Jason, today

dear dave,

dinner with Barb and Cheryl tonight, so I have to cut the day short.

Stupid day spent in Georgetown and around town doing little (insignificant) things.  Quick coffee with Hexy was nice.

ok - more tomorrow

Monday march 27

Rough day deciding on XXX. In the end I realize it's a huge risk to proceed. Of course I'm bummed out that I couldn't just go for it-but I couldn't. Or shouldn't.

The decision has been made, so now I can move on. That's the good part.

---

Confidential:

Love my great escape from asshole last night. So incredibly stealthy. My eyes are always peeled when I'm potentially near him, and this time the radar pinged loud! Luckily the escape vehicle and driver were RIGHT there!! 5 seconds later, we were gone. And nobody i was with had any idea what i was even up to as i hustled us all into the car!

A near miss!! Amazing. I hate him (still).

Dear Dave,

Nice lazy day today. I'm on my second nap, which says a lot.

Our picnic planned for under the cherry blossoms was cancelled because of the rain. Now it's kind of sunny, so hexy and I are off to coffee.

Yesterday was a lesson in discipline. I was so not in the mode to print, but I managed to get to the studio, and work. Happy I stuck to my plan.

Tomorrow is another Monday.

recent

Corn seedlings (hex so excited)

Branddave family

my new notebook!

Our "saved" perennials coming up!

last minute owl prints on salvaged wood

"Branches" print at Buzz - took extra time, but was worth it!

My studio - post delivery chaos from today

Thursday march 22

Tired! Buzz went great last night. Finished around 9--and planned on eating at pollo Rico. But there was a 30 min delay for chicken, so we left and had dinner at home. Poor hex was about to faint. Enjoyed the free cupcakes we got from buzz after dinner. Can't say enough about the espresso one...

Busy day with shirts, then went to corcoran late to finish up branches print for buzz. Got it done--which was great. Just in time to hang tomorrow for the weekend.

So things are worked out. Off to Trohv tomorrow with new prints/cards/shirts, and to buzz. Ducks are all in a row.

dear dave,

all set to install BUZZ ballston tonight.  bummed that it's not ALL here and ready to go, but I guess that's the way it goes.

Today was all about anticipation.  Of course I'm anxious about the install, so I spent most of the day preparing cards and prints for transport. (wish I was more productive on the t-shirt front...oh well)

Thank God I have Hexy to help me.  Fingers crossed that it goes smoothy!!

------

Got a big batch of new cards / postcards / business cards in - happy everything came out well.  Ready for the weeks ahead!  S E L L

dear dave,

I'm primed for new content.  Feeling bogged down in old material, and I'm anxious to make new: drawings, designs, shirts, photos.  Hopefully I'll get a chance too soon.  Very busy lately keeping up with what I already have.

Today was productive.  Finished framing out all my prints for Trohv/Buzz (Ballston).  Set up well for tomorrow's delivery and install.

No photography with Dave K today (as was planned), but I guess that's ok.  Weather was so so anyway.

Note:  many of the xxxx frustrations for yesterday's post worked themselves out.  They usually do.  So crazy.

Corcoran power washer was never fixed, so I still am missing that pivotal BRANCHES print for Buzz.  I guess it will just have to wait for a later install.

ok - off to gym, sated.

dear dave,

so frustrating - power washer out at the corcoran, so all my plans today are thwarted.  No branches print for buzz ballston.  No postcard rack.  Sucks!  or it will all just have to be delayed.  That is the much less dramatic version.

Worked hard over the weekend and got a lot done.  It wasn't the power session I was hoping for - head down, full concentration.  Lots of web distraction and stalling.  But i still got the stuff done, and now monday, I'm stalled.  Worked ahead only to get behind.

Guess I need to shift gears, get back to my studio, and get started on Tuesdays plans.

Tension is in the air.  XXX with XXX, and me with XXX, XXX, and XXX.  Anxious to get replies back, and things settled.  I'm full of anxiety about these things.

And anxious to resolve xxx with xxx.  WTF?  That's a problem that just won't go away...

Another busy day, but I made some adjustments, and got a lot done.

Ha - tomorrow is the make-or-break.  No corcoran, so I'm planning to get all caught up.  Things just piled up this week.  We'll see if its possible to get it all done in one saturday!

dear dave,

it's been a really busy couple of days.  hard only because each task pulls me in a different direction.

Anxious to make new prints for Trohv, open studio, gelato show, Buzz Balston, artomatic.  So I'm off to the corcoran.

But I need to get shirts out.  And commissions finished up, and prints shipped, and emails returned, and prices figured out, and shirts photographed, models coordinated and cards ordered, then photographed.  Oh, and I need to download excel to get my spreadsheet filled out and sent back.

So many different things.

