Working on the cabin/cottage one paycheck at a time and one weekend and sometimes one day at a time. I wish I could just work every day on the cabin…the only problem with that is then I wouldn’t have any way to pay for the supplies. Dang job thing is a reality…gotta have a job to have the funds to build. Gotta have time to build…this is going to be a fun dance between time and money. It seems like I often don’t have enough of either.
It takes 3 hours to drive up and another 3 to drive back so sometimes it’s just a few hours there and I do what I can. Some weekends I start at 7am and work until the sun goes down…then it’s my energy that gets in the way because the next morning I can barely move.
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Even if I have to do this one hour at a time and it takes me a decade to finish…I’m going to keep going. I have a vision of what I want this to be…how I want to spend time there…how I want to be there…it will get done at some point. I think the end result isn’t the only thing I’m looking forward to though. I think the process itself is part of the romance of this endeavor. Watching myself figure it out gives me hope that someday I will figure out life too…lol…maybe that is a bit much to ask?
Like and subscribe to my youtube channel for updates. https://www.youtube.com/ajaiart/bohemiantiger
I post videos there more often than I post updates here. But I do try to add highlights here.
I’ve really started taking advantage of the YouTube channel I started a while ago. If you want to spend some time there, please like and subscribe. I’m hoping to some day get enough views and subscribers to monetize the channel so I can make some extra cash for supplies for the cabin. Here’s the link to the channel. https://www.youtube.com/user/ajaiart/bohemiantiger
Some of the videos are about TMBR and the trials and tribulations of building on a budget. Some of the videos include my art and the process for creating. I hope that somewhere along my journey, I can help someone else that is facing some of the struggles we all have to work through as being human. Even if that is just learning how to laugh at yourself.
I am going to do as much of the work as I can to get this cabin/cottage done myself. I did outsource the foundation, framing and septic. It may take a few years to get it all done. I’m doing the work myself and by myself so every project is lesson in process and coming to terms with the fact that I don’t have a clue what I’m doing…lol
That being said, I don’t expect anyone to think my videos are a real “how to” but more of an expression in process and perfection aren’t really the answer. The answer is just keep trying.
This is a peek at the cabin insulation…Love and hugs!
It takes me less than an hour to paint these and I sold 3 of them…
Are you a sell out? You know that thing they call an artist when they actually find a way to make a living from their art…
I’ve heard it so many times at show openings and art gatherings…”Did you hear about (pick a name)?! What a sell out! They totally compromised their art to make a buck!” Well…let me tell you something…if you were a vegan for moral issues, not health issues… stranded on a rock in the middle of nowhere and hadn’t eaten for days and someone showed up with a piece of fish…would you be a sell out for eating it or a survivor who could climb down off the rock with your new found energy from eating the fish?
I like to think of myself as a fairly moral person and I have professed for years that I don’t want to fit in a box and be labeled and have to conform to societies definition of “ok” but I am also a survivor. I have survived many traumatic situations and it is because I have a will to look for ways to make what I see as “right” fit into what the world “expects” from me. I still refuse to fit into one box but I am figuring out how to use societies boxes to survive.
Recently, I was invited to participate in an art festival in Colorado http://www.flavorsofcolorado.com/ and they asked me to bring a little bit of everything I do…I was so excited to have an opportunity to spill out of the box and show off all my skills and talents…It was perfect! I didn’t have to have a niche…I didn’t have to have ONE box! So I took a bunch of boxes and paintings and stuff and a little bit of this and a little bit of that…I took so much stuff I couldn’t see out the windows as I drove down the scenic highway to get to the festival!
I sold a little of everything but didn’t sell much of anything…bummer…what a buzz kill… I did sell some of my “quick demo” paintings that I thought were ok, but not spectacular…and I sold some jewelry and other small things… But the weather was fantastic and I got to sit with my feet in the cool grass and listen to fabulous music all weekend! I also had time to visit with my neighboring vendors and learn from their experiences and see some of them work their magic!
The Vail Valley Art Guild, http://www.vailvalleyartguild.com/ had some wonderful artists and did demonstrations and had everything from pottery to painting and photography and I truly enjoyed watching them work and looking at their art, but like me…they didn’t sell much. Not that their work wasn’t phenomenal…it was truly inspiring! Folks just don’t go to festivals like that to buy expensive art and then have to carry it around a festival the rest of the day…
One vendor was particularly successful selling…They had one thing and it could fit in a purse or pocket or worn as they walked through the fair… Urban Poncho, http://www.myurbanponcho.com/ was just raking in the $$$ so I watched and took mental notes as Anne did her thing. I could probably sell them now too after hearing the sales pitch over and over and over…she had customers standing 3-4 deep listening to her go on and on all weekend about the many ways to wear that ONE poncho!
