My March Madness in Words Only

Some of the emotion, aka madness, from last week and frankly for most of March, has eased allowing me to get one more post in before this month ends, less I appear an April's fool tomorrow.

My March madness stemmed from the fear and frustration of not meeting my goals and deadline to get my art out in the market. That included making it, having it photographed by a professional, finding outlets and walking the real and virtual pavements. I already feel behind regarding where I would like to be, and fear being left behind. But I accept where I am right now. Part of my character make-up is that I set the bar higher than I can realistically reach at a given time. These situations only make me more sensitive and magnify my strengths and weaknesses...single-handedly.

I have allowed even more of ME and my interests and passions to come out in my current work. A grand gesture on my part, don't ya think?  I am becoming even more vulnerable creatively and financially which makes me afraid (madness I tell you) but that's okay. I know it is part of the process. Which why it is essential that the photography showcases my work in the best way possible. Professional with some personality. I need it for show applications and marketing.

I was not satisfied with the quality of some/most of the photographs from my recent shoot.  I felt they did not showcase the work in the best light, which literally was a problem, and why the photographer and I agreed to cut the shoot short until a piece of lighting equipment was ordered. The shoot was rescheduled for the following week.


I have used this young and talented photographer before and we have grown together out of our comfort zones. Three years ago he was not used to art and product shots. His initial strengths were portraits, stills,weddings and cars. Mine was helping him with different angles and styling for my boxes. Over time and several shoots, he understood my applications  and what I wanted to achieve and he taught me a lot about digital technology. I loosened up from our initial shoot giving him space to become very creative, especially with my bracelets, and it was fun. The results were and are really good. And I would continue using him for those. He is dedicated and really talented...especially in his areas of interest.


But now that I am doing paintings, I now see it requires a different style photographer, an artist's photographer. One that can capture the work, has experience shooting canvas/wood panels, understands show standards and can help me stylize in-situ settings. I need their help and expertise to help me reach my bar.

So that is mostly why I was mad in March.  But not anymore. With less than eight hours to go before March ends, I have met my goal of having two posts a month and have found another photographer to shoot the paintings next weekend.

I discovered a tarot card deck online that focuses on the creative process that I play with in times of need. There are many. Since I do not have a picture in this post, I will share 
one of the cards I " technically drew" that you may find helpful too. I 'll put in color to spruce this post up:

Division Card: Meeting an overwhelming problem by focusing on its component parts. Cutting myself loose from mental hang-ups and personal entanglements. The ability to keep things separate in my mind, and to avoid conflict of interest. Possibility for a new outlook.  

IN THE CREATIVE PROCESS: Caught in my own net of plans or scheme. Divide the problem into smaller segments for greater freedom of action.

APRIL!!!

My Very Own March Madness

This is my fifth? (does it really matter?) attempt at writing a post for March.  What started out simple has now taken more days, directions, edits, emotions, frustration and let downs than intended. They deal with delays, setbacks, photographic quality, perfectionism, marketing, my ego, and just stuff before I feel and fall further behind. March Madness has spread off the courts into my head and onto this blog. Or to take a line from The Madness of King George, "Are you mad?" Ah, yeah.

Even writing this post set me back as I was trying something to fix a recurring inconsistent font problem. As I was checking out sample advance templates, I hit something and lo and behold, I lost my original look and spent some time figuring out what to do with the new options in front me. There was no turning back. What you see here is not finalized. I have some more triggers to hit but I am getting closer.

As I organize my thoughts and sensitivities, I will write what I originally intended in another post. There's enough madness in March already. Instead, I will lighten up, calm down and share some of my experiments with decoupage and recycled work. It was and is quite therapeutic as I am not a disciplined journal writer.

 Marilyn Grad @2012

I assembled my wealth of fortunes and organized them in a way that became quite affirming and beautiful. I was starting to see and feel myself in a positive light and enjoyed the narrative taking shape. I will be making more of these to sell on my website and all the other things I want to do.

Here is one more which was actually the very first one:

 

 Marilyn Grad Copyright @2012

I don't know about you but I do feel better having completed this post. The madness has dissipated.