views from the balcony at Bonneville Hot Springs Resort

More photos from the trip to the Pacific Northwest.  Above are views from my room’s balcony (more tomorrow, walking down there in the landscaped area which had waterfalls and ponds and a chorus of frogs all night – which I loved.  Made me feel like I was at home!)

And here is more of the art:

And a bit more scenery – no such thing as too much of this scenery!

Yesterday was very productive.  Loaded out in no time at all – taking down always takes so much less time than hanging!  There were few people there unloading….a lot will wait til the bitter end to do it.  Everyone that needed to pick up something did, with no hitches and no problems.  I am working with another bite for a torso – the last email asked for a discount, and I said I don’t discount, so we’ll see what happens there.

There was a time I would have said:  sure!  But that time has passed.  I know the value of my work, which is very reasonably priced, and am sticking to it.  I am comfortable in that knowledge and trust my experience that if someone really loves a piece of work (and why else would I want someone to buy my work?!), then cost is not a factor.  I have spent 5 years playing with pricing and can tell you that something that I priced at $10 to see if it would move, didn’t.  And then I priced it at $45 and it did.  Draw your own conclusions.  My conclusion is that every piece has someone moving toward it from the minute I channel it through.  My job is to keep trying to get the work out there so they can find it.

It was fun to sit and chat with other artists, swap stories and information, and get a print for free from a gentleman I was sitting with!  I’m starting to gather prints, unmatted and unframed (a lovely one just came in from Ascender – I paid for that one! Love her work) and need to start figuring out how I’m going to display them, given the dirth of wall space in my house, even with all the work I took down to try to sell the house last year (and haven’t rehung yet.  I really need to make some space to get everything back up – I do miss it…and not having it up makes me think  have space for more!)

I am happy to admit how comfortable I now am in my artist role – both as creator and marketeer (sp?).  And I guess that’s why the part-time job presented itself – I need to stretch a bit.  Well, I am stretching a bit.  And have been a bit frazzled behind it.  But this morning I felt something shift (yesterday, in addition to the 12 hours of art stuff, I had several hours of part-time job stuff).  Like I’m moving into my Self there, too.  There is a journey here (as there is everywhere), but I welcome this new leg of the journey.  It will help me settle into doing for the position what I came to do:  create a sustainable, working, workable organization.  Pretty much from scratch.  and integrate that with the program piece which is amazing and swimming way out in front of the structure that it will need, in the long run, to support it into the future, long after all of us right now have moved on in one way or another.  A good challenge.

I am very aware how all these things are moving toward letting me see that all experience, every single bit of it, has meaning in a life overview.  Each speaks to the other pieces, all the pieces integrate, even when they don’t look like it to start with.  Good stuff!

Mostly today, after miscellaneous appointments, I can get back into the studio where I have several new pieces awaiting glazing.  I have made a mold for making a glass torso….now if I can just find that great glass book Husband bought me!  I know it’s here somewhere……

thought for the day:  Whatever the conflict in our lives, the first step on the path of peace is to shift our attitudes.  According to the Tao, what matters i not the situation, but the way we perceive it.

A Tao person is someone who recognizes and works with the patterns of nature.  Whatever our religious background or national origin, we become Tao people when we learn to think holistically, seeing our part in the unity of life, respecting the natural cycles within and around us.

Tao people are natural problem solvers.  While others often fear conflict and change, a Tao person realizes that conflict is natural, that life constantly evolves through cycles of change.  Non-Tao people perceive the world through a reductive dualism that makes them cling to the status quo.  Tao people realize life has many options.  Creative and resourceful, they flow with change, seeing beyond problems. to solutions.  One with Tao, they promote greater peace in their world.