Drudging along

OK, that may not be a word, but when when you are deep in drudgery you need a verb to describe it,

This is my least favorite part of trying to earn a living as an artisan. I don't have paintings that sell for prices with several "0"s. My widgets sell for 20, 30, 40 bucks on average so I have to sell a lot of them to make money, Which means I have to make a lot of them. By Thursday. And that spells drudgery.

I play games on myself. Buying a new paper that makes me want to see how it will look as a book. I took Saturday as an "art" day and made collage and mirrors. I wish I could make a living with just those. I truly enjoy that. But I am nothing if not realistic.

So, I spend hours just making book covers, cutting frames, covering little pieces of book board for magnets. This will be relieved somewhat when I start actually embellishing and turning the "bones" into pretty stuff.

But I have one more day of drudging. I stand at the foot of the stairs to the attic and sigh. I picture show day, under the canopy, everything all lovely and sitting seductively on shelves for the fine folks of Chautauqua. I imagine selling them, making money for our upcoming vacation. I channel the feeling I will have as I pack the finished pieces snugly into their boxes for the trip.

I turn around and make another cup of coffee. I mean, how can I possible create anything without a second cup and the first half hour of "Today"? What was I thinking?