Ok…so you ask…”I thought you didn’t want to have to have a niche?! It sounds like Urban Poncho has a niche…” Well…you are right! They do…but they have many niches…The main partner that started the company has “multiple businesse[s] a print brokering online business called www.NicePricePrints.com, a direct mail business, and have owned and published multiple magazines in the past. Furthermore, as a hobby I started sewing and have been a seamstress ever since.” (quote taken from the About page on their website)
So…it’s not just about not wanting to fit in a box…it’s about being able to fit society’s box into what you do. So…again don’t fit in society’s box…fit society’s box into what you do…you can still do everything, but don’t put your eggs in the same box with your anvil!
So what’s my take away? Folks at festivals want something small and easy to manage at the fair. My new mantra for festivals is… “If it fits in a pocket or purse…it can still be diverse…” I will keep making my jewelry and small objects for festivals. That is one consistency I found between this festival and the last one…my jewelry sells…and I will keep doing my paintings but reserve them for gallery shows where they can be seen and not blown over by wind and folks looking are more willing to put it in their car and take it home because they aren’t going to be walking around a festival for another 3 hours…
“Learn the rules like a pro, so you can break them like an artist.” ~Pablo Picasso
Have you ever wondered how you can make a living as an artist instead of just doing it as a hobby?
The art world rules say you have to find a niche and get gallery representation. A lot of the blogs and business advice sites out there today say keep your day job, but I would like to offer another option…do whatever it takes and be willing to open your world to a variety of income sources to kick the day job and keep your bills paid with your creative works. In other words, don’t just rely on getting into gallery shows to pay the bills. Look at other sources of income like teaching, commission projects, online sales and festivals.
Also, dare to be yourself! You don’t have to be like everyone else who sells to make a sale. Try stepping out of your comfort zone and maybe even be willing to be laughed at. Be odd, be out there and be dangerous if that is true to who you are.
Ultimately it boils down to having a positive outlook and a willingness to be criticized and ridiculed for not following the rules…but YOU are an ARTIST…so break some rules!
So…in Step One, I said…”…eliminate all things, people and emotional baggage that serves no purpose toward helping me reach my highest potential in the creative process!”
Somehow, I thought I could give up all my worldly possessions and become some sort of Zen master as I embarked on this journey. I was already starting out with pocket change and thought pennies and a little pocket lint could get me started on my grand journey and new adventure! Then…I got the utility bill…and the tax man visited and I had to pay for gas to get to the new Tiger Mountain…wow…what a buzz kill!
I thought to myself, “I could just find more project work!” That is what I have been doing for over a year now trying to supplement my measly earnings from my now drastically cut back “job” and all I would need to do is land that awesome gig building a website to get me over the hump and back on the track that leads to creative freedom and spiritual growth.
In my quest for projects, I ran across ad after ad grabbing at my desire to reach my full potential in art and the creative process and scam after scam from “get rich and find your center” programs and online tutorials from various religious and spiritual sales people. When did Buddhism start charging money for enlightenment? I must have missed that memo…
The beast within quickly came to the surface as I realized I need money and I need it badly! The internal fight over money vs sanity has set in and I find myself battling my own desires for peace and tranquility…I can easily justify going back to the corporate world I so despise to make a buck or two to get me through…WTF?! I know me…I know that if I go back to that world, I will get sucked in and drained of all of my desire to create and possibly my desire to live…so why would I even consider it?
Because I am scared…I’m scared of success and failure at the same time…what if I put everything I have into just making and selling art? Well…if I am successful, I have to do it indefinitely. OMG…what does that mean? If I am not successful, what does that mean? I’m not good enough? F***! I have been halfassing it for a while now…I do a little art and mostly newsletters and web updates and dumb stuff that pays pretty well but sucks rocks for enjoy ability…I’m like the dog and bone story…I’m walking over the bridge with my bone in my mouth looking at my reflection in the water below…should I drop the bone and go after the one I see reflected or keep trotting over the bridge to the other side? I don’t want to lose the bone I already have for one that may not really be there…
Time to get back on the horse! I need to get organized…I need to make more art! Starting right now! So here it is…if you would like to print this and color it…please post it to my Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/ILikeAjaiArt
