Yesterday I "put a rush" on pushing the current group of painted-but-not-finished stones through to the end of the line.
In part, this was because it was unseasonably warm which makes the finish coating faster and easier, in part it was because I was running out of space in my creative area.
Well, not exactly out of space... but we recently adopted two young cats and they like to get into absolutely everything, including using smaller objects like painted stones as hockey pucks for their reindeer games!
And then there was one more — rather annoying — reason.
There is Thievery Afoot!
For the second time this year I discovered that I had just gotten an order for a stone it turned out that I didn't actually have. Didn't actually have because it was stolen/shoplifted from our booth at some show we did between it getting listed on Etsy back in April, and now.
As I have said before... I know people shoplift for any number of reasons, but typically they rip off stereos and kitchen equipment that is standardized and can be returned, pawned or sold. And the "victim" in that equation is a mega corporation like WalMart or Target or someone like that.
But stealing a hand made item from an artist?
Seriously?
That's literally taking food out of the mouth of someone who's likely struggling, to begin with. The stereotype of "The Starving Artist" is generally closer to the truth than we care to admit... we're not exactly rolling in gold coins, out here!
Anyway, I ended up having to write to the buyer, explaining the predicament and to ask if they would accept "something similar" as a replacement.
Fortunately, the answer was "yes" because it was a $90 stone!
Thankfully, the "replacement" actually turned out to be a better piece of work than the original... but it was still annoying and ate about six hours of time out of an otherwise rather busy day.
The Art of Making Time
So there are a lot of things I have to make time for, over the next few weeks... and I've even decided that blogging about it is one of the things I am going to tray to make time for.
I figure that staying busy and sharing is one of the ways people (artists) seem to build substantial social media following.
One local artist friend of mine doesn't even have online stores on eBay and Etsy anymore; she just lets her Facebook/Insta following know that she has something newly finished, and it seems to sell out within a few days, directly from her web site.
Maybe I need to steer myself in that general direction.
I appreciate you coming to visit and please do leave a comment if you feel so inclined!
Thank You!
If you enjoy painted rocks, do check out The Hive Rocks Project and help spread the word about Hive, while also being creative!
Because I am trying to make some semblance of income — a part time living, even — I now add this footer to all my posts, in the hope that someone, somewhere, might decide to take a further look at my work, and perhaps consider supporting independent art.
Thank you, in advance, for your consideration and support!
My Alchemy Stones Patreon appeal
Alchemy Stones web site and blog
Regardless, your upvotes and comments are always appreciated!
Thank you for supporting independent art & creativity!
2024.10.21 AS-TXT-287/257
Yes to you building/owning your own platform. Yes to you telling the story of your artistry. The real challenge for any of this is time. Perhaps quick livestream videos of you doing one part of your design process showing just your hands and the stone art while you talk about anything really. That way there isn't much extra time that goes into this (outside of setting up your phone to livestream) because you're already working on your stone art. Now you'll be taking people on a part of the journey from stone to stone art.