Well, Here We Are

I’m not entirely sure what my expectation was. That adding a market two days a week would be easy? No. I’m not dumb. I think I expected the challenges to be different. I didn’t factor the amount of time that I would be spending on working on market related tasks outside of those two days. I think I figured producing work would be mostly limited to reordering prints and replenishing a reasonable amount of hand painted stock. For the last month or so, I haven’t sold quite as many bags. HOWEVER, I started off the first couple months or so selling multiples every week and it set me so far behind. As I paint them, they’re being sold. And I’ve had a few commissions thrown in there that I’ve needed to focus on. I could potentially be a bit more on top of things if I could manage my time better, and I won’t use Nys as an excuse, but the balance is nonexistent. Hence also why I’ve been largely ignoring social media and my site.

Throw in windows… It’s a mess. My schedule is a mess. Even with limited window projects. Here’s how that’s gone — March was Oaken Keg, very large project. April I started the salon (and market prep). Then the Oaken Keg was vandalized (I didn’t want to make a big deal out of it, but it was frustrating). Back to the salon (doing the market at this point, and school getting out). Then Alaskan Mystic Wonders was damaged by hail. Back to the salon. Then the Oaken Keg was vandalized again. I feel bad for Miss Kristin and also Gale, who I haven’t even managed to get to yet. The salon is almost done, but I’m also still trying to repair and add at Oaken Keg right now. The vandalism set me back quite a bit, and so did the hail damage.

So, on that… The first incident at OK was caused by someone who had hung a missing person sign on the window. The employee working had told them to put it somewhere else, and the guy got mad apparently and keyed the ever loving shit out of it. The windows themselves are actually damaged under the paint and the guy was 86’d from OK. The second, I’m actually more annoyed by because despite it being vandalism, it could have been cute if they hadn’t been jerks about it. There were two spots that someone had done initials and a heart. The first was very big in the middle of a painted lake. The second was smaller, on a painted box wine. The box wine was SITTING ON TOP OF A PICNIC TABLE. If they had thought for two seconds, they could have done cute vandalism and scratched their initials and heart into the picnic table. I might not have even repaired it. But hell no, they had to be assholes.

And here’s what painting windows looks like for me… Nyssa woke up on my way there because I sneezed. I drove around for an hour trying to get her back to sleep. It wasn’t happening. So I put her on my back in the carrier. Some of the time, she was cool… Looking at cars, the trees, the flowers. The rest of the time, she was trying to get the clippy out of my hair (and pulling my hair out). Then, she got bored and wanted shows (Ms. Rachel). I couldn’t hold my phone and the paint, so it wasn’t happening. She calmed down briefly, then smacked me across the side of the head and I figured that was as far as I was going to get. I got the scratches basically repaired, and started adding some flowers. But it’s pretty minimal right now.

I should be back there today (or the salon), but it’s a bit rainy and I have a First Friday to get ready for, so I’m splitting my time a bit. I don’t want to be out in the rain with Nys. We might go to the salon later… If she’s napping, I can get it finished I think. And that building has overhang. OK doesn’t.

This week is also a week without Ayeden, so it’s prime for windows. So I do need to cram them in when I can. The weeks I have him, I already drag him with me to the market on Wednesdays… And having both kids with me while I’m painting windows is just… it’s a lot.

Now… All of that being said. I’ve learned a lot this summer. How I need to split my time, how I’m going to structure my year, how I’m going to prepare for the market this winter, what I need to focus on. I think I’ll even go as far as getting it posted on my site and socials somewhere so my boundaries and personal expectations are out there.

Here’s where we’re at right now…

There are 14 market days left. The last day is September 19th. I have a First Friday event this coming Friday that I’m trying to prepare for. And I have two sets of windows that I’m trying to work on, with a third in line waiting.

If anyone reading this happens to be in the Fairbanks area, I would love to see you on Friday at Gather! I’ll have prints and some originals for sale that I would love to find homes for.

Til I find time to write here again! Take care.