Journals74
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Resurrection
1 min read
I Live.
Time to start making Art again.
Time to start making Art again.
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Thrice and Once
5 min read
Brief update over Life, the Universe and Everything around my Art & Business:
HIGHLIGHTS: October I worked at a local spook house for a modest income that didn't really provide the capital influx I was hoping for but provided a little bit of fun. November I debuted a new product line of key fobs, December I started work on a new collaborative project that may pay off very well come May/June. January I set up an Events calendar for my local area.
In general it's been a hand-to-mouth half year wrangling the needs of Business with the mandate of Art all while mooning around matters of the heart. Since November I've found myself embroiled in some aspirational romance almost monthly. This last one was the most intense.. There was the potential for something good there.. something really, really good... but Fate and Obsession have buried that road. The only perplexity that remains is where you finally fall between Victim and Villain and whether anything could have been done to end in an ideal situation... No I don't need comments on this, but thank you for your consideration.
At current my objectives for this year are threefold:
MARKET RESEARCH
Part of the reason for planning an events calendar is to develop a schedule for maximizing the focus of my energies. An artist needs to eat and a business needs cashflow to live. Knowing when special events are and what considerations they require not only provides a framework of business exchange potential to work towards but also a chance to get to know new venues I have yet to experience personally where I might observe and determine whether there is affable market opportunity for my work.
PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT
Better knowing what customer bases are around and more details about them allows me to tailor my work so that it not only meets client demand but my own particulars as well. I prefer certain flavours and elements in my work as well as those I cater to. There may very well be specific product lines and market bases that provide ample business opportunity but I might as well go back into the prostitution of the Corporate world as spend the better part of my life developing my craft for a market or client base I relate to less well than others. At present the challenge is to determine what existing or new product lines offer the best sustaining potential for custom development and which elements of the mundane to compromise on to provide enough cashflow for core survival.
WORKSHOP LOCATION
Having determined who I want to cater to and what I want to create the third aspect of this triumvirate becomes, "What physical location may best support my needs as both an Artisan and a Human Being?" I've enjoyed my stay in Dallas. I've got friends here, I've had loves; Dallas is where I've come to know myself. But I've long felt the environment might not support the colloquial arts as well as another would. Dallas is not one for encouraging street artists. The permitting process is exploitative both practically and commercially. For another several physical and social elements encourage Individual precedence over Communal activity which hinders Artist involvement both with citizen bases and with one another. Dallas is also a nexus however; one of the bright Oasises in the Southwestern United States. Several communities I'm fond of congregate here on a recurring basis and, for material regards, provides ample opportunity in establishing certain kinds of business.
So I'm wanting to see other cities. "Date" them if you will. Set up a checklist of what both my operations and my heart needs in order to be happy and from there evaluate if they can be satisfied in one location just the same as anywhere else (in which case I might as well stay in Dallas) or if there truly may be someplace where I can blossom more fully.
Should events through May provide the right capital I'm looking at taking time off during the Summer to travel around. A number of places in Europe as well as the States have caught my eye. An actual plan will be determined once May rolls around and I better know what resources I have to work with. Once I decide on a home the matter simply becomes What must I do to get and stay there? Easier questions have been asked, but it's a far cry from some of the harder ones.
And as a final aside my apologies to all interested parties here on DA who have been avidly anticipating my attentions. I kept up with this site a lot more when I had conventional employ in a computer lab with way too much free time and more modest ambitions. Time is perhaps the one element we all have an unknown, equal access to that can be used to create worlds, plumb the depths of significance or eke out on a halcyon exploration of experience. For me it has become one of the few resources I can reliably draw upon.
HIGHLIGHTS: October I worked at a local spook house for a modest income that didn't really provide the capital influx I was hoping for but provided a little bit of fun. November I debuted a new product line of key fobs, December I started work on a new collaborative project that may pay off very well come May/June. January I set up an Events calendar for my local area.
In general it's been a hand-to-mouth half year wrangling the needs of Business with the mandate of Art all while mooning around matters of the heart. Since November I've found myself embroiled in some aspirational romance almost monthly. This last one was the most intense.. There was the potential for something good there.. something really, really good... but Fate and Obsession have buried that road. The only perplexity that remains is where you finally fall between Victim and Villain and whether anything could have been done to end in an ideal situation... No I don't need comments on this, but thank you for your consideration.
