Last Friday I was running around like a chicken with its head cut off – stressed out, frustrated, and wanting to put my head through a wall feeling a tiny bit discouraged.

If you  had told me last Friday that the majority of my worries would resolve themselves this week, I think the odds are pretty strong that I would have punched you.  Or at least laughed cynically for a good 15 minutes and then been quite rude and said something along the lines of “Go away.”

But here I sit, a testimonial to the fact that almost anything can happen in a week’s time, and most of it would surprise you.

The Pelham Art Festival – it sucked less than I thought

Despite the fact that Friday and Saturday at the festival were awful and all of the angry people came through my booth, on Sunday things picked up and I made back my booth fee, thank God.

I did learn a lot about selling though, and I learned a lot about myself. Which at the time, meant nothing because hey, I’d spent lots of money and was making none of it back, but really, it did teach me a lot. So I’m grateful for that. Plus, I met lots of cool artists, had some great conversations, and by the end of the third day, learned that I sold more if I just acted like a complete goofball. Who knew?

Also, the very, very, very last person through my booth took a good long look at my art, looked at me and said, “I have a feeling that you’re going to be a real force to be reckoned with. Your work is amazing.”

Now who wouldn’t get all gooey and happy after a compliment like that?

I have a nest! A nest of my own!

As we all know, omg, I found an apartment and it’s mine, mine! Ha! And you can’t have it! (I don’t know why you’d want it, but still. If the situation ever came up…)

After I’d finished freaking out, because hey, I’m a control freak and I just sent money to a stranger 1,798km away for an apartment I’ve never seen before except in pictures (wow, this sounds so much riskier than it actually is) I am now completely freaking stoked. I keep thinking about it and then doing this strange little happy dance while grinning like a maniac.

Actually, I’m so relieved, I could cry. Right now. Bawl my eyes out while happy dancing and grinning like a maniac. If you didn’t think I was deranged before, now you can be absolutely certain.

And I love it because the delightful Lisa Baldwin of Divine Order calls it me getting a new nest, a nest all of my own, that I get to feather any way that I want to. That just sounds so comforting and so much fun. To me, “to nest” is like getting uber comfortable and cozy. If I have a nest, then it’s lots of comfort and cozy, all for me.

Happy sigh.

p.s. You should probably just go to Lisa’s site, especially if you have problems with clutter, because she’s awesome. That’s all I gotta say.

Naked people!

I start work on the nude art show next week and the English language pretty much fails to convey the levels of my excitement. I absolutely love painting nudes. The shapes, the skin, the light, the emotion, the character -  it’s just too much for me.

This morning I’m going to pound out the details with Chris over coffee, hence why I’m writing this post at 7am, because I’m meeting him at 9am.

Again, I cannot emphasize how completely freaking excited I am. There’s just lots of excitement right now.

This is probably the most amazing thing ever

Somehow, maybe by sheer luck, maybe by the grace of the gods above, but somehow, I have ended up surrounded by some of the most amazing people in the world. The kindest, smartest, most generous people in the entire freaking universe.

Yesterday, Charlie Gilkey and I had a good talk about my creativity and what was blocking me, and we realized that about halfway through my creative process, I get performance anxiety. I worry about how I’m going to sell it, and will it be good enough to sell and will anyone like it, and what will certain people in my life say about this piece – how will it get criticized and torn apart.

And then Charlie proposed the most ingenius solution ever – every time I paint, put up a sign that says “Not For Sale.” I actually have a little whiteboard next to my easel where I write things to remind myself, and in this spot I’m going to write “Not For Sale.” This painting, whatever painting it is, is just for me. It’s mine, because I love it, because I take pleasure from it, because I’m exploring the light, or exploring emotion.

Just for me.

No one else.

Yesterday, I worked on creative projects for 2 hours with no stress, no unhappiness, no misery, just sheer joy in the creative process. For the first time in a  year, I think that creating will finally stop feeling like pulling teeth.

So thank you Charlie. From the bottom of my heart, thank you. You’ve given me the very unexpected light at the end of the tunnel. Who knew it was just around the corner?

And because it’s  Charlie and he’s generous, he’s written all about his ideas on the subject here. So if you’re stuck creatively, go read it and instantly feel better.

That’s it for me! I’m off to plan a show, teach some art class and finally see my boyfriend. I hope you all have a magnificent weekend!

(By the way, do you like to get cool stuff that no one else can? And you aren’t on my mailing list, why? I can’t let you in on secret sales of secret stuff if you’re not on my mailing list! And it starts next week. So dude, get over there!)