I've been super busy the last few weeks, trying to balance current shop orders with creating new work. This summer I will start experimenting with my schedule to see if there are times of day or the week that work best for certain types of tasks. Should I pack up orders in the morning? Afternoon? When can I carve out time to play with new materials? What I've found over the years is that no schedule seems to work forever, so I'm probably overdue for some changes. Here's a look at what I've been doing:
On My Work (Art) Table
I'm making propeller jewelry for a large wholesale order. I've been using these propeller charms for years and I never tire of them! The propellers spin if you hit them with your finger, which makes them fun to wear.
What I'm Reading
I checked out a couple of books on acrylic painting from the library, including Paint Lab by Deborah Forman. I've read at least one other book in this series (Metal Lab). Not surprisingly, the lesson that appealed to me the most in Paint Lab was painting on metal! I also marked one lesson to try that involved making stripes using layers of paint and masking tape.
On My Library Hold List
I added quite a few books to my hold list: The Road to Roswell by Connie Willis, I Have Some Questions for You by Rebecca Makkai, The Best Strangers in the World by Ari Shapiro, and Musical Tables: Poems by Billy Collins. A nice mix of genres!
Art I Admired
A few things I enjoyed this month: this sweet cat illustration, this video showing the creation of a mini writer's room in Hollywood, a cake with knitted details.
What I'm Watching
I'm currently finishing the TV series The Night Agent on Netflix. So suspenseful--and a little violent at times--but very compelling! I really like the two main characters, an FBI agent and a tech entrepreneur. I saw on Twitter that Stephen King had this to say about it: "Farfetched, but ridiculously entertaining. There's good chemistry between Peter and Rose, attention to the little things, and enjoyable paranoia."
What I'm Listening To
Sometimes I listen to a podcast while I'm assembling stitch markers or doing other work that doesn't require too much concentration. It always feels like a bonus to be able to learn something new while doing something else. Yesterday I listened to this episode of Planet Money on Puerto Rico's public beaches which turned out be more interesting than I expected. I don't listen to every episode of that podcast, but a couple others I enjoyed recently include HR and artificial intelligence and the Ice Cream Conspiracy.
Made Me Laugh
I liked this cartoon from the New Yorker about buying journals with pretty covers. Guilty as charged!
Thing I Learned
Merriam-Webster did an online poll about the pronunciation of the word "jewelry." (I say it with two syllables, for the record.) I don't know that I ever thought about people saying this word differently, even though in my line of work it's a word I hear all the time.
New in the Shop
On Etsy, I added a glitter version of the comma earrings and these mismatched pie and measuring spoon earrings.Two of my most-favorited patterns on Spoonflower are now for sale, Chrysanthemum and Daisy Garden Mosaic and Blue Watercolor Turtle:
I've stopped adding to my Society 6 shop for now. The company announced that they are lowering artist payments a bit (taking money from the artist side to pay for customer shipping) and will be also charging some kind of subscription fee for artists (no details yet). I imagine I'll probably close up shop there, but will wait until I know more.
See you in May!