At current my objectives for this year are threefold:
MARKET RESEARCH
Part of the reason for planning an events calendar is to develop a schedule for maximizing the focus of my energies. An artist needs to eat and a business needs cashflow to live. Knowing when special events are and what considerations they require not only provides a framework of business exchange potential to work towards but also a chance to get to know new venues I have yet to experience personally where I might observe and determine whether there is affable market opportunity for my work.
PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT
Better knowing what customer bases are around and more details about them allows me to tailor my work so that it not only meets client demand but my own particulars as well. I prefer certain flavours and elements in my work as well as those I cater to. There may very well be specific product lines and market bases that provide ample business opportunity but I might as well go back into the prostitution of the Corporate world as spend the better part of my life developing my craft for a market or client base I relate to less well than others. At present the challenge is to determine what existing or new product lines offer the best sustaining potential for custom development and which elements of the mundane to compromise on to provide enough cashflow for core survival.
WORKSHOP LOCATION
Having determined who I want to cater to and what I want to create the third aspect of this triumvirate becomes, "What physical location may best support my needs as both an Artisan and a Human Being?" I've enjoyed my stay in Dallas. I've got friends here, I've had loves; Dallas is where I've come to know myself. But I've long felt the environment might not support the colloquial arts as well as another would. Dallas is not one for encouraging street artists. The permitting process is exploitative both practically and commercially. For another several physical and social elements encourage Individual precedence over Communal activity which hinders Artist involvement both with citizen bases and with one another. Dallas is also a nexus however; one of the bright Oasises in the Southwestern United States. Several communities I'm fond of congregate here on a recurring basis and, for material regards, provides ample opportunity in establishing certain kinds of business.
So I'm wanting to see other cities. "Date" them if you will. Set up a checklist of what both my operations and my heart needs in order to be happy and from there evaluate if they can be satisfied in one location just the same as anywhere else (in which case I might as well stay in Dallas) or if there truly may be someplace where I can blossom more fully.
Should events through May provide the right capital I'm looking at taking time off during the Summer to travel around. A number of places in Europe as well as the States have caught my eye. An actual plan will be determined once May rolls around and I better know what resources I have to work with. Once I decide on a home the matter simply becomes What must I do to get and stay there? Easier questions have been asked, but it's a far cry from some of the harder ones.
And as a final aside my apologies to all interested parties here on DA who have been avidly anticipating my attentions. I kept up with this site a lot more when I had conventional employ in a computer lab with way too much free time and more modest ambitions. Time is perhaps the one element we all have an unknown, equal access to that can be used to create worlds, plumb the depths of significance or eke out on a halcyon exploration of experience. For me it has become one of the few resources I can reliably draw upon.
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The Rare Contributor
3 min read
Beloved midgeons, what has been going on lately?
Got the tax ID, business account & DBA setup and have become an official business entity. yaay! Meanwhile have been developing a business structure through which to define my operations & learning the varied bureaucratic miscellany along the way so as to maximize efficiency and establish a sustaining workshop. In other words, AARGH! They say, "Do what you love and you won't work a day in your life" which is BALONEY. You might not work half the days in your life - unless what you love doing is paperwork, writing & sifting through legal mountains of hoodoo. Still, it is liberating in some ways. Especially in the pantry - lol!
Have discovered the transient sustainability of Busking - shoulda been doing it earlier! Was able to build up the capital for BATS and develop a small batch of cases which got mostly finished in time for the show. It could have turned out better but I was able to get my product home and hopefully the seeds sown will turn into the redwoods of tomorrow. Other than that a charming show and at least 2 people went home with my special cases.
Also bashed my thumb somewhat good with a ball peen hammer. Do not recommend. I've never split my thumb that way before... vertically... at the point where the fingernail and skin part ways, but the flesh seems to have started knitting back together (or at least become nicely epoxy'd by wonderful white blood cells) and healing should commence. May get back to riveting today. The nerve endings are still a little dead at the tip of my thumb which makes it feel like a callus but it still throbs somewhat unpleasant-like if you touch it in the wrong way.
