Preoccupied

 My days are warped; my head preoccupied with filling requests from galleries to make their season and mine profitable.  It is a yearly gamble for an artist/craftsperson.  "what goes where and what else is needed to fill the needs of preparing for the holiday season in galleries."  I'm not signed up for any craft shows...I have just gotten to tired of them to make a good showing there, so I must rely upon my galleries and online etsy sales for income this year.

But let's go from the headache aspect of making art and talk about color and process.  The first image is of new chenille scarves, my narrower width of 7 inches which weaves down to 6".  These are remarkably from the same turquoise/ purple warp but woven through with differing weft tones.  I put on 21 yards of warp which makes 10 scarves and I try to make each a different tone, some more subtle than others.  With these 4 I was reaching to make very different appearing scarves so when I put them in the members show at SPA, I will have a greater variety.

 Just as I was happily weaving the narrower width, I get an email from a woman in Arkansas with a gallery which features hats.  A customer had come in wearing one of my hats; she loved it; looked me up on line and we negotiated a wholesale order of 10 hats...of course, I didn't really charge enough, not being in the practice and not having enough hats made already to send off the order.  I had to put all else aside, weave off the narrow and wind and weave 2 whole warps of 10" scarves which makes the hat...so more scarves for the market...this one will be placed on etsy within the next couple of days.

 So exciting to be able to dissolved into my studio after 2 weeks of weaving, sewing, packing boxes, and sighing.  I got to play with my gel plate and make some prints before I forgot all that I had learned from the Jane Davies workshop...yes, exciting and fun.  I was listening to a audio book, transported!

 But what does one do with prints?  I'm not one to frame my work, cut mats, work with glass, so I made some cards....want me to send you one?  Does snail mail still intrigue folks?  Getting a hand made card in the mail...I wonder...SPA show is coming up; perhaps I will put a few in the show for potential claiming.

 I also made a new set of scarf gift boxes which I use for scarf purchases; my value added at Artisans Hand.  Customers seem to enjoy the chance to choose a hand made gift box for their purchase.

Yesterday I attended a meeting for further development of the Vermont State Craft Centers website and I mentioned a blog.  There are 3 galleries and one craft school which have the Vermont State Craft Center designation...if we all write a bit every couple of months, I think we could create more knowledge and interest about the craft process and its importance.  Did I just tak myself into another job?  Oh my!

 So sometimes I even look upon the hills to my south through the bedroom window...

And sometimes I am visited from the hills to the north.  The deer are hungry this year because the apple crop was almost non existent on these hills from a late frost.  Amazing how close I could get with my zoom lens...even through a window.

Wishing you all good things as the days darken and the cool settles in this north land.