Puzzles!

I love puzzles. It’s incredibly satisfying to watch an image grow as little pieces slot in together, accumulating meaning that they didn’t possess on their own. The collage process is similar. Each little scrap of paper culled for color or pattern has no context on its own. The scraps are one step away from the recycling bin; if they flutter away in the wind, they just become litter and are easily replaced. But when they’re glued down with other pieces and a new image surfaces, suddenly they’re necessary and irreplaceable.

Because each collage is made from hundreds of little pieces and are like puzzles in themselves, I’ve played around with turning them into actual jigsaw puzzles. They’re great! They’re challenging, but there’s enough variation that they’re totally doable. The big problem, though, was always price. Print on demand pricing is designed for the end retail customer, not for an artist to resell, so my margin was basically nothing.

But I found a small batch wholesale manufacturer online and their quality is fantastic! The pieces come in a ziploc bag, the box is sturdy, the pieces are strong, and there’s a clear, helpful reference image on the cover.

To have them made, I need to order 64 and I can include up to 4 different images within the order. Here are the images that would work in order of my favorite options.

Help me decide which ones to make!! Are you a puzzler or know someone who is? Tell me: which you would buy? Retail would be $30.

How AWESOME is this image?!

Someone recently emailed me this crazy Getty image of a streaker being arrested on a soccer field. Look at the expressions on the bobbies’ faces! I had a good laugh. So when they asked if I’d be interested in creating a collage with similar subject matter, what could I say but YES!! These are definitely clients I want to continue the conversation with!! This level of detail won’t work for the medium, but the theme? Definitely makes me smile. And we all want work that makes us smile.

$10 Worth of Sales Today

My first bad show. It's a rite of passage, right? I learned a ton, made a list of things to do differently, and added people to my email list, so it was a good experience...but I didn't sell enough to pay for lunch, let alone overhead to enter the show, compensation for my time at the show (or my husband who came with me!), or pay for the babysitter. I'm not feeling sorry for myself - more questioning my level of sacrifice. I do my art almost every night instead of spending quality time with my family. I think about making and selling art instead of giving my full attention to whatever non-art activity I'm doing, I do shows and stress out ahead of time instead of focusing on my husband and daughter. My parents exhaust themselves with babysitting and end up hiring a babysitter to help them. I fantasize about having time to get the dishes done, kick my feet up, and read a book rather than worrying about when I'll have time to watch the Squarespace tutorials and finish this website. But then I can't imagine not making something. I contemplate a full-time job other than art making once my daughter is in kindergarten and my body turns to lead and the grief makes it hard to rise from my chair. It's been my dream to make art, to help people connect to their creativity, to surround myself with beauty... Which will I regret more - the choice to pursue art at the expense of family and a more culturally respected career or to forego the art and wonder if I gave up too soon?