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Four Stories and Seven Days Ago. Written Friday, January 16:  This past week was great.  I experienced several economic and ego boosts. Here’s the rundown…I redeemed an award, I received a check in the mail, I was surprised in my portrait class, and I sold a painting. 

Last month I won a Merchant’s Award for a small painting in an art show. So on Saturday I travelled an hour to the art store to redeem my fifty dollar gift certificate. I  decided to treat myself to a large, square, gessoed board. I found the ideal board, but I found no price sticker that was readable by human eyes.  However I was confident that my gift certificate would surely cover the cost.  And I was right. My board, plus tax, was pennies shy of fifty bucks. 

When I returned from my trip to the art store, there was an envelope in the mailbox with a twenty-five dollar check.  I had sold Portrait #1 at the AIR Show.  No, not the loud air show that took place this weekend at the local airport.  AIR as in Artist Inventory Reduction.  The show is a fund raiser consisting of inexpensive works by member artists of our regional art museum.  

On Tuesday, the students in our adult school portrait class were impatiently waiting for the model to arrive.  After learning that she had called in sick, one of our classmates, Alfred Tse, immediately volunteered to pose for the remaining two plus hours. He is a good painter and generously sacrificed a valued opportunity to paint someone else. Since time was short, I painted fast and furiously. During the model breaks, I viewed my work from afar, worked on the background, and paid my model fee.  At the end of the pose, Alfred approached me and said, “I want your painting”! I started to give him the painting, but he handed me his folded up model money and said, “Take the painting home and sign it. We’ll see each other soon.” I was flattered.

A friend indicated that she has been wanting to purchase my small painting of three women, Step Sisters. I suggested that she purchase the painting while it is on display at the art association show. By doing this, the organization would benefit financially and the red dot would benefit me. So yesterday she visited the exhibit and, is now in the process of purchasing the painting that won the Merchant’s Award.  

Have a good week!

Happy New Year.  Wishing you all well.  We think of the New Year as a clean slate, starting over, and improvement.  So, when I wish you a Happy New Year, am I inadvertently hoping that your diet will be successful, that your efforts will be fruitful, or that your resolutions will have solutions? 

I want to be clear.  I hate being misunderstood. My greetings are to wish you happiness, not success in your resolved efforts. Accomplishments are satisfying, but they are not happiness. Happiness is peace and joy, good luck and fortune, absence of disaster and crisis. It is a sense of well being.

I think that my approach this year will be to think about what makes me happy. So rather than focusing on intension, I am framing a vision. A visionary, not a fixer.  I like that.  I envision a year of fitness, productivity, participation, and security.  I look forward to time spent with my husband, our family, and our friends.  And, of course, I hope to throw reading, travel, movies, plays, etc. into the mix.  And…lots of painting!

What is your vision?

I hope you have a Happy New Year.