing the materials to work with them.  You also need to be taking into account the dollar amount spent for equipment (even if you have used it for many quilts), electricity, and all other expenses related to the creation of the piece. And there is time spent setting up your machine and other equipment before you even start sewing.  If you keep accurate time of your actual work related to the piece, you may be surprised to learn how many hours you have actually spent. You may have taken classes or purchased special books to gain the skills to make your art.  Those costs should be divided across the number of pieces you create and sell in a year.  Other expenses such as professional services (quilting, binding, etc.), slides, postage for mailing, insurance, taxes, and of course commissions, ultimately need to be deducted.

The more original your design and the more complex, the more you should receive for your work.  Why should someone making original art be paid the same wage as someone working at MacDonald's?

Some artists claim that their quilts would not sell if they were to raise their prices. Yet at the same time, there seems to be an unwillingness to move out into the wider world of mixed media, and to explore alternative marketing methods.

Quilters, whether art quilters or regular traditional or contemporary quilters, are certainly no longer making quilts in the same ways they once were.  Techniques and technology have vastly improved, enabling quilters to make some of the finest quilts since the beginning of the 20th century.  So why should values remain for the most part static? I cannot think of any other thing that has not gone up in price even though the items themselves are not necessarily made as well as they once were (unlike art quilts), or with the same quality of materials they were in the past (again, unlike art quilts). So why should art quilts not advance in price too?

One solution is for quilt artists to continue to explore new quilt sales venues.  Join your local non-art-quilt associations and actually attend the meetings.  When an opportunity to exhibit in a mixed media environment comes up, take it.  Form support groups of art quilters and discuss alternatives to get more money for your work. There ARE alternatives, both in the markets you approach and the means you provide for people to purchase your art. But first and foremost, you have to get it in your mind that your time and work is worth more.

Getting Down to Business

I can't believe it is 2:30 AM and I am still up working. Besides taking care of some physical therapy today, I have worked on our secretary's blog site to help her make it more professional looking today, and then I designed and printed out postcard templates and rules for our new postcard challenge, "Journey," which you can find on the Calls for Entry Page. And I have been working to update and make our own site look better until this last moment. I joined The Alzheimer's Initiative to either create a 9" x 12" (or smaller) quilt every month to help them raise money, or any month I cannot get the quilt made, I will make sure that I purchase one of the quilts for sale on their website, http://www.alzquilts.org/. Art piece shown here is one of mine.
Today when I went to the post office to pick up our mail and my own mail, I was overwhelmed by the number of nonprofit organizations sending literature to solicit funding. I wish that I could help them all, but indeed it is a daunting task. We try to do these community projects to help even if it is a small amount. Every little bit adds up.
I can't stress the importance of community enough for all of us today. I honestly believe it is the thing holding our society together, and it is getting more challenging by the day for this to happen. People have incredibly busy lives just trying to survive. Still, whatever efforts we can all make, no matter how small it seems, is a good thing. And I am very glad we have added children to the mix of those we serve as so many of the at programs are cut at schools, and there is very little exposure to art. I am so grateful that I grew up in a time when art and music were considered a very important part of one's education, and every school offered lots of opportunities for both subjects.
It's another very long day starting today and I have to get up very early, so time for this to end. I've done about as much as I can do.

Studying the Master Art Qulters

500 Art Quilts: An Inspiring Collection of Contemporary Work (500 Series)

I love this book!  We used it in our organization to help the fiber artists we work with to become familiar with many contemporary artists, and to study their work in depth for what made it so unique and recognized as excellent art.  It was really fun, for every time I would get an artist from the book, I would need to look up blog sites or web sites for the artists since some of our folks are overseas and couldn't get the book there reasonably.  There will be another book coming out soon by Martha Sielman about the pivotal artists from the 1960s through the 1980s, and I can't wait for that book to become available.  Martha did a fine job of covering many of the top artists, and it helped make our study very easy.


I will talk about some others I have ordered through them that are very like this one in nature - one is Men and the Art of Quiltmaking by Joe Cunningham. I kept after some of my good male friends who are quilters to do the book, so I was thrilled when Joe tackled it, and he also did an excellent job. The photography is really good and the stories of the male quilters is very thorough.  I met some of the male art quilters for the first time on the pages of this books and also enjoyed seeing some of my friends' works.

Another one I am very fond of that I ordered through Amazon is Pioneering Quilt Artists, 1960 - 1980: A New Direction in American Art by Sandra Sider. This one is not so much a look at the individual quilters but what was happening in the art quilt community at the time.  It is fascinating and I am really looking forward to finishing this book.

I will, from time to time, mention books that have helped me a lot in trying to help other fiber artists. Being a good artist, and being a professional artist really requires in my mind a good understanding of the art quilt community and its history.  I have an absolute hunger to know every art quilter in depth, if not in person, at least to know as much as I can by reading about them. For years it seemed as though so many art quilters were getting lost because their work and their lives weren't so well documented. Thank heavens all that is changing today.

Cleaning and Re-organizing

Cleaning and reorganizing is something we all need to do at least yearly, and I have to admit that with my life as busy as it has been, it was something that kept getting put off. On top of that, I am one of those people who picks things up that people put out on a table in the trash room in this mobile home park - they are not trash, but things people no longer need, or sometimes they just maybe passed on and the relatives just threw things out, or perhaps they move and things get thrown out in the process.  Everyone puts things on that table that they no longer want and then others come and get the things.  I have always taken things that seem like something I or someone else I knew might be able to use.  But finally it has caught up with me and so I am in the process of "weeding," which is not really a negative thing. I fill bags that go into the car, some to the trash room if they are really trash, or if I think it is something the thrift store might not want (which is very little).
The quilt above, "Charlie (the little Chihuahua) and the Creature from Beneath the Surface (a Jerusalem Cricket that came from underground to take a look around) is by Anne Copeland. Although Charlie (my pet Chihuahua) actually wasn't present when the ugly fellow came out to see what was going on, I suddenly thought how funny it would have been if he did. I had a photo of Charlie standing on his hind little legs which were sort of behind him, so this was perfect for the quilt. This quilt is one of my UFOs.

