MY ART

I greatly appreciate all the suggestions I have received about marketing my art, but I think I have left a wrong impression. While I would like to sell some of my art for a little extra cash, I am not sufficiently motivated, interested, skilled or whatever to do the work necessary. What I need is a middle person so I can just draw and not give any thought to marketing.

Marketing is the reason my graphic business failed. I loved the design work, but hated the sales side. All of business requires a “sales” side. That’s why what I do now is a hobby. I only hope I sell something. I do not work at it seriously. It’s a lot like a God relationship. Many people only hope to go to heaven, they do nothing about it.

I appreciate the concern many of you have for me. If it will make you fell any better these shows are often only good for contacts. Two follow-ups have lead to two commissioned portraits. That combined with filling the pulpit in a couple of weeks will give me a really good Christmas. And because I am a doting old man who would do anything for his daughter and grandkids, they will also have a good Christmas. I don’t need much to live on. I can and have lived on less that $10 from as early as the tenth of the month to the end of the month. When you are retired, have a place to live and food to eat, it is amazing what you can do. I don’t go anywhere and I don’t do anything that will cost money. If I run out of something, I just wait until I can afford it. It is no big deal. I can’t say that about past days of my life, but at this stage —it is not hard at all. I not longer live on credit

Art is and expression of joy for me. While it is nice when other people like it, I love it when I like it. And that is not always true. While I do not consider myself a perfectionist, that blood courses through my veins. I have had my stomach in a knot in the past because of a glitch no one else would ever notice. That is pretty much a thing of the past. Every drawing I have done lately has multiple errors in the process. Now I either incorporate those into the drawing or cover them up as best I can. My medium is colored pencil. Prismacolor is a wax-based pencil. You do not erase wax. You can lift some off, but if you have already layered it in too heavily, it’s going to stay. It helps if you work lightly and gradually build up the color intensity.

When I decided to take my sabbatical in 1990 and take an art class, I knew I wanted to create something that could hang on the wall. I had spent all my life working on signs and brochures that pass on information. No matter how pretty, interesting or artist they were (and plenty were not), they were used” and discarded. That was their purpose. So when it came time to decide what I would do I gravitated toward colored pencil because it was a dry medium. I have laid this left hand down in more wet projects than I can count. I usually smear the project at some point. I have tried working from right to left. I even did big banners from right to left and often leave out a letter in way too many projects. The beauty of wax (for me) is that I can lay my hand on top of it and nothing changes. Yeah!

I have toyed with putting things on the web. I’m not sure I want to deal with my own web site. I would like to find a consignment art dealer on the web — so if you know of one, I welcome that direction.

In many ways I just like people to see it. And, by the way – most of my prints sell for $20 in 5x7 and 8x10 both matted. I also make then into cards for $2. I’m happy with that. Any lower and I don’t even cover the cost of pencils, paper and ink.

(Caryn: if you read this write me at cswalker42@yahoo.com. I would like to write you directly)

OCEAN PARK BUILDING

This is drawing Number two.

SIN AND ART (not necessarily together)

I think I participated in one of the deadly sins today. I don’t remember the number exactly. Maybe it is an extension of on of the basic seven. It has to do with Stone Cold Creamery. If you don’t know what this sinful place is all about it is a killer (literally) ice cream shop. They have a dozen or so “foundation” ice creams like the standard vanilla, chocolate and strawberry and many more. They scoop out the appropriate base (small, medium and large) and put it on a marble slab that is kept cold (hence the name) and then you add to it just about any topping you can imagine.

I had a thing called “Pie I’d Die for.” or something like that — Oreo cooking (two, I noticed), caramel and chocolate syrups, graham cracker pie crust, and I lost track of what else there was, but I did add pecans. This was wrong, wrong, wrong and I will pay for it foe weeks, maybe even months.

