*want*

Lesson learned: be very clear about what you want, and don't assume the other person already has the information they need to help you.

I found out that Tim, who prints my photos, got his new gicleé machine last fall, so I took an order to him, just meaning to replace some of the pictures that I had sold at last spring's shows.  Since his old machine had broken down last spring, he had amassed quite a bit of backlog, so he couldn't get to mine for a while (Robin, his #1, had said she hoped that I didn't need them before Christmas.  I assured her not.)  After Christmas, I checked with them periodically to see if he'd gotten to mine yet.
    A few weeks ago, Robin told me he had questions.  Among other things, one of the pics was not stored on his computer, and he wasn't sure what I wanted to do about that.  But by that time, I was running short on time, and I decided that I would just place the order for my five new pics, and one older one that had sold out last year.

To simplify things (I thought), the new pics all had file names with the title and the width of the picture:  i.e. "Land Line 10"wide."  That way, he could just look at the title and set the measurements in the computer and press print.  Those were the instructions I gave Robin, and those are the instructions she wrote down.  And that's where the trouble began.

Now, the old pics were not designated thusly.  When I placed the original order for "Skyline Signature," I was standing there with Tim at the computer as he followed my verbal instructions and typed in 15"x whatever", and I assumed that the old measurements were still in his computer.  They probably were.  But the old pic order got conflated with the new pic instructions and...

Tim says to Robin, "Is this really the size he wants?"

Robin says to Tim, "Yeah, that's what he said."

So Tim prints the picture according to the title on the file, which says "Ratio 1.25 32x40."

Twice.

That title actually had nothing to do with the gicleé prints.  When the photo was originally taken, my intent was to paint this picture, and 32x40 was to be the size of the painting.  Then my friend Loggan made the astute observation that I would never get around to it, and then I discovered Tim,and well, the rest is history.

I got the call today that the pictures were ready.  When I came in, there was "Skyline Signature," two of them, the size of a full sheet of matboard.  Omigosh, they were beautiful.  It wasn't what I meant to order, and he is reprinting in the size I need, but I want the big ones so bad.

But here's the problem.  Gicleé is a relatively expensive printing process, which makes the prints expensive for the art consumer to buy.  When I got home, I figured out that the retail price on these would be $470 unframed!  Do I actually have a market for that? And I'm down one show this year, since the Kathy's Market On The Paseo show had to be cancelled for this year.  The Pride show is not a moneyed show, and the only other show coming up that I've been involved with is the Pancakes and Booze show in September.  It's not practical to spend the money on them this year.

But I want them.

I want them so bad.

The other prints were mostly fine (although, when I got home I realized that I hadn't specified the 1" borders, which is going to cause some framing problems -- again, don't assume someone will remember something you told them two years ago,) so I packed them up to take home, still wistfully looking at the giant ones.  I told Tim, "Don't destroy these, because I know I'm going to talk myself into getting them."  I don't know when, but it's going to happen.

Probably. 

Ambivalence

I finally finished this commissioned piece, which should have been done a long time ago -- and not just because the couple had been trying to get me to do it for a couple of years.  The gentleman finally got my attention while I was doing the Paseo show, and expressed some urgency. 
   
I have an ambivalent relationship with commissions.  On the one hand, it's really nice to know that someone likes my work well enough to hire me to do it, and, of course,  the (almost) guaranteed sale is nice as well.  BUT, on the other hand, it's work that I have to do, and that one fact just gets into my head.
    I'm what I've heard called a "frustrated perfectionist," which the man-spouse thinks of as a procrastinator with an excuse.  Essentially it means that if I know I can't do something perfectly, I won't do it at all.  In the case of commissioned work, that translates to, if I can't get a significant amount of work done, or if I'm at all worried that my frame of mind or lack of sleep, etc., will screw it up somehow, I put off working on it till I can be sure of the results.  Which means delays.
    The other problem is that I get stressed out about details.  This is, after all, somebody's [insert subject matter here.]  They're going to notice if it's wrong.  So, I will spend hours trying to get the details right in that shadow around the front door, and I'm impressed with myself when I've completed a square inch.
    The third problem is just my weird schedule combined with my bad time management skills.  And you can pile not getting enough sleep on top of that. 

The problem with NOT working on commissions is that I don't work on anything else either.  Because I'm not getting that thing done that I have to do, I'm sort of punishing myself by not doing the things I want to do.  So nothing gets done.  Jeez I'm pathetic.

I finished the piece late this afternoon, and I sent a photo in the text to the client.  She was very happy, but I had to explain that I couldn't get it to her right away because a co-worker had called in sick, and I had to take a long nap before work.  She said that that was fine.  I'm glad she likes it.

Warning Signs

It's The Weekend! (Don't waste it.)

First of all, Happy 4th of July everyone!  Or, if you happen to work in the service industry, Happy Tuesday.

Spring show season is over, and I've had a pretty good season.  Now it's time to work on other things.  At this moment I have a multi-picture framing project on my work table, a commissioned pen & ink drawing to do, and the drawings and paintings that I hope to have done by next spring.  My next planned event is the Pancakes & Booze show in September.  The plan, at this point, is to show some of my decoupage furniture and bottles.  I don't have enough done for a show yet, but that can change in... Oh, crap, that's only two months away.    

This is the first week with a normal schedule that I've had in a while, and I need to make the most of it.  I need to get my bookkeeping done for two shows, and send the tax commission a couple of checks.  I need to do a little inventory work and then put my boxes away. I desperately need a haircut, and I'm out of ropa interior limpia.  The girl dog needs a bath.  Also, all my ebay auctions are ending today.

Yes, I am doing that again.  It's been a while since I've had stuff up on ebay, though it's been on my mind forever.  I put some pics up last Monday, and I've already sold one of the '53 Chevy pics (Sandra Dee '53.)  I also set up an etsy account, but I still need to figure out how to use it.

I should make a to do list.  Anyway, I'm up, showered, and coffeed.  The man-spouse is getting ready for work, and we both need some breakfast.  The boy dog needs his medicine, and then it's time to get stuff done.