As I was cleaning I came across a lot of old business cards from different times in my life when I played many different roles, as many of us seniors have done through our lives. I had multiples of each card, but the thought of throwing any of them out was difficult.  This was after all, times in my life that would never come again. It feels very difficult to throw away any part of your life. However, I am definitely determined to get this place organized for once and for all, and to keep it that way, so I looked to find a good solution,. Before long I had it. I had an old business card organizer - the kind that you use generally to collect the business cards of others.  So I began filling it with the cards from my life.  If I felt particularly sensitive about a particular business card, I stuck an extra one underneath it. I wouldn't be throwing absolutely everything away after all.

Now I am on the next stage, which is to organize my files into some expanding folders I had purchased. today just for that purpose. I also have a little holder to put bills and paperwork that must still be dealt with in some manner in. I am about to attack the pencil and pen, compass and magnifying glass, etc. holders.  I don't really need 25 of every pencil, every pen.

By the way, speaking of pencils and pens, I learned this little really interesting lesson many years ago from my former anthropologist husband and now excellent friend, Spencer Heath MacCallum.  He gave me this little writing from some capitalist who had come up with this wonderful idea.  So here it is below:

Every time you purchase a pencil, do you know how many people you are employing?  Start with the wood of the pencil. There have to be loggers who cut the wood, and then truckers who haul it to some factory.  Then there are the factory workers who form the wood for the pencil into its familiar shape.

Then there are those who paint the outsides of the pencils, and those who imprint it with the type of lead (the size, and perhaps the brand name, etc.).  Then there is the little metal piece that holds the rubber eraser.  OK, it is some kind of metal that (likely tin) that has to be mined and then processed, perhaps through many processes to make that holder.  Then it too goes to a factory where it is shaped and formed into the piece that will hold the eraser onto the pencil.  And of course there is the rubber.

It is growing in the forests in some country where it then is gathered as a liquid, and again, it is processed, and then dyed, as I think rubber in its natural state would not be pink (or other contemporary eraser colors), and it is formed and shaped into those little erasers.  Then there is the lead, and again, lead must be mined, carried to trucks (as are all of these parts) where it is then taken to be processed for formed into the lead that becomes the innermost part of the pencil.


And then all of this must be assembled. Now a great part of the process might be to do these things automatically via machines, but then someone had to make the machines, and someone had to maintain them, and someone else has to run them.  And of course there are the quality control people.  And then the packaging people.  And then the people who take the orders and know where the pencils will go.  And then the pencils are loaded onto trucks and delivered to the places.  Of course, people have to build these trucks and they have to be maintained, and they have to have gas and oil.

Once delivered, the stocking people have to note them into the inventory, and then they get put onto the shelves, where the sales people might just help you to find them, and even if not, you will take them to the cash register to pay for them, so this is the end step that I can think of in the life of the pencil. e

Doesn't this make you feel good to know how many people you are helping to keep employed every time you buy that simple little pencil?  I wish I knew where I read this originally so that I could give credit where it is do, and if by some good chance, fate is kind and helps me to remember, or if I find out somehow, I will be sure to let you know.

Experiencing Physical Challenges First-hand

We all have aches and pains from time to time, but most of us don't experience having true physical challenges. In 2010, all three of our volunteer staff experienced some degree of additional physical challenges that made doing the simplest of things difficult. We are all seniors, so it is possible that some of this comes with age, but it is never easy to accept that a genuine physical challenge can strike anyone at any time. Winter Migration quilt by Barbara Williamson.
Part of the changes we have made in the kinds of challenges we will have each year and what other activities we will get involved with stems from our being unable to do the same level of work that was required previously. I don't think most people fully grasp what is involved in holding challenges. Curating the shows includes getting good live venues that are appropriate for our artists, and where our artists have an opportunity to possibly sell their work if they so choose; and it also includes tons of correspondence with the artists, the live venues, and other supporting people. There is also the physical side of getting in all the packages containing the quilts and then making sure they are stored adequately; shipping them to the different venues; getting them hung at local venues; being there to greet the viewers and talk about all of the quilts; and making sure they get home safe and sound once again (which includes our packaging the quilts up to go home, and they always need new packaging).

Our goal is to not just provide opportunities for the physically challenged and emerging artists, but to educate the public on an ongoing basis about the fact that just because someone is physically challenged, life as we know it does not come to an end. Most of the people who visit our exhibits are amazed that people who are physically challenged can do consistently high quality work.

There is a large degree of satisfaction that comes with watching the progress of the individual artists; watching them grow in their art, in their confidence level, and in their ability to win awards and sell their work - there is no dollar amount that could meet up with that satisfaction.

It will be interesting for us to see how the new things we are changing to will work out. We did have one challenge this last year in the new format - it was a scarf challenge, and the participants were children and adults.  The scarves could be newly made or upcycled and embellished to meet our theme, "Enduring Earth."  All the scarves were for sale at the one venue in Wilsonville, N.C. at the Community College there.  The proceeds benefited The Nature Conservancy. We have no special favorite organizations to benefit. We will just pick one organization each year as it comes into our consciousness, or one good cause.

A friend and I were talking recently about the quilt community in general. I noted that the quilt community. is amazing in its ability to remain flexible and to keep re-inventing itself as needed to create its own viable economy even in these challenging times.  It is good to be a part of the community and to be able to contribute to others as we do.  

So Where's the Nonprofit Stuff?

You might well ask that as I tend to post here the doings of everyday life, but trust that we do have a nonprofit here. We just run it very informally. My belief is that one of the most important things we do to help physically challenged fiber artists is to provide a sense of normalcy in our everyday lives. People who are physically challenged are often very isolated from the rest of society, and as such, they don't get to be part of the everyday things that go on in life. We are always trying to assist them with professional development and ways to get exposure for their art behind the scenes. There is an ongoing effort nearly daily to make sure that everyone involved is making good progress, in good spirits, and that physical health is relatively good taking into account the nature of the physical challenge of each person. Often there are other issues to be responded to that don't necessarily involve art - how to get needed medications and other medical goods that are being cut back and sometimes general boosting of spirits when someone is not doing so well with health issues outside the ones they normally have, or just plain spirit uplifting. The quilt above left is my own work.

