Believe it or not, I didn't actually forget about this blog. The holiday season just happened, and I have no idea where the last half of the year went. It's just about Christmas and then 2017 will be over and time for 2018 to start.
As the year comes to a close, I've been thinking a lot about what I've been doing with my art and making a living and how I want to move forward. There have been a lot of firsts this year, and I feel that the "making a living" part of my art has become a lot more diversified for me.
I started teaching this year at the Rochester Arc and Flame here in Rochester. Teaching is something, I had wanted to do for a while, but as a self taught artist I was scared that I would teach people the wrong way to make glass beads. There's always that fear of looking like you don't know what you are talking about. I constantly remind myself that I DO know what I'm doing and that teaching a different method is actually beneficial. I like having different methods to try to see what works best and my students do too.
In the same vein as teaching, I presented at the ISGB Gathering in Las Vegas about my stringer cats. It was a very stressful and scary, but also extremely rewarding experience. I wouldn't exactly call public speaking one of my fortes, but I made it through and people even seemed to like it. I'm a sucker for punishment and I will be doing another shorter presentation in 2018.
I also finally got my work into stores. I now have jewelry and gifts available for purchase at Whitman Works in Penfield and Little Button Craft in the city of Rochester. I'm even talking with another shop in New Orleans about my music pendants.
So that is what I've been up to in the past few months. It's been a lot of different things to balance and can sometimes be a bit of a struggle, but I'm in hopes that I will be relying on my part time retail job a little less. Looking forward to a busy 2018
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