It begins!
I'm not sure if "excited" is a strong enough word to cover my emotions surrounding the events of last week. Last week I approached my boss and calmly, respectfully informed him that I no longer wished to manage the frame shop, but was interested in becoming a part-time employee to allow more time for painting, selling my paintings, and in general "arting". (It's a verb too! Don't argue!) Of course there are some of those nosy and irritating anxieties about finances, but on the whole, this is a significantly positive life event. Many people don't get to pursue their dreams quite like this!
My laundry list to tackle this change is long and varied and covers everything from cleaning and re-organizing my studio space to encourage productivity and allow for potential students to emailing and calling every person, place, store, and organization that might be willing to sell or promote my paintings, to handling the paperwork, tax forms, and healthcare changes that becoming self-employed require. There are so many little things to take care of that never really occur to you before you start this process in earnest! It seems like it should be easy and straight-forward: make paintings and then sell them! I know, however, that to make this a truly successful and permanent change it will require preparation, creativity, flexibility, ingenuity, and perseverance.
I'm absolutely thrilled to begin this adventure and to share it with all of you along the way!
