BardicBind

The car has been a bit more uppity than usual. I love him to bits, but he's crotchety, old, cantankerous, drives a bit rough at low rpm, and has recently thrown me a broken o2 sensor. So I get to either fix him or buy a new one to replace him. I'd love to keep him, but that would take a bit of money, and my boyfriend is already worried that he's just going to turn into a money pit. A new car would be a bigger initial investment, but would last longer (not that my current car hasn't already lasted 14 years). Still, I'm not in the right place to get another sporty car to replace my old one, which... will be sad. Ah well, better start cutting back on the fun stuff and saving up.

I try very hard to separate my professional stuff from my fun, personal projects (I don't keep my design portfolio here for instance). That said I've seen a lot of people who believe the key to professionalism is the amount of money they charge as well as a snappy attitude whenever the concept of barter comes up. Bartering doesn't make you a professional. I know plenty of professionals that barter their work in exchange for goods or services on occasion. What does contribute to your professionalism is meeting your deadlines, and displaying excellent time management skills by getting your shit done. Yes, art can take time. You can make that time faster by practicing work flow management and general time management skills. And if you can't offer your services in an agreeable time frame, then perhaps you should only sell completed works of art at a gallery. If I couldn't work within a deadline I'd be fired. There would be no money. No excuses. Advertising campaigns need to go on, with or without you. If you can't provide what the customer wants in the time-frame they want, they will find someone else who can.

I need to get back to doing fun art for me. Been doing a bunch of graphic design work freelance for some roller derby ladies and after a while fliers and bout programs get a bit old. Free tickets and invites to the after parties are always sweet though. I can't say no to a derby chick offering me booze (probably because they'll hip check me into oblivion if I decline).

So more personal art in the future, I'll try to get at least something new in the gallery in the next week or so.

Be safe, have fun.

Also: I've been super lazy about artwork of any kind lately

I've used spray paint and spray on finishers for quite a few projects over the years (not all of them have pictures though). The main lesson I've learned from all of this experience is that I need a paint buddy to hang out with and let me know when the fumes are getting a bit much, because I can't smell them anymore.