Lifting my nose from the grindstone.

I got back from Southern California last Sunday. It was a long drive made longer by the company of a very active three year old. We did a lot of stopping and he did a lot of running around each time.

I had planned on working on my site while I was gone. I have about forty post subjects ready to go, so I had no excuse. But I did not even look at my site while I was gone.

Because I live in a shoe box in the Bay Area and my kitchen is the size of a bathroom, I don't cook much. But my son and his fiance have a lovely kitchen. And the entire time I was there I cooked.

It was lovely. My sons job often takes him to the far reaches of LA county and many times that means a two to three hour commute each way. His fiance works closer to home, but works long hours. So my cooking was a boon to all of us.

Food is such a good way to be social. We were able to catch up with each other and I was able to send both of them off each day with leftovers for lunch.

The gallery is located in the downtown area of the small town they live in. It is run by an artist who opened it to promote his work and that of his friends. He's not a great business person, but he is very nice and a fine artist. We had some great conversations while hanging my show.

He told me not to be too disappointed if my work didn't sell. I get that. It takes time to build up a following, (much like building a website). He said that because it was summer, and hot,(110 degrees and hotter some days) and a lot of people were out of town on vacation, etc, etc. that the opening may be a little sparse.

However, he also told me that he was a little surprised at the quality of my work. It doesn't photograph well due to the three dimensionality of the work and the fact that no one else does what I do.

I just smiled and nodded. I have heard it all before. But then he told me that he had seen a lot of work during his time as a gallerist, and could tell me without a doubt that the work I brought was museum quality. And that his was not the right venue to show it to its fullest advantage... However, he had contacts with gallery owners in other areas and my work would be something they would definitely be interested in.

Contacts. The fruit of life.

Being an extreme introvert I am simply unable to market my own work, however my sons fiance is such a strong believer she took the contact info and has been looking into getting me some more shows.

Well, at the opening I sold two pieces. YAY! I met many local artists who came to see my work and got to do a lot of artist talk, which I thrive on. I love the exchange of ideas and methods.

However, with all of this good news, my poor site has been languishing. I'm not sure why, but it has taken me until this morning to get back to work.

It feels good to be back in the saddle again.

I think my break was conducive to my future productivity. I wrote two posts today. I'll proof and set images in them tomorrow.

Life is good.