clarity...

i had an overwhelming sense of clarity when i woke up this morning. i knew without a doubt that it is time for me to put the Etsy shops - all three of them - in "vacation" mode with the real possibility of closing them completely.

why?

simply put: they have served their purpose.

opening the shops was a way for me to get me feet wet. a chance for me to share my work. a means of getting to feel okay with selling it.

check, check, and check.

but the amount of time it takes to do the work, photograph it, list it, etc, etc, etc, is really eating into the time i need to devote to moving forward as an artist.

i want to do more work. bigger work. smaller work. 2-D. 3-D. any and all kinds of work that will best answer the questions i pose. 

i want the work out there being seen. 

i want it in reputable galleries. in private and public collections. in print. in juried venues. in solo shows.

i want to move it out so i have space - literally and figuratively - to do more work.

i want to experience a residency that would allow me to totally immerse myself in a body of work, or discover new directions.

to realize any of this means i really need to step up my game and put in some time:

- scouting out galleries that might be a fit.

- answering "calls for entries".

- writing for publications.

- applying for residencies

in short, taking the time to do all the things that i haven't been doing because of the time i've spent on Etsy.

and the only way i'll get that time is to respect my work enough to make it the priority - not the sales and stats (or lack thereof) on Etsy that gets The Committee residing in my head working overtime convincing me that i'm a fraud. a failure. or worse.

thank heavens for this quiet sunday morning that has shifted something inside me.

thanks heavens for this clarity.

untitled. plastic mesh, machine stitching on paper. 9 x 12 inches. 2013

: : karen anne