I have always felt that a good small nonprofit like ours, operating on a nonexistent budget, with a minimum of volunteers, needs above all to remain flexible to meet the needs of the people it is intended to serve, and so this is what we do.  We have made a lot of small changes over the years; going from having as many as ten venues a year to last year having just a couple of challenges, and one of these was a scarf challenge, something really different for us. One of the ladies who has participated in our events is undergoing treatment for breast cancer, and she wanted to have a challenge that she could help with so that she would have something to think about besides the illness. So she and I came up with the idea of the scarf challenge.  This would be scarves that people could make from new pieces, or they could upcycle existing scarves.  Another new idea was that we would also encourage children to participate. Wendy Ferguson, the curator for the exhibit/sale, got us a single venue at Wilsonville Community College in Wilsonville, N.C. The above scene is the buffet at the opening reception, and the scarf hanging above the buffet table is by Barbara Williamson.

The theme was "Enduring Earth," and the pieces were to be positive in nature. We decided to use the money to benefit The Nature Conservancy. The people participating only had to send their pieces one way, and also it was very inexpensive to send them since they could be folded small and sent in large envelopes.  We had children participate, and here are some of the teens in Wilsonville who made scarves for the event. Some of them are wearing the scarves they made. We managed to raise $290 from the sale of the scarves, and only had a few left.

We were happy with the results. It wasn't about how much money we could raise, but rather that we were able to raise awareness about this good organization. We liked the idea of making opportunities for children as well as adults to participate and learn about community events. And at least one of the people who has been participating with us for quite some time was helped through a challenging health situation.

We have talked about creating another challenge this year, but if we do, it again will be a small one. I will contact the people who participate in our events and look into what people want to do.  I like the idea of the people sending their pieces to be sold in a charity event. It helps us so that we don't have to worry about getting them sent back, and all of us also like the idea of helping another charity even though it is true that ours could likely do something with funds we had. We really don't need the funds since we are all volunteers, and everyone feels good about selecting another charity to assist each year. The way we have worked things out, we are very efficient And it provides the participants who are adults the opportunity to become mentors to any teenagers or children who might want to participate. That is always good.

I hope that this helps others understand how we work and why you will often see posts that don't seem to relate to what the organization is doing on a day to day basis. Sometimes we go months like when a challenge starts, and there is very little to report daily or weekly until perhaps when the pieces start coming in so it would be boring to read the day to day happenings. Our nonprofit is very personable to the folks we serve and hopefully to others who might be able to provide some assistance such as a venue for hanging the work.

 Rest assured that when we decide on another challenge and what organization or cause it will benefit, we will let everyone know.  There may only be one challenge this year and it might not start for some more months now.  I too am dealing with some major health challenges, so I need to get a few things out of the way before we start another one.  We will have to make a number of decisions about it - theme, type, sizes, and whether we will just have one venue and if so, where it will be and if one of the other participants wants to serve as the curator.  I suspect we will open it up to children too.  It is good for children to learn to work for charitable organizations.

A Conscious Alternative to New Year's Resolutions

This time of year is filled with joy and anticipation for many people, while others feel bewildered in this economy and world that seems full of negative events. Many folks sit down to write New Year's Resolutions, but then before January isn't even over, they are already realizing that the resolutions aren't do-able. So they give up and go through still another year without making any of those resolutions work.
Soul Collage(trademark) by Anne Copeland

I think one of the reasons they don't work is that they are generally couched in giving up something, or acknowledging that something that you are doing isn't working right.  For example, "I want to lose weight, or will lose 50 pounds by February 1."

So what IS a good alternative?  First of all, I do several things, and they DO work. The first one is a simple assignment. Pick a word that overall relates to your life and what you want for the following year. For example, last year my word was "Abundance."  It was not all about money, but abundance in every area of my life.  And did I have abundance?  You bet I did!  Absolutely. An abundance of new friends, an abundance of new creative experiences (like taking a cloth dyeing class and developing that skill really well, and trying numerous other creative avenues I have never tried (yes, it was an abundance of experiences), an abundance of adventures in my life and on and on.  This is so basically simple.

A friend of mine, Annemarie Rawlinson, http://www.anart.net/  each year paints flat rocks with words that are meaningful to select from. Then around the holiday season, she offers each of her friends the selection to choose from. The rocks are "painted" with simple Sharpie pens that come in different colors - generally the word, which might be outlined in black and painted inside with a different color and this charming little simple flower.  The white or perhaps light gray area around the word and under the flower is a natural coloring that is in the rock. There is more of this marking on the back side. Isn't this a great idea to help you remember what is the key theme of your life in the New Year?

The second thing I do is to write my goals/affirmations for the coming year.  Now a goal would be something like "I will find a new job that is exciting and meaningful in the New Year."  Nothing wrong with that, but I combine this with my affirmations: "Many exciting and meaningful opportunities open up for me in the New Year."  Write it as if it is already the real deal, for in reality it is!  All that you can dream, all that you can imagine for yourself, is within you right now.

Now, having finished this list (and there is no limitation on how many goals/affirmations you can have), we are ready to move onto the next stage.  This next stage is important because it again gives you something to look at and remind yourself every single day about the things you have set out as important.  This is the Visioning part, where you get yourself a pretty poster board in the color of your choice, and get some good magazines with great photos that appeal to you (make them ones that have photography or art subjects so that you have a very good variety as this will be important as you begin. You will also need some scissors and a good glue stick. And of course have your goals/affirmations handy.  Now look at a goal, and then look through the magazines until you find a picture or pictures that seem to express that goal for you. Do this for all of your goals/affirmations until you have filled your page with images.  You don't need to use any words, though if there are any in your pictures that are appropriate, good for you.  You will put this up somewhere where you will look at it every single day and it will help you remember what you have set forth, and you will find that you are making progress toward your goals quicker than you can imagine.

