The Business of Art

   Since beginning college in 2006, there is one thing I have said over and over: art majors should be required to take business classes. Too many times a talented artist finds themselves struggling because they have absolutely no idea how to handle their affairs in the world of business. That's what art is, it is a business like any other. Rather than selling a functional product, you are selling a non-functional product. My own thoughts direct me often towards getting an MBA in the upcoming years. Yet so often, fellow artists say they are considering an MFA.
   Why an MFA? "I want to work in a museum," "I want to own my own studio and have more expertise," "I want to teach." An MFA really gives a leg up in one of these areas: teaching. When I worked in an art museum, I was profoundly aware of the number of higher degrees that had nothing to do with art. No one wants a person who doesn't have a head for business running their museum. That makes no sense. Someone with an MBA and an interest in the arts will always have the leg up on the MFA. 
    Recently, the Etsy Storque included an interesting article regarding this very topic. While the article is good, what is truly fascinating are the comments people have left about it. So many artists express how important they feel business really is, how grateful they are that a program is finally being created somewhere tailored to that need, and also regrets that they never had the training in business they realize now is so vital. 
   The real thing for art majors is to not pigeon hole yourself. Focus on art, but minor in something useful. Yes, that sounds a bit harsh on the arts, but honestly, an employer will take you more seriously if you have a more marketable skill as well. Not only do you have that skill, but they can see that bright little you were able to reason that having another skill is important.
    The new program is at the Maryland Institute College of Art and is called the Business of Art and Design Masters Program. Should we move to Maryland, perhaps? 

Charms

   The other day, someone asked me if I sold charms and it started me thinking. Why hadn't I thought of it before? Charms! Miniature paintings the size of one of the earring pendants. I could sell them individually, as pairs, and as starter sets along with a bracelet. I started right away. 

   Here are the first two currently listed: 

Blue Matryoshka

Barn Owl

In with the new and a pinch of the old

A few new painting pendants and one pair of earrings. 

The little fox in the snow pendant is a new version of one previously seen (and sold) in my shop.

Peter Pan and Wendy's kisses. My sister loves J.M. Barrie's classic. 

The official "Tuckoo and Moo Cow" piece. My shop's new signature image!

Hoot Hoot! A little owl on a branch. My mother has an ink drawing of an owl I have loved since I was a kid. Tiny owls are so gorgeous. 

Find all of these pieces Here 

"Late at night when the wires in the walls sing in tune..."

   Another late night. I find myself painting the most when everyone else in the house has gone to bed. Something about the sounds of a sleeping house makes me feel very comfortable. I like the peaceful wee hours of the morning as everyone lies in bed. The stillness of dawn creeping up through the hours gives me space to think. 

   There hasn't been a need to take advantage of late hours for a few years now, but I still find myself doing it. Habit, I suppose. Too many years of sitting in bed drawing or writing because an idea just sprang on me have trained me into being a night owl. It's funny, really. I prefer mornings. Living with 7 other people (most of whom are younger) would kick the morning person out of anyone. 

Longer post tomorrow.

Once upon a time and a very good time it was...

...there was a moocow coming down along the road and this moocow that was coming down along the road met a nicens little boy named Baby Tuckoo." -- James Joyce, A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man"

   I have finally begun what I originally set out to do: brand my shop. I'd hoped to create a series of originals, prints and jewelry all based on Tuckoo and Moo Cow and their adventures, but somehow, that didn't happen, and I slapped my self portrait into the avatar box and began. Well, now I am starting work on it. 
   The picture attached to this article is the first "Tuckoo and Moo Cow" drawing and is currently set as my Etsy avatar. I'm working on a few different watercolors for necklaces right now, one of which is a "Tuckoo and Moo Cow" one. 
   Yay! So glad to be finally getting somewhere on this!

   Enjoy.

She shall have music wherever she goes

Every three hours or so I feel like I might have missed my calling to be a musician. This manifests itself in my singing practically where ever I go, banging around teaching myself the piano and violin, and listening to wonderful music. 

Right now I'm appreciating a couple of bands I have recently discovered: "She and Him," Zooey Deschanel and Matt Ward, and "Beirut" who are impossible to search for because the named themselves after a city. 

Just wanted to share these awesome songs: 

Do you hear those, Highness? Those are the shrieking eels.

   Living in a house with seven other people and a dog is something I have done many times. As the oldest of six children, you get used to all of the noise, noise, noise, noise, NOISE. The older you get, the closer you know you are to that day of freedom when "quiet" won't be a word only applicable to a moment between 2:45 and 3:00am when everyone is finally asleep and not waking up for any reason. You begin to see the light around age 17 when your senior year starts and you can feel deep in your bones the approaching independence of college.  What you never expect is to move back in once you're out.
    Of course, this isn't that rare. Plenty of people move back home for a little while. It just wasn't something my husband and I ever expected for ourselves. 
   My parents are wonderful. They have let us come here and set up camp in a room while we hunt for jobs and try to sort out what the next step will be. It's not as though they are loud, but then at 2:30 every afternoon it begins. In they come from school and yell at each other about all kinds of things while the 7 year old trots in to tell us all about whatever she's thinking of until around 10:00 when they all get chased upstairs to bed. 
   It's not exhausting. I'm used to it, really, but it does make it hard to get things done for my etsy shop, discuss anything between ourselves, or basically anything other than paying attention to them. Occasionally, I have found myself typing what I am hearing my sister say into a response on the forums and I have to pause, go back and try again. 
   Hopefully by tomorrow I will have gathered my wits together enough to be able to write  a more interesting post.