I accomplished a few things yesterday. I ordered a supply of bags from clearbags.com. I use them to protect note cards, photo greeting cards, and poetry cards. The site also offers a 50 piece pack of 5x7 matte photo paper for $3 which I thought was a very good deal. I also ordered yarn. The last time I checked Michaels and Wal-Mart, they were limited in their colors and there’s a particular brand of yarn I like to use for the scarves I knit. I checked the website and found 60 colors.
This is a start in getting back to doing art. I knit off and on while watching tv in the evenings. Takes me a couple weeks to do one scarf but I love the material and colors. I even talked Ma into trying it again so she doesn’t sit there doing nothing all day. She knits in the afternoon. I start the first couple rows for her and do the finish when she’s done. She likes shorter scarves and I like to be able to wrap them a couple times.
Betty told me Christmas week that I have a following at Wild Women Studio in Laconia, that people are buying my books and reading the poems. That’s inspiring to hear. I need to make up some new inventory to bring over to keep things fresh. I always say that it’s important to hear feedback. I don’t hear anything from the store in Laconia, nor from the new one in Sunapee.
Another recent accomplishment is with getting a new computer. The photo programs I worked with do not work with Windows 7. After spending a few days searching a lot of different options and going through trial periods, I was able to find a free download that pleases me and enables me more photo editing.
I’ve also gone through another round of issues with printers. This summer I had problems with HP and horizontal lines. I finally bought a Canon which didn’t have lines, but the vibrancy of color is not present without adding saturation. When I purchased the new computer, an HP, I got a great deal on a printer and I figured an HP printer will work better with an HP computer. All was well when I print on glossy paper but when I tried to print on matte paper, I got horizontal lines. Oh no, not again!
I re-hooked up the Canon printer to now have 2 printers. The HP works great with glossy pictures and everything on matte is done on the Canon (which is mostly note cards and albums pages.) The guy who installed my computer had told me that HP works better with HP papers and I tend to use Staples brand. I’ll re-think my strategies when I make my next paper purchases but for now, the two printers will do. One good thing about it is that I don’t need to keep changing paper.
This last week I worked on photos for collages. I was given a few collage frames and wanted to see how they would work with pictures other than family photos. One was done a year ago with sunflowers which I really like and I am wondering if something like that is saleable. I’ve done two. One was a white frame in which I used cherry blossom pictures and the black frame is done with farm machinery photos. I always prefer black.
I am slowly getting back on the horse. December was a long dry month art wise. I couldn’t get out of my own way. This is a new year and I am going to make it a better. I will concentrate on keeping up with the paperwork part of the business, too.
Joining NH Made was a boon and receiving e-mails makes me realize that as I am now selling my work, I have to think of myself as a business. Feels funny. The words in my head always said that I am not a good business woman. Time to change that. Last year was a tip of the iceberg and this coming year, I am going to be better prepared.
In closing, I would like to say thanks for this last year. It was a jumping off point. I published a book. I was invited to show my charcoal landscape drawings and photography at the library. I became a juried member of the Hillsborough Area Artisans in two mediums. I participated in the Open Studio Tour and NH Open Doors. My work is currently in three shops. After all these years of playing artist and writer, I can now finally say that I AM an accomplished writer and artist.