Wednesday, May 6, 2009

Rain on My Parade


(Click on the thumbnail for the bigger, better version)

It may have rained on my parade, but it was a heck of a parade anyway. For the first time in weeks, the “possible” rain made it here and, for an hour or two before the show, I was concerned that the weather would result in a small turnout. On the contrary, a surprising number of folks weren’t afraid of melting, and a grand time was had by all. Lori and her fiancĂ©, Robert, were excited about the numbers who joined us—especially since they are the newest venue and meant that folks needed to add a brand new stop to their First Friday tour.

I met lots of people and visited with some new friends. I learned a great deal about local publications, organizations, upcoming events, and resources. As if that weren’t enough, sales were extremely encouraging. (Lori feels certain that the interest in the work was strong enough that some people just need time to finalize that decision to purchase and will return next week to buy their favorite print. I seem to have found the price range for this market. I definitely wasn’t willing to sell at a price that would make the whole venture exclusively an ego boost. (They like me. They really, really like me. With apologies to Sally Field.) But, I faced reality.

At the end of the evening, I inquired as to who would be the next featured artist and was surprised to learn that Lori and Robert want to feature my prints again for first Friday in June. The good news is that ,with sales and another show in a month, I have work and deadlines coming out my ears—prints to replace; new work to add for the June show. The bad news is that I will have to postpone my SoFoBoMo project a little longer. I am still eager to begin my book, and wish I could just split up into two people for the next four or five weeks. I think I have gotten a glimmer of where I want to shoot, but need one more scouting trip to confirm the decisions. Now, it's about those extra hours in the day that I have been requesting for years.

12 comments:

  1. Anita, I'm happy, but not surprised, to hear that your Friday show went so well. Congratulations!

    Be sure and take a moment for yourself to embrace it. It'll make it easier when getting to the tasks of dealing with the "labors of your success."

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  2. Earl - What excellent advice. I do have a knack in these situations for dashing headlong to the next
    "station".

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  3. Congratulations! Wow! Double featured! Two months of your own. Be careful, you're going to get celebrity status in your new home. :-)

    I'm glad to hear that everything went well. Sounds like you've started a new 'career' with a bang! Go, Anita!!!

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  4. Paul - Thanks for the generous good wishes. I appreciate the encouragement. But,new career?! Whew! That's scary. At my age?! As for celebrity, I don't think there is much danger of that.

    I am enjoying getting some things printed and framed, along with having some other folks choose my work to put in their homes. And, I would like to do some more photo shoots of horses and their humans. That is extremely satisfying. But, I think I'll leave the new full-blown careers to you young whippersnappers.

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  5. Young whippersnapper? That's the first time, in a long time, that I've been called that! These gray hairs on my beard tell a different story! I was buying a beer the other day and tried to get 'carded', but the bar tender said that she didn't need to see my ID. :-) LOL!

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  6. I'm glad you had a great show!

    You know, it's never too late to start a new career :)

    Yours is one of the SoFoBoMo books I'm looking forward to.

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  7. Paul - I love the idea of you trying to get carded.

    Still, gray hair in your beard. Hah! I'm not impressed. Are you forgetting that you announced your age when mentioning a birthday recently? My hair isn't terribly gray (I owe that to my Mom's genes), but notice I haven't published my age. That's a clue. Take that you, young whippersnapper.

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  8. Rakesh - SoFoBoMo pressure. Yikes. I had better get focused. Thank you for the vote of confidence. That means a great deal.

    I am laughing at myself that I am working like a demon on all these things, in spite of the fact that I am quite clear about not pursuing a new career. Obviously, I am chasing a totally consuming avocation—you know, lots of energy, tons of money going out, but not much money coming in. I guess this is my version of enjoying retirement. Beats the rocking chair version in my mind.

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  9. This is all really wonderful. I am so happy for you. Congrats!

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  10. Chris - Thanks for more good wishes. The amount of good will and support from fellow bloggers is amazing. There are so many people eager to encourage others and celebrate the smallest of victories. It's heartwarming.

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  11. Gordon - Thanks.

    I am looking forward to those posts from your trip.

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Anita