Not so many commissions to work on this time. If I'm able to pay off both King Richard's & the Sheriff of Nottingham's tax as well as the various highwaymen along the way I plan to go back into heavy R&D mode. Lots of possible that could help bolster up the tarot case product line(s). Another convention looms on the horizon of February next year. In order to do that'n though I'ma gonna need to build up the capital by mid-October. Hopefully Pride will help with that (along with the various collectors) but I REALLY want to make a special costume for myself for Samhain this year.
Gods I crave a problem-free industrial sewing machine. And a safe workshop space. And a right-proper cutting table.
Got the tax ID, business account & DBA setup and have become an official business entity. yaay! Meanwhile have been developing a business structure through which to define my operations & learning the varied bureaucratic miscellany along the way so as to maximize efficiency and establish a sustaining workshop. In other words, AARGH! They say, "Do what you love and you won't work a day in your life" which is BALONEY. You might not work half the days in your life - unless what you love doing is paperwork, writing & sifting through legal mountains of hoodoo. Still, it is liberating in some ways. Especially in the pantry - lol!
Have discovered the transient sustainability of Busking - shoulda been doing it earlier! Was able to build up the capital for BATS and develop a small batch of cases which got mostly finished in time for the show. It could have turned out better but I was able to get my product home and hopefully the seeds sown will turn into the redwoods of tomorrow. Other than that a charming show and at least 2 people went home with my special cases.
Also bashed my thumb somewhat good with a ball peen hammer. Do not recommend. I've never split my thumb that way before... vertically... at the point where the fingernail and skin part ways, but the flesh seems to have started knitting back together (or at least become nicely epoxy'd by wonderful white blood cells) and healing should commence. May get back to riveting today. The nerve endings are still a little dead at the tip of my thumb which makes it feel like a callus but it still throbs somewhat unpleasant-like if you touch it in the wrong way.
Not so many commissions to work on this time. If I'm able to pay off both King Richard's & the Sheriff of Nottingham's tax as well as the various highwaymen along the way I plan to go back into heavy R&D mode. Lots of possible that could help bolster up the tarot case product line(s). Another convention looms on the horizon of February next year. In order to do that'n though I'ma gonna need to build up the capital by mid-October. Hopefully Pride will help with that (along with the various collectors) but I REALLY want to make a special costume for myself for Samhain this year.
Gods I crave a problem-free industrial sewing machine. And a safe workshop space. And a right-proper cutting table.
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Etsy Store Uploaded!
1 min read
After probably far too long I've finally gotten over my Ebay trauma and have set up an Etsy store! yaaay! And to kick things off I'm selling a few of my older art pieces along with some new things I haven't uploaded here. Drop on in and have a peruse!
Bracer - Angels
Misc - Solar Headband
Bracer Set - Solar Bands
Bracer - Pentacle
Tarot Case - Vlad
Cheers!
-Aaron-
Bracer - Angels
Misc - Solar Headband
Bracer Set - Solar Bands
Bracer - Pentacle
Tarot Case - Vlad
Cheers!
-Aaron-
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10,000+ messages in ~6 hours!
1 min read
Dear gods, thanks to the new stacking features DA has provided I am finally caught up on my Deviant Watches here for literally the first time in years! I thought I'd taken screenshots of it awhile back but believe me when I say that I've had over TEN-THOUSAND messages in my in-box here for a long, long time.
Stock providers, I love you all for what you offer to the community and I am keeping you in my "friends" list, but do not feel maligned when I say that I have taken you off my notifications lists when you update with new deviations. There is simply too proportionately greater a frequency of updates from you than other artists here, and besides, I will know where to go when I need inspiration or reference for future projects
To quote the Great Madame Morovia, I sleep now.
Stock providers, I love you all for what you offer to the community and I am keeping you in my "friends" list, but do not feel maligned when I say that I have taken you off my notifications lists when you update with new deviations. There is simply too proportionately greater a frequency of updates from you than other artists here, and besides, I will know where to go when I need inspiration or reference for future projects
To quote the Great Madame Morovia, I sleep now.
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