Sunday, a day to appreciate, complain and vice versa

"Don't part with your illusions. When they are gone, you may still exist, but you have ceased to live." ~ Mark Twain


I mentioned in my post last week that I am moving everything out of my studio and into my apartment downstairs. I have to admit that it feels great to purge myself of outdated books like "Personal Finance in your 20s" and business books for artists, including the "Handbook on Pricing & Ethical Guidelines" from 1999. I feel confident that I could write a guide book. Unfortunately, the title would be "How to Turn your Business into a Hobby". I will not part with some of my old Art Forums, Vogue and Vanity Fair mags. I will toss some of the hideous paintings I made in the early 90s, but some I still like very much! I'm lucky to have a fair amount of storage space in my apartment and I liked waking up in the smaller cozy side room, once occupied by my bunny rabbits, this morning :) It took a lot more work than I expected to make that tiny room livable. Currently, I'm confounded by furniture in my studio that no longer fits through the door. I've tried every angle for one table and even after removing the door, it just won't budge? I wondered earlier if Kate Middleton ever removed door hinges. maybe.

It's a beautiful day and  the Court Street Fair is going on outside. I usually venture out to socialize and take pictures for my blog, but with so much left to do and in desperate need of a shower, I may sit this one out. I've never gone this long without hot water. After several visits from the gas company then repairs and a chimney cleaning, all was well on Friday. By Saturday, the pleasure of a hot shower was just out of reach again. Damn me for not taking one as soon as it was back! There's some issue with the pilot light that's too dull to go into here. It's been a week and a half and I was looking at it as a blessing in disguise. It motivated me to finally start running again, in part, to sweat enough to enjoy a cold shower. Still it's not that enjoyable to go from hot, straight to cold without any stretching (lest I cool off too much ;)

I like to keep a healthy perspective on things, but sometimes it just feels good to bitch. It's more fun to do at work or having drinks with friends, but today I am by myself. I love my neighborhood, but as rents continue to rise I wonder how long I'll hang on here. I am very lucky to work in a Union, have benefits and enough free days to work on my own business. Whether painting custom murals or pursuing licensing contracts for my art & characters, I love what I do. I dream of making my living solely from my artwork, but the cost of maintaining a separate studio here in Brooklyn has become very expensive. I hope that my new live/work layout will be conducive to creativity and that I will become more organized. I regret the lack of space I'll have to work on larger projects, but I believe I will eventually find another perfect work studio to do everything I dream of doing.