Some additional things you can do. Copy each of your cards onto a small card like an index card or smaller card that you can carry around in your pocket, purse, or wallet. Make it a point to reread these every single day, rain or shine. Review them to see which ones you have achieved or are making progress in, and write a list of the ones you have accomplished. Stop and reflect on these and be sure to acknowledge yourself and spend some time in gratitude.

If you have never tried this approach before give it a go. I have a piece of writing by Goethe to share with you that I also keep up on my wall all the time, and it is so true - every word.  This is titled:

Until One is Committed

Until one is committed, there is hesitancy,
The chance to draw back, always ineffectiveness.
Concerning all acts of initiative (& creation),
There is one elementary truth—the ignorance
Of which kills countless ideas & splendid plans:
That the moment one definitely commits oneself,
then Providence moves, too.
All sorts of things occur to help one that
Would never otherwise have occurred.
A whole stream of events issues from the decision,
raising in one’s favor all manner of unforeseen incidents
& meetings & material assistance,
which no man could have dreamed would have come his way.
Whatever you can do, or dream you can,
Begin it.  Boldness has genius, power
And magic in it.  Begin it now. - Goethe

I wish you all the very best life has to offer for the New Year and all the years to follow. No matter who you are or where you are from or what you believe, you can make THIS your very best year ever!  Peace, light and many blessings, Annie always

Planting a Dream Seed

I daily receive lots of free inspirational newsletters, quotations, and other positive and motivational messages. In my mind, we cannot fill our minds and souls with too much good, surrounded as we are by so many negative messages about life as it is viewed. One of the wonderful things I receive is inspirational email from www.gogratitude.com.  Today they sent me something I think is a fantastic idea as we are coming into the New Year, and it is a good time to start thinking about the seeds we want to cast for our dreams and goals. The site is: www.BloomingHumans.com. I posted this photo of a quilt I made to enter in a challenge in 2006. It was my depiction of the story of "The Little Match Girl" by Hans Christian Andersen.

I used to ask my Grandma to read this story to me over and over again, along with the story, "The Red Shoes," also by Hans Christian Andersen. These were my two favorite stories, though on the surface, both seemed very negative in their messages. Both of these stories were made into films.

I have never seen the film, "The Little Match Girl," but I have watched "The Red Shoes, a British feature film about a ballet dancer, written, directed and produced by the team of Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger, known collectively as The Archers. The movie employs a story within a story device. A young ballerina  joins an established ballet company and becomes the lead dancer in a new ballet called The Red Shoes, based on the fairy tale. The film stars Moira Shearer, Anton Walbrook and Marius Goring and features Robert Helpmann, Leonide Massine and Ludmilla Tcherina, renowned dancers from the ballet world, as well as Esmond Knight and Albert Basserman. It has original music by Brian Easdale and cinematography by Jack Cardiff, and is well regarded for its creative use of Technicolor and also some of the cinematic techniques that were truly unique for the time (1948).  There is a scene, a ballet, that takes place in a deserted street. The entire scene is very staged, though at the same time, it feels believable.  The ballerina is dancing around a newspaper that is blowing around in the street, and suddenly, it becomes a man, who continues to dance with her.

The Red Shoes is about obsession and the way it can ruin a life.  So what kind of positive message can a film or story like this have for us?  In this particular story, I think the real message is that we DO need to be dedicated and somewhat driven if we have a dream we want to achieve, but at the same time, we must find a sense of balance in our lives. I will not spoil the movie for you lest you decide to see it based on this writing.

As for "The Little Match Girl," this story I will tell you since it is doubtful that we might find or watch the film. This little girl in 19th century England, is seen on Christmas Eve, out in the street trying to sell a handful of long matches. It is cold, she has not had anything to eat and she has no warm coat.  She cannot return home until she sells her matches.  People are coming and going all around her, doing their last minute shopping for food and other things as they might need for the holiday.  She stands there, but no one comes to buy her matches.  She grows so cold that she lights one out of sheer desperation, and in that few seconds the match is lit, she sees a most beautiful image, a pretty home with a Christmas tree and presents, and good food on the table.  Soon the match goes out though, and once more she is left in her miserable condition.  Then eventually, she decides to light another match, and again, once more she sees into the Christmas scene, and feels drawn inside it.  This continues through the night and finally, she lights ALL of the remaining matches, and at once, she is drawn inside the scene, and sees herself enjoying the good food, the presents, and the warmth and beauty of the night.  In the morning, her body is found; she has died of exposure.  Seems pretty dismal, but for me, the lighting of that match represents the lighting of our imagination, and how powerful it can be.

As we come into this New Year, I think that many of us may be having struggles - with jobs, or perhaps trying to keep our homes, or having lost them and wondering where we will go next and what we will do next.  It would be easy to just settle into negative thinking, but I truly believe that while we might not be able to control our circumstances outwardly, we CAN choose how we will perceive it.  The very worst things that have happened to me in my own lifetime have turned out to be some of my greatest blessings.  They have enabled me to share my knowledge from my own experience with others who have been suffering, and to have true compassion for others that comes only from having been through some of the things ourselves.  I have often thought that the best gift we can give to others is to teach them that no matter what happens, we can find a way to effect change. I planted MY seed on www.BloomingHumans.com and you can too. See if you can find my little square and what I have to say about the picture of "The Little Match Girl." Who will you choose to be today?  Both of these fiber arts pieces were made by me.

Cooking Again - Happy Thanksgiving, Everyone, Everywhere!

Here I am getting ready to cook again. Although I am alone and not expecting any company, it is always part of the routine to go out and find a "churkey," a turkey that is not much bigger than a chicken.  Into the oven it goes with the yams and the stuffing and all the parts that start coming together to fill the house with happy smells. To the left is NOT Thanksgiving dinner, but my 15-bean plus 1 crockpot of soup.

There is something very satisfying about cooking. Even when you are alone, there is a sense of cordiality, of civility, and of general good cheer.  It is a sort of nurturing too, something we all need to do these days to take care of ourselves.

