It must be fall: bringing the plants in.  They look much bigger in the house than they did outside!

I’m off to Charlottesville, VA today (3 hours each way) with new work to change out of Transient Crafters for the holidays.  Taking two torsos since the last one I put in there sold fairly fast, and it’s the time of the year when folks are treating themselves to well-deserved gifts as well as buying for others.  Both are raku.  Also taking the new prose tiles since they seem to be selling better than the word tiles, which works just fine for me!  It’s a long trip and there’s a part of my mind that wonders if it’s worth it, but I only actually go there twice a year and mail in between.  No great amounts of sales but over the year they add up.  This year I will add up my sales for each place and see who’s doing what.  Haven’t done that yet.  But in defining my ideal client (another One Coach exercise), I need to know who’s doing what so I can tell.

Transient Crafters started much like Unique Boutique here in Hollywood – a traveling craft show.  Many years ago they settled into their own shop and apparently folks have been complaining ever since about the name.  So they are changing to C’ville Crafters.  Do you think that will hurt them?  What do you think about names, branding (getting your name out there, making sure all of your literature has the same print, targeting specific pieces of literature to specific venues)?  Is it all too much to think about for a solo entrepreneur?  or is it something we must think about if we are going to support ourselves with our art?

How many of you believe you can support yourself with your art?  If not, what is your goal with your art?

I wonder about these things all the time since I am driven to support myself with my art.  Since I spent the main earning years of my life working for small non-profits (read:  doing good, which I’m told is its own reward), I have no retirement to speak of.  We all know social security isn’t going to do it, so my plan is to make a living with my art until I die.  Then I read about oit prices shooting through the ceiling and know that there will be less discretionary income for middle income folks, and wonder if this is such a hot plan – or is that just my old beliefs (artists must starve) trying to stop my forward movement?

Discussion, please!  I want to hear everyone’s ideas on this!

thought for the day:  …once you make up your mind to create the life of your dreams, it’s up to you to stay on course despite the conditions.  Your beliefs about how you handle adversity and challenges will determine what you do in times of stress and turbulence.  The most important point to remember is that your self-image and your beliefs are not fixed.  You can change your self-image and beliefs whenever you choose.  We had no choice about the beliefs that were instilled in us by teachers, parents, and so on – they just gave us their best – but now that we’re adults, we can choose the beliefs that will move us in the direction of our dreams.  John Assaraf, The Street Kid’s Guide to Having It All.

Book for the day (well I’m giving you two, because if you like the first one, you’ll like the 2nd one). (The third one is the book for the quote for the day.)