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Sometimes life gets in the way of creating art. Practical considerations such as taking out the stinky garbage, and eating to stop the growling and gnawing hunger begin to take priority. This, of course, is annoying and makes me cranky.

There is the business of making a living which takes up the majority of my time. Of course, making money allows me to have a warm, safe place to draw, not to mention that comfy bathroom. And then there is that business of keeping a roof over my head and food in my belly. Also, I have a terminally sick animal that takes up more and more of my emotional energy, time, and money as he deteriorates.

The good new is success has also been a distraction. In my mind, I have a progression that this series will take: Phase 1 finished at the end of March; Phase 2 finishes by at the end of May. Phase 3 and so on will progress so that by the middle of August I will have enough pieces to hang at our local bakery. Hopefully, local sales will happen; I’m not expecting a lot, but enough so that I can cover my matting and framing expenses. Maybe that display will engender another opportunity to hang locally. Or, maybe, enough on-line viewers will be interested in buying a piece or two and I can set up a PayPal account to handle requests.

One of my coworkers’ spouse had a birthday, and what better gift than some original artwork to hang in his office, reminiscent of their life in Brooklyn. A party was planned, a deadline set, and suddenly I have sales (2 pieces!) before I’m ready. Not that I’m not grateful!! But to present the work properly, it needs to be matted and framed. Without that, the work looks like it’s coming to the party in jeans and a T-shirt; a mat and frame constitutes a suit and it looks really good. It’s been 20 years since I ordered and framed any artwork and my wholesale resources are rusty. It took longer and cost more than I expected, especially time-wise once I got all the parts together, assembled them, and discovered one of the mats was damaged.

I know it sounds crazy, but distractions scare me. I’m afraid life will get in the way and kill my momentum. What if, before I know it, another 20 years passes, filled with regret and frustration, before I make art again. I know I cannot let that happen and I must take measures to prevent inertia.