Bad Kitty Art Studio Portland/Beaverton, Oregon - oil paintings, sculpture, painted furniture, recycled art, motivational words

Mingalarbar - Burmese for Hello

Today as I sit and think about all the plans I

had for the Holidays, my dreams of catching the holiday rush

and selling out my last body of work, among other things, I realize that the real issue

is always money.

Money...We all need/want it.

Why?

I would just as soon trade my work for something

I need/want

than pay money for it.

The time, energy, and mindset that it took for me to

create...has value...Right?

Time=money.

"Making babies equal food"

~Talking heads song lyric

What you do everyday, gets you paid a certain amount of money per week, hour or month...right?

If you went to work everyday, and at the end of the week someone told you..."well, I really like/love you work, but I can't afford it",

what would you do?

Well... I bet you would not go and put a

big sign on your head that said

half price sale... now would you?

Your work/time has value...it let's you get paid

so you can keep driving, eating, living.

Guess what?

Me too!

This is my work. This is my job.

It has value...other than the price tag I put on it.

Art is not a thing.

Art is a dialogue...A language that speaks just to you, with

it's own message.

I create dialogue.

What's that worth in dollars?

My question to the universe today is...

if my value as a human is the essence

of what I contribute, give, share...just like the rest of you...then

why is it so hard to sell/trade

my work?

I know that living artist all over the world,

(except for the lucky few)

are complaining of the same thing...

art is not something people are investing in right now.

My question is why not?

With the world in the shape that it is in...and the state of being so many of us Humans are facing...why not buy a work that will feed your soul...make you feel understood, loved, accepted...just make you feel... something?

Why not invest a little of that money into feeding your inner you?

I can't live without art in my life...

it's like food, water and air.

So... it's hard for me to understand,

why...

if I toil, I work hard, promote myself, lower my prices to an unbefore lowest price...

(becasue I can and want to make art affordable does not mean I created a way to do that, because my work isn't good enough/or valuable...or investment grade art, I am just solving a problem...you can't afford gallery art...and now you can)

How do I keep painting/creating...if no one spends money on it?

I know there is a lesson Saturn is trying to teach me here. I want to learn it the best I can.

That's one of the reasons why I love bartering/trading...

because I think each work that I do is equal to you getting a paycheck...I just have to wait until the person who loves the creation and has the combination of either money/goods/services to trade for it, to find it and then be motivated enough to do it.

That's the hard part.

Waiting for a paycheck.

Artist don't have an income..we have an "ifcome".

Knowing what I am doing is "right" for me.

Knowing that I am "right" about this passion, these talents, these creations of love, that they are one of my main reasons for being here...

and that human beings are not walking ATM machines, and

should never be treated as such.

I used to have a business where I sold stuff everyday...now mind you it was plants, and being that I am a retired Landscape designer and Horticulture Junkie...I can talk/sell plants like nobody's business. With plants....if it wasn't the right one...I just moved them to the next greenhouse and found the one that was right.

With Art...

I can't sell you art.

You sell you art.

I can create it...but you have to find it,

love it, and buy/barter/trade for it.

It's a hard lesson to learn, for me.

Not to try and sell...to try and just be.

Just keep working.

I am not an art sales person...

I am the creator...

I can tell you more about the creation,

the motivation behind any work...better than any gallery owner...or sales agent....

but I can't sell you any art.

You have to do that part.

If money is the gravy of a

Humans

hard work...

then please

Pass the freaking Gravy!

Thank you for being here

and have a great day.

Think about the cost of the things in your life today...

and the value/worth that those things bring to your soul,

your inner you.

Feed your soul more than Money, you are worth it,

and so am I.

My work is worth living with.

My work is worth your hard earned money

...or service or item that I need/want...

my work will feed your inner you

forever

...can you say that about any

of your other things?

Yours in the struggle today,

Heather