Recent addition to an old journaling project in a recycled children's board book. |
2023 was a stressful year for me.
Recent addition to an old journaling project in a recycled children's board book. |
2023 was a stressful year for me.
"Ballad of the Broken", 20x20 inch mixed media on wood |
I'm getting old.
In my head I still feel like I'm 30-something... but then something will happen that will slap me back to reality and I'll have to acknowledge that some things don't work quite as well as they used to. My memory is one.
A few months ago I decided I needed to update my credit card reader that I use for art fairs. The old one still works, but it reads the stripe on the credit card and the new readers take the chip, tap and also accept debit card transactions. They're more secure and offer another choice for my customers. All good. So I go online and order the upgraded hardware. And the order is immediately cancelled. I don't have time to figure out why, so i put it on the back burner and on my list of things to do.
The list of things I need to do is fairly long. But I do get back to it a few weeks later and the same thing happens. And again a few weeks later. I submit a support ticket. Nothing happens. I don't have time and I have more important things to stress over, so I leave it.
This week I'm determined to get a bunch of stuff done because I have Arts on the Credit coming up in a few weeks. I've got new work that I'm thinking is pretty good and might sell, so I really want to have that reader. I order, my order is cancelled. I submit another support ticket. This time I get an email back right away with a few basic questions. The first one: what email are you using to log into your account?
It dawns on me immediately..... I set up my account a decade ago, when I had a different domain and a different email address. Jeezus, I can't be that dense, can I? I go back into my old email (I still use it on occasion for personal stuff) and sure enough, there are promotional emails there prompting me to upgrade my hardware. Sigh. So I go into my account and use the old email to order, and sure enough, it goes through.
I also have 800 unread emails sitting there, so there's that.
Anyway.....
I'll be at Arts on the Credit with my new collection of botanical inspired paintings, April 29-30, 2023. Always a good show. If you come out, make sure you pop around and say hi. I'll be right by the door.
"Winter Blue", 20x20 mixed media on wood. Prints available on my website. |
I've been making generous use of the block button recently. There was a time when blocking someone wasn't something that came to mind when I got a negative comment online. But with a growing audience, the occasional critical comment has become something else entirely. From people telling me to "give up and just get married", or that my work is "unoriginal" ( or better yet... "complete crap"), comments from random strangers has become something I've had to actively deal with, to make sure they don't mess with my head.
Comments on social media can be a double-edged sword. On one hand, they can provide valuable insights and perspectives that we may not have considered before. On the other hand, they can be hurtful, offensive, or simply unproductive.Sometimes a small project you can work on for short periods of time is a way to get going. I can do anything for 5 minutes is my reasoning... and I usually work away for an hour or so. |