I'm tired.  All has worked out pretty well.  At least the limited things I'm able to accomplish.

Oh well - I'm one person.  I can only do so much.

Goodnight studio - pizza night with Bill is calling.

another busy day.

My head kind of explodes.  I realize what I've been missing the past few days is confidence.  I need to know I'm doing the right thing - making the right choices.

I'm making a lot of choices lately, and without confidence, it's really painful and super stressful.

Dave, you are doing the right thing - and making the right choices. (first step)

more complaining...

tired and blah after a solid day at the corcoran printing.  I fixed the 3 prints I screwed up on Saturday.  Happy to have them done, but not so excited about them overall.  Good additions to my collection, or boring stand-outs?  I think I've settled on the later, and that is why I'm in this funk.

You never know...

Excited to see my bank account g r o w, but terrified of making it shrink by buying more supplies.  Cards and shirts are both on the shopping list - but I HATE spending $ -- even if it is very needed, and I'll have to pay for it a month out.  I just don't like it.

I guess I'm in that kind of mood.  I don't want to make a move.

----

weather is GREAT.  Yesterday was a nice break - out with Remi and time with Hexy.

----

My fingers are a mess.  Ink all over them, dry, dry skin, and cracks at the nails.  Painful result of screen printing.

dear dave,

Friday is here already.  It's been a strange week.  I'm so anxious about using my time well, but have actively, knowingly been wasting it.  I am so A.D.D.  I can't concentrate on anything, or really all I want to do is avoid.  Everything involves calling people, buying expensive things, and making big decisions.  I don't want to fuck up. Paralyzing!  The fact that many things are set out into the future doesn't help.

Last night I went to the corcoran studio for a night session.  Great because nobody was there, but the 3 hours went by fast.  Next week is spring break, and the studio will have extended hours.  I should be able to get tons done.

Tonight I'm going to Baltimore to see liz, liza, courtney, and Trohv.  I'm kind of anxious about leaving, so today is another day of waiting, avoiding, doing tidbits of work, and clock watching.  Blah!

I need to find my center.  Take a deep breath and work.  That will make me feel better, but I can't seem to find my way to it.

Sunday cupcakes

Lousy chair purchase - returned the next day

New cards!

dear dave,

great couple of days.  Can't believe it's already wednesday (night)

Prints selling well, which is super exciting.  $ coming in.

Busy with shirts, preparing prints, returning emails, and preparing for FAB.

Lots going on.

Pizza tonight, printing tomorrow night, Baltimore Friday night, printing Saturday.  lots on my plate.

goodnight

dear dave,

busy busy!

Good saturday at the corcoran.  i got a lot accomplished and ended the day feeling good.

Nice relaxing Sunday.

Busy day today.  Returned to the Corcoran, and had another successful day.  Not as great as Saturday, but it will do.

Things continue to go great business-wise.  All on the upswing, with lots of great potential.  Selling prints, and being offered great new opportunities to show and sell.  Really exciting.

It's 7:30, and I want to call it a day.  hex and I will be going back to BUZZ to swap prints again after dinner.  Kind of exhausting, but the good exhausting!

dear dave,

Things turned around design-wise last night, after blogging despair.  I've been so frustrated with this one commission design.  What to do??  How to come up with an idea out of thin air.  I had a small germ of an idea, but every time I worked on it things just went south, and I could never find anything good or worthy of keeping and pursuing.

It's such a crazy process.  I feel completely out of control of my own drawing abilities.  I really have no idea how things are going to go until I try, and 9 times out of 10 they go badly.  I have to find the discipline to try and try and try.  Drawing after drawing until something seems to work.  Then I scan it, and the editing process starts.

But editing is fun! I'm over the hump, and just improving things and improvising.  All the hard work is over once the key drawing is made.  That is usually when I can start feeling creative.

Every once in a blue moon the drawing is easy.  First try.  I'll sit down, whip something out, like it, scan it, and it just works.  That is the sweet spot.  I LOVE when that happens, but it's rare.


ANYWAY - back to last night.  I started working on this other design, and it wasn't so hard.  Things were flowing, and I was out of my bad negative head space.  Plus I was working directly on the photo of the yellow shirt (below), which gave me the key idea.  The breakthrough!  AHHHH.  I'm still happy about it, a day later.

I can move on (assuming my client likes it too), and that feels so good.

via briefmagazine.com

dear dave,

keep feeling grumpy at this time of the day (towards the end of the day).  I have a few lingering projects that allude me.  I can't seem to make any progress on them - and feel panic/frustration just before leaving the studio.  Today was the day I would conquer, but I didn't.

Pretty good day today, but not good enough.

ok, enough of the pity party.  Have a bunch of printing project lined up for saturday.  A good sale today.  THings coming along.

Pizza night tonight.  That should put me in a better mood.

Tee for the Race for Hope