Tag Archives: work

sometimes life (and work) happens.

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i was doing so so good on my daily art practice through the first three months of this year. i really felt like i’d managed to create a new habit. it was coming pretty effortlessly and i hardly even had to think about it. i was having my coffee and breakfast in my studio first thing and then jumping right in usually on some playtime in my sketchbooks. and when my work schedule was slow and i had downtime in between clients later in the day, i’d come home and pick right back up where i left off. some days i could get several hours of painting in. but even if all i could do was 30-60 minutes in the morning, it felt like i was keeping a creative thread going.

and then april came. the first weekend of the month i was away on a quickie 4 day trip to visit beloveds in north carolina. it was a long awaited reunion with many faces i hadn’t seen for a long time, since before the pandemic. it felt really indulgent to take this trip even though we managed to do it as cheaply as possible. (since we split hotel, gas, and park-n-fly and flew spirit/breeze with no luggage, it ended up being less than $300 all total, though i had the added expense of a catsitter 2x/day.) but i knew it would be good for my mental health and my heart. i needed the hugs and the socializing, and just to get out of new orleans for a few days which i hadn’t done since the summer of 2021. so it was all totally worth it.

i came back to two of the busiest work weeks i’ve had since before the pandemic. so many petsits! i really needed it financially. some of my clients paid up front and that money is what got me through the end of march and paid rent so that i could even go on the trip. and then having the other petsits on top of my dogwalking schedule gave me enough to cover all the bills that happen at the beginning of the month.

if you’ve followed my pet biz commentary online, then you know i lost quite a few longtime clients last year – many who had been with me since i started my business and most of which were 5-day a week walking clients, which really affected my income over the trajectory of last year. even though i did manage to pick up a handful of new clients, they weren’t paying for as many days or services as the previous clients, so despite still having 5 or 6 walks a day on my schedule, i was making less than half of what i had been making before.

this all came to a sad culmination in january and february, when all the christmas bonus money and extra holiday petsitting income ran out and i was left with basically half my former income. i raided my hurricane emergency fund and started putting things like groceries and gas on credit cards, just hoping things would eventually resolve. over the 12 years of this business, i know it ebbs and flows and sometimes it’s feast or famine; i just wasn’t accustomed to the downslide being for so long without a rebound.

but finally, i am seeing some light at the end of the tunnel. the last two weeks of crazy petsitting got me caught up on bills. one of my 3x/week dog clients that i actually tried to quit back in january (because he was more than i could handle physically) has come back onto my schedule after he got some training and is maybe aging out of some of the worst of his hyper puppy behavior. (we’ll see, but he’s back for now.) and one of my other 5x/week clients whose dogs both died (in august/december) and who swore they weren’t going to get another dog anytime soon texted me last week with a picture of the cutest puppy ever! (i’ve since started visiting/walking her 2x/day!)

so all of this feels like the tide is turning back to a place of equilibrium, at least financially. sure it will mean less free time to paint, but i also won’t have to keep looking around the house for things i can sell to make money to pay the bills. the petsitting is slowing down for the next few weeks so i will just have my dogwalking schedule, and i did manage to buy one ticket to jazzfest each weekend thanks to a generous friend who i will be doing some petsitting for in june. so hopefully i can start getting back into the flow and pick up that art thread where i left off at the end of march.

i do really feel like i’m so close to figuring out what i want to be doing next. there are so many things i’ve been exploring – collage, image transfers, layering paint, creating textures with paint and patterns, exploring color mixing, new media like paint pens and oil pastels and colored pencils, new (recycled) paints, as well as new tools for applying paint – it’s all been so fun and now i feel like it’s just about figuring out how to use all this new information i have in service of what i want to be creating. i know i want to do some pieces about my friend nita that died back in september. i always want to do pieces about my mom and lately been feeling like my dad too. but i also want to just do some pure abstract stuff that doesn’t have much of a meaning beyond the materials and the brushstrokes and the exploration of what paint can do. as always, i don’t know where to start and feel overwhelmed with all the ideas i have. but i know i just need to pick something and do it.

anyways. this is just a rambly update to catch you up on what’s been going on for me in the art life. oh, i almost forgot – as some of you might have seen, i did a quickie flash sale on instagram for 2 days of older work that has been on the walls of the studio, taking up space. i thought i wanted to hang on to some of that stuff for a while but i realized it was holding me back. i often feel like i need blank walls to not clutter up my brain when i’m trying to come up with new work. if i have stuff up that i still like, then i don’t have the motivation to make something new. cuz always, for me, part of my motivation is making something that I WANT to hang on my own walls. so thank you to all who participated and snapped up some of those pieces. i offered 18 and i sold 8, so not bad. if you missed out, hit me up to see what’s left.

i hope to have something new to show you soon! stay tuned!

because it’s festival season…

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i just wore my “last night a brass band saved my life” t-shirt out to the downtown super sunday / keep n it real 2nd line and had several folks take my picture and ask about the shirt – yes i handed them business cards – so i though maybe it was time to offer it up again.

the campaign is live for 7 days. various brands (american apparel, canvas, bella, hanes), styles (crew neck, v neck, mens/unisex, womens, t-shirts, tanks) and colors (royal blue, several different shades of grey, and i think even one chocolate brown) of shirts here, so be sure to scroll through them all. i tried to change some of the offerings but apparently teespring won’t let me do that – i have to just run the same as i had last time- so this is what it is for now. (and please note that the hanes t-shirt does go up to size 5xl.)

also don’t forget i have the stickers available for purchase directly from me.

happy spring everyone!