Just as I am alone as Thanksgiving Day is just a couple of hours away, I am sure there are others of you who are alone this time of year and feeling that sense of not being connected with others.  My solution is to start cooking.  Cook everything you can muster up in your kitchen, and then take plates, muffins, bread or bowls to your neighbors, even if you have not met them. Even if you don't consider yourself a cook, you can go to the grocery store and find some ready made food or something like a can of biscuits that you just pop into the oven (you do have to open it and put the biscuits in the pan so there ARE a few steps to do). It will still smell good and be something you can take over to the neighbors. Tell them you wanted to wish them a Happy Thanksgiving, give a good smile and then go home and get more plates, muffins, bread or bowls and find more folks who you can share with. We can never reach out enough to others. How many of you don't even know your neighbors?

Tomorrow morning I am baking an apple pie and taking it to a neighbor who is baking a turkey and the surrounding things to share with our neighbors, some of whom don't have much.  And a friend came down from the hills and brought me some homemade cranberry sauce and some treats for the fur creatures in my home.Another friend brought me some curried cheese spread and I have already eaten at least 1/3 of that, and she also brought some seasoned nuts which are truly unusual and delicious. It feels good to connect with others, even on this very simple level. There is definitely a feeling of being nurtured and comforted. Is there anyone among us who could not use a little comfort or nurturing?

I often wonder what our world would be like if we could all just sit down and share a meal together. It is definitely one of the things I like best about places like farmers' markets and swapmeets. People of all races, all belief systems and all cultures sit down together at long tables, all eating happily and sharing a few kind words as music from some musician who is also sharing his gifts plays. There is no hatred, and differences are for once forgotten. Everyone seems to be on the same level and it is the best thing I can imagine. Would there still be wars if everyone had a giant potluck and brought out their best foods to share? Anthropologists have recorded that primitive tribes held potlatches (the primitive version of the potluck) to help cement their relationships.with other tribes and within their own tribes. Perhaps we have created too complex a world where it is difficult to find common ground. The answers are right there in front of us on the table. The pumpkin photo on the right is by Tina Marie Rey, a dear friend. It is one of the photos in my pumpkin cookbook.

I wish for each and every one of you a day of peace and comfort and lots of good memories, wherever you may be.

Houses, anyone?

With some people unable to ever have a home, I am very proud to be a small part of a project for Habitat for Humanity.  The organization is giving 18 families houses in Southern California homes that are also furnished and decorated. The families getting the homes each put in 500 volunteer hours after qualifying to get their homes.  It is a wonderful project and I am glad that some families are getting their own homes.

House art quilts are for Habitat for Humanity Orange County, a project coordinated by Jamie Fingal http://JamieFingalDesigns.blogspot.com/
for a 18-house neighborhood.  There are 14 artists participating in the making of the "Welcome Home" house quilts. We were asked to make quilts that were 12" x 16" and each family getting a house got to pick out colors and a style for their fantasy house that would be on our quilts. The two shown here are ones I made. This was very fun and I would love to have another project like this soon. This one was generously quilted and given its final "beauty touches" by my good friend, Jamie Fingal!  Thank you Jamie!

Appraisals - What's that all about?

Are any precedents for appraising quilts? Yes, absolutely.

We have to do some pretty heavy research when we are appraising quilts, at least this is something we do if we are serious about our appraisal business.

I have been a certified appraiser since 1993. We practice by a set of standards called USPAP, and if you look that up on the Internet, it stands for Uniform Standards of Professional Appraisal Practice. This is the Standard used by all professional appraisers - whether appraisers of real property (i.e. real estate),auto appraisers, antiques appraisers, art appraisers, etc.


 Anne's mysterious quilt block which has been cut through seemingly intentionally.It has been mended carefully by me. A block like this in excellent condition could run $225 or more, but because of this strange damage (it is cut diagonally about 7 - 8 times but more like slashing, and not all the way through. I am rescuing it, and why not? It cost me $2 at a quilt show. And yes, there is a stamped signature I could research on it. Likely ca. 1840.


We also sign a Code of Ethics in order to practice. The Code of Ethics basically states that we will not have a conflict of interest as we are doing business, and that we will perform all of our appraisals in an ethical and professional manner. It also dictates how we deal with our clients and how we treat other professional appraisers.

As for where we get our information to form a value, we have to do our research. For example, when we appraise an antique quilt, we will seek various market resources - perhaps antique quilt stores, swapmeets, the Internet, etc. and we will seek quilts of similar condition (first and foremost), similar style and age, similar workmanship and visual impact, etc. Sometimes it involves further research because an antique quilt might have items outside those elements specified above.

For example, I once appraised a quilt with many signatures that had been gathered and stitched on from famous people in the U.S.  What I had to do was to look up the values of the signatures of those people, and of course the other factors had to be added in as well.

But we are art quilters, so how does this apply to art quilts?

Actually, believe it or not, although each artist's work is generally not like anyone else's, we have to establish what we might consider a "baseline," so we are again going to look for quilts of similar complexity, similar techniques, size, styles, name and fame of the artists, etc. Sometimes there may be very little that is similar when we look at the pieces from one artist. An artist such as Hollis Chatelaine would be such an example.

When she first came on the scene, there really wasn't anyone with work quite like hers. But at the same time, we would again have to establish a baseline for the work, so we would look at things like her sales record(s), her awards, publications, etc. We would look at these things with other artists as well, but this might be the major things we would be looking at with her work. Then we would figure in cost of materials used, etc. but we would have to keep researching to be sure that we had some sort of baseline from which to start, even though the work might be considerably less (in value) than hers. It would give us a starting place, and we would work up from there, using some of her own sales, publications, etc. to begin to form a picture in our minds of where her work should be valued.  It takes a long time to do an art quilt appraisal because of the amount of research and thinking we need to do before we are able to come up with a good and fair figure.

