The Lonely Coast at Midnight

The Lonely Coast at Midnight, originally uploaded by gilfling.

Yep I know - you may have (probably) seen this one before! But now that it is back from an exhibition it is now up again in my etsy shop. Still one of my favourites.

Gosh I miss the studio - I have been neglecting my painting terribly the last couple of months but am really hoping to get back to the studio next week.

I have really been struggling to balance the various 'plates' I have spinning in the air at the moment - but I am on it. Once I am more settled in my new job, once I have enough of an inventory built up for the numerous craft fairs I have coming up, once I feel I am ontop of supplying my various galleries with enough bits and pieces to keep them going - then I shall get back to 'working and creating for me'.

This is something that is so important and yet the thing that I find often eludes me - defining and maintaining that fine balance between creating work 'for a living' and creating work that 'feeds my soul'.

I have to admit that at the moment I am having some doubts as to whether craft fairs are the way to go for me. I feel as if I am on a bit of a treadmill - creating a production line of work that I hope will sell (cuffs, flower brooches, textile bits and pieces), but that is fairly repetitive and not particularly inspiring (not to me anyway!!). I do feel my talents and desires are in creating one off pieces, but they take so much thought-time in the conception, even before I get to the practical bit of 'making'. I am also finding that I just cannot make the little inexpensive items that people want to buy from a craft stall - and that also fill the table and attract the eyes of the buyers!!

Nevertheless - I have a whole lot of events which have been booked and paid for from now till Christmas - so I shall persevere and then re-evaluate from a cost and time point of view.

Oh the joys of the art/business dilemma!

However I do hope that my new bit of news will help alot with that dilemma! I know that I promised to reveal all today, but although I have had phone confirmation, I am now just waiting to see it in black and white in the form of a letter....so I shall reveal the mystery then!

Take care!

Comments

[Monika]

I enjoy reading your posts! Would love to hear how you solve your dillema one day!

[Michala (kayla coo)]

Hi I agree with everything you say.
I have tried a few craft fairs and I have a few booked but not sure if they make commercial sense!
I have done better with galleries and I do enjoy working on my art pieces, they do take a lot of work, lots of sketching and painting before I even start translating it in to a textile piece.
Good luck with your new projects.x