****edited to add: i’ve decided i’m going to donate part of the proceeds to the roots of music program here in new orleans, an after school music education program for kids age 9-14. i’ve seen and heard the roots of music marching band in mardi gras parades and at other various events around town for years and think it’s an awesome program doing great work filling a gap in the new orleans elementary and middle school system post-katrina. check them out!

here i go!

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universesaysyes

so if you’ve been keeping up with me (read previous posts on this blog or this one) then you know i’ve been reawakened to my creative aspirations in 2016 and have been craving more time to focus on the making of things. after several months of trepidation, i launched a patreon campaign to get support to scale back my work schedule to give me a few more hours in the day to do this. the campaign has been a success so far but i haven’t reached the amount of $ i would need to cover cutting back a few walks a day to free up some time. but the urgency of it all hasn’t dissipated either, so i’ve been talking to my clients and, well, the universe somewhat intervened this past week by sending one of my set of clients on vacation, and…

i’m doing it. starting monday, my work schedule will end around 1:30 or 2pm most days, giving me the rest of the afternoon and into the evening (now that daylight saving time kicks in tonight) to create! i’m so excited but also super nervous about willingly letting go of $600-$700/month of pay. but i’m hoping i will get more productive in the creative arena and perhaps come up with some things that folks will want to buy. or that maybe more folks will want to sign on to my patreon campaign to get free rewards and support me at the same time.

either way, it’s time to hustle. so i will be doing all manner of peddling in the coming months. and hopefully i can make this work.

so yay to taking big risks, stepping out of your comfort zone, waking up and staying awake (or as the kids say, be woke/stay woke), being in the present, and following your dreams. here’s to working towards the life i want, doing what i think i’m meant to do. and here’s to the universe being with me every step of the way, saying yes, loudly, repeatedly, until i finally hear it.

yes!!

hello 2016.

