So, this fall, I was asked to teach MS/HS Art. The teacher had left right before school started. I knew the children and the staff so it was an easy transition. I ended up cleaning up the back storage room and the upstairs storage room finding treasures and throwing out dusty stuff from the past two art teachers. I had to switch to Mac since that is what the school used and also was hooked up with the Adobe Suite which was upgrade 1/2 way through the first sememster. I have a new computer also that I have not moved into yet. At this point, I may not.
I decided not to apply for the position when it was posted. There are many reasons. There are many nice children and teens taking the classes. There are some that do not stop talking and they are loud. There are some that argue about getting off the phone. But there were other reasons that I won't mention here. We had 11 snowdays and during one of them I fell leaving and broke my arm. It is mostly recovered. I still get numb fingers when I type or drive. I am still thinking about the carpal tunnel surgery to take care of that. I am, however, able to still throw a pot on the wheel, which made me very happy.
So, I am looking at my next steps. I didn't do any Art shows this whole 9 months. Actually none last year, and sadly, I hardly created anything at all. I need to get a tent and get back into it. I have been selling a few prints on Ebay - which is good but. I feel like I am starting over again. I did Daily Paintworks last year and that did motivate me. While I only sold one item while I was on there, I miss the excitement of seeing people looking and comment on my art. I am thinking of doing it again. I am taking my art off of Etsy and moving the art to just one Ebay store. The website idea may come up again, just not sure when.
I am in a transition mode. One of the things about teaching is the bit with learning new programs, systems and materials. If I am shopping, I feel like I am in overload - looking for me but also ideas for them. Maybe I am burnt out with the multitasking? I have a problem, since I am a working artist, to limit my materials. I paint with Acrylic paint but also have the sets of oils, watercolors, an inktense blocks and pencils. I sew and am behind 6 grandkid quilts. I have gardening season coming up and just found out about Farm Forests and feel like I should try that also. My bees didn't make it so I want to take a sabbatical from them and maybe have a garage sale instead because then I won't have any unwanted visitors. I love sculpture the best but how do I fit it in? For my sanity artwise, I want to limit my mediums but the teaching sends me further and further into more and more materials to learn and teach. For my sanity, I need to go the other direction.
Thinking out loud - We are in an Art and creative glut. There are creative things going on all over the place. On top of that I see where people have stolen other artists designs and are making money off of copyright infringement. We are importing cheap things from China (who also steal designs and innovation) which adds to the stuff that surrounds us. Savers and Goodwill and Hobby Lobby are full of these things. As a teacher, I see a paradox. All this creative, visual stuff out there, but the students don't have the skills to do or make things for themselves. I have a Crafts class teaching students basic crafts that I thought that they should have done as a child, and a 7th grade class teaching them how to tie a knot.
As an artist, what can you still do to make yourself stand out? Anything online is risky but that is where the collectors and shoppers are. Does one still make "Art" or does one make functional things for people to handle, use and enjoy? My thoughts go in circles just trying to sort this out. It comes down to what medium do I want to do, what do I want to make and honestly right now I do not know. Maybe it is teaching skills outside of the public school where I do not have to worry about grades or semesters. Time will tell. Will have to see what opportunities open up or are found.
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