Now there is one thing to beware of if you are an art quilter of any name and fame. It is highly bogus for anyone to appraise your quilt based on cost to remake the quilt. First of all, those remaking the quilt would not have the same name and fame as you, so it would never be a truly comparable value; you simply cannot remake a significant quilt - neither an art quilt or a significantly historical quilt, and think of it as anything but a copy, and therefore it would never be equal in value. Also, if you were an art quilter with name and fame, still alive and able to remake your own quilts if necessary, even if you chose not to do so, why on earth would you ever choose to have someone else do that?  I think of this kind of like elective surgery.  The fact that you just don't want to do it or that you want someone else to do it just isn't good enough reason to appraise a quilt that way.

If anyone appraises a quilt for you and you are anything but a traditional quiltmaker who makes quilts from patterns (where in fact, your quilt COULD be remade by anyone because it is a pattern), don't accept that as a valid appraisal value. You need to seek certified appraisers who are willing to do the necessary research to create their values, and that is, as I have noted, often a lot of work and requires some time to be accurate.


I often run into quilts for which there IS no comparable out there in the marketplace - no true comparable really.  But as I have noted, we have to do a lot of thinking independently and come up with a baseline figure, and a good reason or reasons for creating that figure.

As for the types of appraisals, we do "fair market" appraisals, which is what people use to get some sort of idea what to sell their work for. The one thing about a fair market appraisal is that it cannot directly be used to advertise or sell the quilt. It is ok to say, "It has been appraised at ___", but the AQS, our certifying body, doesn't want the appraisals to be used to directly be selling and neither do we as appraisers as it presents an appearance of a conflict of interest for us. Fair market appraisals are always accurate. It doesn't mean the quilt will sell for that because we are in a very volatile market, but it is a good baseline for an artist.

We also do insurance appraisals, donation appraisals, and estate appraisals. The insurance appraisals can be ones done for owners seeking insurance, or they can be what we call "after-the-fact appraisals" that are performed for an insurance company trying to settle an insurance claim after some form of loss. After-the-fact appraisals generally cover only the cost of materials..

If you have quilts in your possession that are valuable or that you treasure, valuable or not, you should photograph them all in the context of your own surroundings. This is proof that they are in fact your belongings. I would also make up an inventory of everything you have and what is known about each piece. If you have pieces you have purchased, it is a good idea to keep the receipts, or at least document how much you paid for the item.  Now a caveat on this one:  if your prices that you paid are questionable, remember that a certified appraiser will likely be called in to confirm that the values seem reasonable.  I have actually had people "pad" their values, only to have them questioned by more than one of us who are certified appraisers, and in one case, I questioned whether the person had honestly ever even owned the quilts since the photos were photos anyone could get from any quilt dealer. So remember that having your quilts photographed in a context is extremely important.

Another thing that people believe is that because Aunt Lucy told your mom who told you that the quilt you have is a Civil War quilt, it is very valuable. First of all, the quilts that have survived the Civil War are far and few between and also things must be documented in a way that can be verified. I am currently working on an 1849 quilt that has a documented provenance and the genealogy of the people who made and owned the quilt is documented and can be verified via research. The more likely a quilt has a connection to an important historic event does tend to make it more valuable if it can be verified, and if the historic

 Don Beld - Reproduction Sanitary Commission Quilt. Don is coauthoring a book about these quilts, often referred to as "potholder quilts" because of the way they were finished as independent blocks (this particular one is not done that way) and then the blocks would be stitched together later on. Don also started the nationally famous "Home of the Brave" quilt project where people from each state make reproduction Sanitary Commission quilts for the families of soldiers who have fallen in the recent wars.

event was significant enough. My good friend Don Beld, a well-known and highly reputable quilt historian is currently doing research on the Sanitary Commission quilts that have been discovered.- if my memory serves me right, so far there are only nine survivors known, and of course not all of them are in excellent condition, so that will affect the values.  But, because of the provenance (the historical significance), the quilts are highly valuable.The Sanitary Commission was probably one of the single most important factors in turning the War Between the States in favor of the North. More men died from unsanitary conditions in the war camps than died from the wounds themselves (at least not directly from the wounds themselves).

As to why there might be a difference between fair market and insurance values, here is the best reason. Insurance Values are objective; they are based on looking at (for the most part) quilts out there in the market that are similar in value and would meet the "like and kind" criteria for replacement value. We generally look for multiple sources and then take an average of the total and generally it is right in there with the rest of the pieces

Fair Market on the other hand, is a highly subjective value, and fluctuates with the economy as well as geographic location. A quilt that might sell for a high value in Beverly Hills might be worth very little in my own area of Lomita, CA.  People in this area are not generally big quilt collectors with money to spare for their collections, and they don't have the interest either.  So the fair market value can vary from place to place. Right now, with the economy as it is, quilt values on the market are way, way down because people are anxious to sell and willing to sell for whatever a person wants to pay (in most cases).  Now the important thing to note here is that there ARE quilts that are higher priced for the same type of quilts as any of us might have, taking into our context excellent condition and quilts that are graphic and very beautiful.. But many of these have been sitting for a long time, unable to sell because folks don't have the money to purchase them.  The quilt on the left, for example, was valued for sale at $895 by my friend, Stella Rubin. When the economy was better, the same quilt might have gone for $1,500 or more. It is graphic and beautiful, in excellent condition. So the market always requires a willing seller, and more importantly, a willing buyer.

This is a buyer's market and this IS the time to collect if you are a collector or a would-be collector. And this is where the difference between the fair market and insurance values comes in. I could gather lots of prices online right now for quilts of comparable types, and I could find some truly decent values. And when we are talking about cost of replacement, I am looking at all of the values I find overall and then coming up with a good middle area for my value.  But that does not mean that quilts of these values are actually selling.  Still, it is like the housing market where the fact that houses are not selling all that well doesn't mean that they are less valuable.  A buyer might be able to pick one up dirt cheap if the owner or the financial institution wants to let go of it bad enough.

