Treading Water --> Swimming
It's been two weeks since I've last posted here, after promising myself I would be here weekly. With good reason: my car's engine died, at a time when I simply cannot replace it (the engine or the car). Having relied on having one for the past several years, this is an immediate lifestyle change. I won't belabor how stressful this whole situation has been with every detail; know that it's been awful, yet everything is going to be okay. (I'm saying this to myself, too.)
So yeah, anything related to jewelry just... didn't happen. Usually, after breaking with new habits, I would just abandon hope of regaining the routine. But! As you might recall, I've been working on letting go of perfectionism as a habit as well - and thankfully, I've been working on that one a little while longer. Back on the horsie.
Focusing on the positive, I have not been stranded. Cute people in my life have been generous with rides and sharing of their vehicles, the bus (sort of) can get me where I need to go, and hey, I'll be getting more exercise... Life goes on.
Crisis has a clarity about it sometimes. For me, at least. It's jarring, but moments like these I understand. Don't get me wrong, I *hate* it, but I suppose I'm used to it. These drowning moments boil down to sink or swim, and fast decisions must be made. So two weeks past the car shit show, I'm not drowning anymore, but I'm still treading water. I wished I was under a rock, resurfaced, and now I'm catching a breath before swimming to shore.
What has become clear to me is that I need more income to meet my needs, and that I need to make it easier for people invested in my craft to support me. Because I need to say "yes" to various gigs to get by, I cannot always be producing new work. Without having new work, there's nothing for you all to get... which means even less time for making stuff. It's a cycle I want to break.
Over the past year, I've fantasized about scrapping the idea that I could support myself as an artist. Each time I've done this out loud, in front of someone, I've received a pep talk about not giving up, et cetera, et cetera. Dreams come true and that stuff. If you follow my diary, aka my personal Twitter account, you'd know that that stresses me OUT. Being an artist is one of those jobs that you pay to do. Like, I don't show up to the my artist office, punch in, work my allotted number of hours, punch out, and get a paycheck every two weeks. If it was that easy, I would have never ever had any other job. Ah well. I pay for supplies, wear all of the hats, pay for application fees so I can hopefully pay for vendor fees... even being frugal about it is still expensive with a very limited income. I feel that the most meaningful way to show an artist that you believe in their work is to financially support it if you can.
Therefore, I've created a Patreon creator page, through which loved ones, friends, and fans can connect and financially support my endeavors. If you haven't heard of Patreon, I will explain it to you. Basically, you pledge a nominal amount (starting at $1/month) to become a patron, and gain access to exclusive content and perks. The rewards get juicier at higher levels (like free stuff in the mail), and we get to grow a little community of people around what I love doing the most - creating and sharing what I've created. I'll still be posting here weekly! Things are obviously still a bit clunky for me personally so I'm just forming the habit of taking up this space, but I'm excited about what's to come.
PS - I'll be putting another post up in a day or so about a really neat show I'm in soon.