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i wrote this – spoke this, into my phone – while walking dogs this morning, across the timespan of 3 walks:
sometimes, when my mind is clear and wandering, i catch these glimpses. glimpses of another life. maybe it’s a parallel universe? maybe it’s the future?  it’s not a dream because i’m awake when it happens, though parts of it have been in dreams i’ve had over my lifetime. it’s like some window or door opens to another reality and i can see it so clearly. it’s this other life that i’m living where i’m firing on all cylinders, where my creativity is flowing, where i am vibrating on a higher level, where i’m making things and pursuing if not every, at least more, of the myriad ideas that bounce around in my head.
i am painting things. printing things. assembling things. i am making new stencils. i am doing murals. i am leaving my creations all around town for people to discover and take home if they want to. i am having pop up sales in random locations. i am having “shows” in nontraditional places, not in galleries. in bars, in coffee shops, at restaurants, at friends’ houses. i am hosting once a month parties/shows/salons at my own house, in the backyard.
i am writing all the time. writing blog posts, writing in journals, writing on paintings and furniture and walls. putting words together in ways that make sense and don’t make sense but regardless are out there and making other people think and feel and react.
i am playing music, other people’s music, djing… in my living room, for friends at my house and other places, bars, art openings, poetry readings. i am discovering new music that sets my spirit soaring and sharing mixes of this music with others. i am making podcasts about music and art and life and sharing those with the world.
i am taking pictures. with my phone, or with a nice camera. i am sharing photos on my instagram and my blog and in all the places i am sharing art. i am incorporating photos into my other art. i am publishing books of my photos to put on coffee tables and in libraries and to give to friends.
i am building an art empire. i am collaborating with other artists and writers and thinkers and djs and people who make music and art in all of its various forms. i am bringing them into my world and i am hanging out in and contributing to theirs.
i am outdoors breathing fresh air and soaking up sunshine, enjoying the beautiful place that i live in. i am exercising my body and feeling good. i am eating better but still enjoying the bounty of the city that i live in with all it’s amazing culinary delights. i don’t deny myself but i also am taking care of myself.
i am traveling to other places, some i’ve been to before but many i have not. i am endlessly inspired by my travels and do it as often as i can, to see art, to see people, to hear music, to be inspired. to learn. to grow.
i am vibrant and alive and enjoying the hell out of life and tapping into the energy of the universe and reflecting it back and spreading love and positivity and feeling good about it. feeling fulfilled and like i’m contributing to the betterment of the world. the world is a beautiful place full of love and light and i am so happy and grateful every day to be in it.
and through all of this, i am supported and loved and rewarded financially and taken care of. and sharing it all. because there is enough. there’s more than enough to go around for all of us. and i don’t worry about money because money is energy and i’ve learned how to tap into the energy of the universe.
yeah. for reals.
sometimes i catch glimpses of this life, this vision, and really feel it, taste it, hear it, see it.. like I am actually living it, like I could be living it. like i should be living it. like i can be living it. i’ve had some version of this vision my whole life. and many elements of this vision, this life, i have made happen.. on their own, one at a time. i’ve been a writer. i’ve been a dj. i’ve been an artist. i’ve been a crafter. i’ve produced events. but i’ve not managed to merge them all, or sustain them for long periods of time where i can really build upon what i’ve accomplished. these accomplishments have existed on their own and in their own space and time and then i’ve dropped them to pursue other things. i’ve been a serial unitasker.
maybe i have just been assembling all the pieces, all the skills, and waiting for the time to be right to pull them all together. maybe that time is now. these last few months, the vision, the glimpses, of this integrated creative life have been strong and recurring and have been pulling me in a direction of action and change. i’m tired of living a small little life where i don’t feel like i’m living up to my potential. i’m tired of feeling like everyone around me is a badass and somehow is clued into something i’m not, somehow has some kinda magic that i don’t in terms of making shit happen, realizing their dreams, helping other people, affecting change, making the world a better place and feeling fulfilled while doing it.
and the time is running out in my life to build all of this that i know i am capable of… while i am still young enough and physically and mentally sharp enough to do so. i’m not yet “old” but i’m no longer “young.”
is this my midlife crisis? maybe. i do feel at a crossroads. i’ve been feeling it for a while and have been wallowing in despair about what to do and how to do it. but i think the universe has been communicating with me in very clear ways over the past year, and the clouds have been lifting, the glimpses of this other life have been coming more into focus, little by little.
i don’t want to reach the end of my life, i don’t want to be on my deathbed, thinking about this other life, this parallel universe, this vision of the life i wanted to live, could have lived, should have lived, dreamed about in some way since i was a little girl and that was so close and within my grasp because i actually had all the skills i needed to make it happen… i don’t want to have that regret that i didn’t go for it, that i just didn’t take the chance, the risk, make the move, defy the inertia, and make it happen.
so the time is now. to take action. to start doing instead of just talking. to take risks. maybe even to fail. but at least to try. i have to at least try. and perhaps in trying, if not this particular vision of another life, but some other version that is not what i am living now, will make itself clear.
so here we go.
stay tuned.

army of lovers, part 2

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first of all, i just want to offer my humblest of thanks to everyone who supported me with orders earlier this summer as i was fundraising to get myself on vacation and off to michfest. between the brass band saved my life and army of lovers tshirt campaigns on teespring and my online yard sale of old art/craft stock hanging around the house, i made enough $$ to cover my rent and bills for august so that i was able to absorb the loss of income while i was gone for 3 weeks to the woods. i had such a lovely time at what was probably my mellowest michfest ever – and i really needed that. so thank you, every one of you.

i have returned from fest refreshed and rejuvenated, though still broke. thankfully i have 2 work weeks left in the month to hustle up $$ for rent and bills for september, and the dog walking and pet sitting bookings are coming in, so i should be ok. but i am going to try to continue to do the side-hustle with the creative endeavors just in case, and also because it feels really good to be doing creative things again.

so the first thing i want to offer is that after i designed the “army of lovers” tshirt, i had the brilliant idea to get high-quality stickers made with the same slogan, with the intention of selling them at fest for $1 each. unfortunately, they didn’t get printed on time and though they did manage to find their way to me while i was in the woods, it was a little late in my time there and i just didn’t have much of an opportunity to sell them. i printed 250 of them and have probably only sold about 30 at the most so far – not even enough to break even on the cost of the printing.

army of lovers stickers

therefore, i am going to offer them here. the stickers are 4 inches by 2 inches, slightly wider than a standard business card, silkscreen printed with UV coating and therefore suitable for car bumpers, motorcycles, scooters, bikes, skateboards, helmets or any other outdoor use. (i personally put one on my nalgene water bottle i take with me everywhere.)

since i have to mail them to you, which will cost me the envelope and a stamp (and paypal fees for electronic payment), i’m going to do 1 sticker for $2, 3 stickers for $5, and 6 for $10. (if you want more than that, just email me.) when you hit the “buy now” paypal button below, just input the dollar amount that corresponds to how many stickers you want. it should be that simple. make sure your paypal address that comes to me with your payment is your correct shipping address.

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and that’s it! (alternately, if you have a paypal account, you can just sign in and “send money” to me at mags at artbymags dot com in whatever denomination corresponds to however many stickers you want.)

stay tuned as i will be running the tshirt campaign again soon with perhaps a few changes in style/color offerings for those who missed it the first time around.