Hope this helps you out. There is no mystical involvement with values. They are what they are, for better or worse.  I have a lot of calls each week or e-mails from people wanting appraisals so that they can sell their quilts and I tell them for the most part that they should not have high expectations because it just isn't going to generally happen. I had a woman call me with a very desperate sound in her voice, and she was convinced that a quilt she had was worth $6,000. Now where she got this figure I have no idea, but I will tell you this.  The appraiser, not the client, sets the value, and it is ALWAYS (if we are ethical) based on fact, not fiction. You can tell me anything about the quilts, and it might make them very interesting, but remember that it is not documented and verified, so I listen carefully, but after that, I have to do my research and come up with what I believe is the correct value for a particular quilt.

I hope everyone is having a good weekend. This year has gone by way too quickly.

Calling Forth the Boogeyman

I thought this was a particularly good subject as we have been talking about dealing with our inner demons on our Yahoo group.

One day I got to thinking about "the boogieman," something we all can relate to, I am sure. I was thinking how, as a child, suddenly it was like we would get a bite in our butts or some crazy thing like that, and we would start looking in our closets and under our beds for the boogieman before we would go to sleep. Oh the fear - the tingling, creepy fear. And yet, again and again, we would call forth the boogieman before drifting off to sleep. Was he there? (And notice that it always a "he." whether you were a girl or a boy.) And if he was, what on earth would we do to make him go away, or perhaps to protect ourselves? And yet, in the final analysis, it wasn't about any of that stuff. It was just about making sure he wasn't there. And yet, there were as many, if not even more nights when we didn't even think about the boogieman. We climbed into our beds, pulled up the covers over our shoulders and went off to dreamland, a place where the boogieman never showed up.

I think perhaps the boogieman was our way of empowering ourselves with things in our lives over which we had little or no control. We were the ones who "called out" the boogiemen, and we were the ones who assured ourselves that there were no boogiemen to harm us. Each time we didn't find the boogieman, we grew more and more confident when we went to sleep until one day we stopped looking for the boogieman anymore. I can't even remember the last time I looked in all seriousness for the boogieman.

Interesting how in our adult lives, we stop calling forth the boogieman, but instead we call forth our inner demons. No more do we look under our beds and in the closets. Little by little, we call out the demons to view our creative work and to tell us how truly lame or otherwise terrible it is. We subject ourselves to endless fears and insecurities about what we do until I honestly think the boogieman would be a welcome relief.

We no longer put our own demons to bed as we did with our boogiemen. Instead, we keep them out so that we can call them forth at any time of the day or night. They no longer have to hide under our beds or in our closets. They can appear in full daylight and their power over us is more terrifying than any boogieman we ever envisioned. The boogieman was all alone. We could dispatch him pretty quickly and go to sleep feeling as though everything was right in the world. But the demons summon more and more friends until we are absolutely overwhelmed, and there is absolutely no dismissing them. They are fearful even when we are very familiar to them.

Is it any wonder we get depressed when the boogieman no longer is confined to just beneath the bed and in the closet, but fills our everywhere and with not just one,but many demons? And the worst thing is that the demons are difficult to fight because they are so shapeless and nameless. ":He who shall not be named . . ." comes to mind directly from the Harry Potter stories.

Try to remember how you put your boogieman away eventually because you outgrew him. You no longer needed him to empower you. Perhaps the demons are there too so that we can empower ourselves once again as adults who are creative.We really know how to do it. Sometimes we just have to remember. And we have to be willing, like Harry Potter and his friends, to do battle with them. As my friend Spencer used to always say to me, "Good night, sleep tight. Wake up bright in the morning light and do what's right with all your might." Sometimes we might not have a lot of might to fight with, but we need to remember most of all not to give up in the presence of the demons. They may seem more powerful than we are, but we have something they don't on our sides, and that is our enduring faith that something we are doing is right, and something they are doing is very, very wrong.They will never be as powerful as us because they cannot be named, and we have been named. Without a name, you are nothing but a shapeless form without meaning, so whatever meaning those demons have is meaning we are choosing to give them.

For those of you who are fighting your inner demons, I hope that you will not only begin to see the demons for what they are, but to realize that you can dismiss them just as you called them forth. You might even want to make some art of all the demons who haunt your creativity as I have done with mine. Sometimes giving them an actual persona can show you just how silly they really are and when you hang them where you can see them, you can deal with them more easily.
The little demons on this page are Boobalala and Zombie Lambada Man, some of my own little artsie demons. Boobalala was made by painting part of my anatomy and then pressing it to cloth in one of those primitive women's ceremonial experiments artists sometimes do.  He is actually the last remnant of the piece I created. Another part became a great flower in a small quilt called My Garden of Earthly Delights. That piece had a frog sitting next to the flower, and the piece went to raise money for Art for Autism.  Zombie Lambada Man and his dog are actually a textile collage.  He was part of an art trading exchange, and he got lost in the mail on his way to his destination, and likely ended up in the home of someone else, hopefully of someone who had his or her own demons to fight.  I made a second one to send and it arrived, but I never make two of anything alike. There is, and always will be, for me, only one Zombie Lambada Man.

Pricing Our Work and Finding Great Marketing Opportunities

Pricing our work and finding great marketing opportunities and also good venues for the types of work we do is important for all of us equally. And also I think keeping up with what is current in our overall field is important for us all as well.

One of the things I have discussed in the past is how to locate the right kind of markets for your work, and whether or not we should enter the types of shows that we enter. Many, as I am sure you are aware, have high entry fees and are juried, and so if you don't make it in, you are up the creek with a loss of perhaps needed money (it is for most of us anyway) and also a loss of productive time.

I have told folks it is a good tactic to review your overall goals for your work. If selling is your strongest interest, it might not be in your best interest to enter juried shows, etc. for many times I notice that work does not really sell in those shows, and your work is out in a place where it could be someplace else and getting better opportunities to sell.

Another thing is that often those who really want to sell do teaching as well, and that is definitely a good way to move toward making money through your art. Today, I think one of the best things that has happened is the appearance on the scene of sites with online teaching opportunities, and there are many of these - www.joggles.com is one of the ones we all like a lot and they have a wide variety of types of classes. And www.quiltuniversity.com is another favorite. They offer all kinds of classes..  So sometimes you might have to take what you have in the way of a skill and the tools you use and size down to make it very accessible for everyone, and very affordable as well.

