One of the things I have learned about myself — when any sense of creativity just completely leaves me — is that I can always do something to get organized.
Work painted this spring, now awaiting their protective finishing coat
Because we are looking to downsize our home and move to a smaller space within a year or so, I decided to spend a little time reorganizing my supplies and containing my ”art stuff” in a more centralized location.
In a sense it was a good thing that I did this, because it's quite amazing just how much I can end up leaving ”little deposits” of art related stuff all around the house!
I was also able to consolidate approximately a decade's worth of bags and boxes started with the underlying intention of ”here's a new direction I can take when I find the time to do so!”
I'm sure some of these were authentically good ideas at the time, but sometimes I get a little bored and tired with myself and my ability to invent new sidetracks that keep me from actually working on the ”main event,” so to speak. They invariably end up being distractions, rather than anything tangibly useful.
This stone was 80% done, so I painted the last couple of "rings" and added it to the finishing tray.
So far, 2025 is shaping up to be an extremely lean year, much like the first year of COVID, but I've decided that I'm going to call it a ”year of consolidation,” instead… because if I don't, it'll just end up depressing me too much.
Consolidating the boxes and bins of course had the welcome effect that I ended up with about 15 unused plastic bins that I can now repurpose to use for my beachcombing and found objects business. Cool, because it avoids a needless expenditure!
Looking ahead to our "show schedule," that's pretty much turning into a big fat nothing at all. As it looks right now, we likely will end up with a year in which the only things we are going to participate in are a couple of holiday events in late November and early December. Of our other "regular fixtures" one was a non-event, one was canceled, one got too expensive, one was too far away (North Carolina) and reduced the number vendors and we didn't get invited.
Hardly enough to make much of a year, from a financial standpoint.
This afternoon, I found myself sitting down and contemplating the question of whether I was just getting burned out of trying to do anything serious with art.
I mean, I still enjoy painting on rocks, but clearly it has no commercial potential above and beyond what we can occasionally sell when we attend an event. After all these years I am yet to find/develop the magic formula that will result in online sales on any scale. And with money in general being as tight as it is I am not feeling inclined to put a lot of effort into building it (with an uncertain outcome) when that time and effort could be put into something that's actually income producing.
I guess I'm just proving myself to be part of the stereotype of the "starving artist!"
Thank You!
If you enjoy painted rocks, do check out The Hive Rocks Project and help spread the word about Hive, while also being creative!
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2025.07.07 AS-TXT-333/303