I clearly understand sin. In fact, I consider myself somewhat of an expert since I have done it for years. I do want to do it (well maybe sometimes I do), but like the Apostle Paul. I do what I don’t want to do. — I do wonder if he ever secretly did it because he wanted to. — One of the problems with my sin is that it sticks right out there in front of me. I cannot really keep it a secret. What else can I say? I planned it; I took five others with me. We went, we tasted, we downed it and then went to Starbucks for a chaser. I was good there. I had a sugar free caramel, no caffeine, and skinny latte. I think that kind of balanced out the waffle cone the decedent dessert came in. I promise not to do it for at least another year. Forgive me for I have sinned. It has been four years since I went in that store and I have now done it again. Yum! Why is gluttony one of the deadly sins when the church where I was reared advocated food and lots of it? It never met without tables over flowing with food and especially desserts. I’m sure that is where I learned this awful sin. I always thought “Fellowship” equaled “Food”.

I went for a haircut today and took my barber a print I drew of her shop. She has let me have shows there several times and never charged and never takes a percentage. She has also hosted artists for opening night providing punch, cheese and crackers. I owe her. So I wanted her to have a print of the work. But she surprised me. She wants to buy the original. Bless her heart. That will pay all my expenses for the two shows I have this fall. I am very excited. This may actually be the first show where I will make some money.

The Barbershop is called “Two-Bits.” A cool name for a barber in Old Town, don’t you think? Unfortunately, that has no barring on current prices, but I did get a free haircut today.

THINGS CHANGE — QUICKLY

Things are changing and I don’t understand what is going on or why. It all seems to be happening so fast. There are some reasons, but not enough.

I have changed how I eat. I have increased the quantity of vegetables and am trying to have fruit everyday. I’m not always successful at these, but I make it most days. I am eating less meat. That change is not intentional, I just can’t get that much down any more.

I am losing some weight. It is averaging out to just slightly less than one pound a week. I’m down 6 ½ pounds just shy of eight weeks. Compared to what needs to happen, it is a drop in the bucket. I am not bragging, just reporting. My counselor said we would start working on weight loss in the new-year. I think I have a jump start.

I was completely out of clean pants (since so few fit) on Sunday so dug into the back of my closet for a pair the next size smaller. I expected they would be tight, but maybe I could make it through the services before changing into sweats. They fit. They were comfortable! I was shocked! I looked in the mirror and it doesn’t look like I have shrunk in way but height. About ten days ago I was aware that I walked two blocks without any leg or hip pain. Haven’t done that in awhile. Was shopping yesterday and walked a lot. No pain. Huh! That’s hard to believe.

I have reported that I have been fearful to begin drawing lest my hand would shake too much and I would not have control of the pencils. I knew I was going to have to try sometime. The shaking is very minor and it is not showing in the drawings at all. Yeah! I have a minimum of six new drawing I want to do of Old Town for a November show. If possible I have want to do two more of Seabeck that I would like to complete. And hoping to make a little money from some of the drawings and cards, I also want to get some new Christmas Cards together. I tried humorous cards last year and those didn’t work. I have already done three cards using the park in Old Town as a background. I hope they aren’t too artsy. They have full color Christmas decorations set in several different places in the park. They don’t decorate the park so this will look different. This work is all from photos.

I also attempted to make a craft ornament today that failed miserably. Crash and burn is more like it. Back to the drawing board. If I keep a steady pace I can get this all done. I have more fun when there is some pressure and a deadline. The show and sale is November 18-19. Then I immediately take my work to a Christmas show for Old Town From Nov. 22-Dec. 24.

I am off tomorrow to a free health fair in Poulsbo to see what I can find out about getting my really bad tooth fixed and cheap hearing aids. This may sound strange, but I think I would rather be deaf than sink $6,000 into hearing aids. Of course, it only took the salesman 20 minutes to get that cost down to $3,000. Ticks me off. Why didn’t he start there? I still didn’t feel like I was getting a deal. He signed me up for a health credit card that I believed allowed for a cheaper rate. What a sucker. I don’t consider 26.86% a very good deal at all. I have a card with a rate lower than halve that, but I am not going into that kind of debt.

After the health fair, I will rush back to town for my grandson’s soccer game. Because of the health fair, I will miss my Granddaughters game. I feel bad about that.

It is going to be busy the next several weeks, but it will be fun. I am so encouraged. Quite a sudden change, huh? Well, we can’t be discouraged forever. Besides I don’t take depression pills and if that pops up my doctor will want to prescribe at least three for that problem. He must get a kick back on those prescriptions.