Like I totally need another blog...

It's not that I don't blog. I just don't have anywhere to comfortably write about art.

And it's not that I haven't made money as an artist in the past...but a while back I lost my way on that front, and life has gotten in the way. Now I find that I have a full time job, a toddler with special needs, a baby on the way, and a few orders and special requests for my artwork, but not a lot on hand, because I've not made anything just to make something in several years, and not a lot of time to actually do things, because I don't make time.

I said last year that I wanted to figure out how to be a "serious" artist, and while I  poked at it a bit, this year I'm realizing that part of my fight with depression the last 2 years is that I lost myself somewhere, and I need to find me back - and I know that a big part of me is somewhere in the art.

I'm an enrolled member of the Oglala Lakota tribe, and traditional and modern Native American beadwork is my original medium. From there, leather work, some quill work, and more jewelry techniques became part of my knowledge base. Since then, I've added some decidedly non-Native items to my repetoir, but I think I am putting them on the back burner at this point, with an eye towards being focused enough to make progress.

I've seen "gallery" quality work. I'm at least as good as them. I've now got the paperwork needed to prove my enrollment status. Now I just have to figure out what to do with what I've got and what I know how to do to get into some of those galleries.

So....

15 minutes a day is the goal, at least 4 days a week. Accountability will be posting here about what I've done. It might be research, or meeting with a prospective gallery, or, you know, actually making art.

Today's progress:

1. located packet from Indian Arts and Crafts Board that I requested last year. Filled out application. Stared at business listing form; decided to let that go for the time being. Need to copy my enrollment letter and print some photos, and then mail the whole mess.

2. located wholesale account request for one supplier. Filled it out, need to locate sales tax license and copy it, and send it in.

3. located vendor app for local Native American organization - they have an approved vendor list, which should get me on the list for local events. Filled it out, need to copy my enrollment letter and mail in.

Things I want/need to do this week:

Envelopes! We apparently have none, which will make mailing in applications a difficult task.

Add at least 2 new items to website (lakotacreations.com) - photos are taken, just need to write entries.

Make dreamcatchers - catch up on orders again, and make some for in-stock listings, since all current in stock listings have been bought. Maybe dual-list etsy stock on site?