I am a very big fan of the idea of alternative venues. I once went through the phone book here, not looking for specific places, but for types of businesses, etc. that I thought would be very good for fiber arts exhibits - wineries, specialty plant nurseries, live theaters, public buildings, bookstores, restaurants, some hotels that have good space available, frame shops, and many different possibilities for places to exhibit.  I found more than 30 types and  when I started contacting the places where I thought the art would look good and possibly sell, ALL of the places would have been glad to have us come and set up exhibits for free. There would have been- no commissions, and the only thing would be that we would have to set up in the mornings and take down at night.

I picked  places that would be within a 2-hr. maximum drive so that I could go and come home at night - no motel or other fees. And I also designed a display setup that I could set up and take down by myself pretty quickly, but it made for a nice display rack. You could additionally decorate with a folding table with cloth on it and your business cards, brochures, fliers or newsletters if you are teaching anywhere with a description of the classes and prices, etc.

A very good artist who sells everything he does and has some huge painting installations  gave me a wonderful mentoring session. He noted that you have to have some big pieces and/or works in progress that draw the crowd to your area, and you have to also have medium size and less expensive pieces as well as very small, and inexpensive pieces available for sale if you want to really have good luck selling. Demonstrating and talking about what you do also is sure to bring people to your area. People who simply sit in their booths and read or perhaps eat their lunch or just do other things are making a huge mistake. The audience won't show you any attention of you don't make them want to come to your booth.

Finding some other compatible artists, even if they work in other media, as long as everyone is willing to work, is another good way to go. You can find locations that are willing to have you and your friends give demonstrations and exhibits - libraries and bookstores are often good places if they are large enough and have some nice wall space - places such as Borders, etc.

And you can have "Home Tours" maybe in the Spring and in the Fall right before Thanksgiving/ Christmas. Each place should have some refreshments such as cookies and a non-alcoholic drink (even bottled water), and you need to have adequate people around the house and areas of the house closed off. It is good to have a bathroom that is accessible but where they can't go anyplace else, or to have a person seated somewhere in the area to again watch and prevent people from going where you don't want them. Having the house all decorated artfully and having a project set up and someone to demonstrate and explain it is definitely good. You want to have a lot of inexpensive pieces available for one of these events, and if possible, make .some items that while artistic, are also useful. Decorated clocks, scarves, tote or handbags, wearables or household items are always good and sometimes the viewers can justify to themselves buying something they can use while they might not justify buying a piece of art.

You can see if there is a Co-op Gallery that might rent you some space for a month. If you are splitting the cost with several other artists, it might not be a bad investment. I would check any Co-Op Gallery out first though and go to several openings and see how they are handled and how many people come and if anyone buys.

I think overall, we just have to keep being more and more creative in how we get our work exhibited and how we sell it. I had a one-woman exhibit at the City of Lomita (near Torrance, CA) where I live. It was a tiny exhibit and the City Hall seemed an unlikely place, but you know, it was close, didn't cost me anything to hang, and I sold three pieces out of the show - not expensive pieces, but those smaller sales do add up for sure.

 There are as many possibilities for venues as we care to investigate and go after. I looked at the possibilities and not the negatives when I did this and I think a lot of the success was due to that. I also discovered that many of the artists I knew were nowhere near as dedicated as I was to finding places to exhibit and sell. They only wanted to do it if someone would do it for them. Mind you, there is nothing wrong with this thinking. Not all artists are great framers, but that is why frame shops exist.  And not all fiber artists are great at getting their work out there personally and talking to the public, so again, you always have to work with your strengths. Because of this fact, when you are counting on others to exhibit with you,  it is important to discover up front who you can count onto do the necessary work and whom you have to let go from your list. And it is good to have various art media many times. It is a little outside the box thinking for many of us who are used to fiber arts exhibits with just fiber arts pieces. But the truth is that when you expand the type of media you exhibit with fiber arts, you increase the type of audiences who will come.

The key to selling in these challenging times is to keep trying different approaches.  Just be sure to measure up your rate of successes at various types of events, and keep most of your exhibits in those types of events. The reality is that outside the fiber arts world, many if not most people don't really care how many shows you have been in or how many awards you have won. They are interested in your art for your art's sake, and because you have a great personality that invites them to share it with you.

Be sure you have a good mailing list going and you always try to get people to sign your guest book for future events. And also, if you have someone who is hesitant to buy because of money, you can tell them you will take a layaway, or you can have them pay on installments if you think you can trust them. Also, if they are not sure how the art will look in their home, make arrangements with them to bring it (and some others too) that you think might work based on the colors in their home, etc. (which you learn by asking the potential customer.

Follow up with a nice thank you note and then if you have their e-mail address and mail address, be sure to send them a newsletter or news of your upcoming events or other events they might be interested in.  Not only will your customers appreciate this, but other artists who learn that you are promoting them as well as yourself might turn around and do the same for you, which will increase your exposure for certain.


 Look for all the special interests in your area. In my area, for example, there is a pocket of people who own and ride horses in events regularly. We are also near the ocean.  So if you had some art which had horses in it, or things related to horses, or you focused on some art showing the ocean, seashells, boats, etc., you might do well in those specialized areas. Even in a specialized plant nursery such as an orchid nursery, you could have art with beautiful vases and containers of orchids and it would likely do well. I don't think it is necessary to entirely give up the kinds of art you like to do best if you make art for specialized areas, but it will help to make the sames to have at least a few things available.

You might think your town has nothing in the way of an art community, but I have seen galleries and other art venues show up in the most amazing towns where I never would have thought they had a chance.  Artists have a knack for finding old abandoned and run-down buildings and for turning them into great art studios and galleries. There are many areas in the U.S. that seemed the most unlikely areas to start art communities, but in fact, many have done it, and done so successfully, for they still exist today. Jerome, Arizona is one of those places - an old mining town that seems so out-of-the-way, but in fact tourists come to see this historic old place, and when they do, they also visit the art district.  Good place to find something nice to help them remember the area.