Monday!
This promises to be one of those crazy weeks that . Steve and I have the evening seminars at the Art of the Carolinas Nov 11, 12 and 13 and what possessed me to agree to demonstrate a brand of acrylic paints (all day) for 3 days is beyond me! Steve will be at the Duke  show with our art booth while I am at the Hilton in Raleigh…..whew…wonder where I can change my clothes?

Meanwhile I am trying to reschedule my teen art class  to avoid a conflict this week…..and heading to the Gallery that I partner with this morning to meet two clients, stopping at the bank, the post office …..oh yeah, the early Thanksgiving on Sunday for a son flying out Tuesday to Job Corp……wonder if they’ll actually get the turkey into the oven?……LOL and I HAVE to start on that large family  oil painting, finish the smaller orders…….we even managed to get our custom Xmas cards printed and ready to mail out early this year (as in before Xmas)  but we need to hand address them all……did I mention getting out the newsletters to all of our clients and friends….oh, and I have to trim the hair off the Cockapoo…meet with the guys to finish the “we’re in the middle” bathroom makeover of 3 months…….I think I started to say something about an overwhelming  week but in fact it’s sort of typical (with the exception maybe of the workshops) of the real life that all artists cope with !

That’s why so many of the art marketing sites on the Internet are so….unreal . From what we have seen, very few, if any,  are written or presented by artists who are creating art as well as selling it….they fill their sites with tidbits from here and there, advice from many artists (none who make a living at it), all of which often makes it seem as though one artist cannot accomplish all the necessary tasks!   Most seem to have missed that essential element of real life as we all know it….living the day to day life that we all know it, with all the expected and unexpected events and yet create  art within that same context. THAT is what the “real” artist’s life is all about!

So regardless of where you are in your own world of art, stick with it! Embrace it and enjoy it. As overwhelming as some days or weeks may be, how you handle the challenges of real life as a working artist is what separates the artists who want to market their art from those who simply think about it! Even if selling your art isn’t your goal, simply exchanging the words “market” to “creating” is also what separates those who think about creating art from those who actually do!

Hey don’t you LOVE the time change?   Now I feel like I’m not starting in the middle of the night!