Art Income

I met with fellow artist and friend Carolyn Kimball the other day and she was telling me about her financial goals for 2011. I only have a rough idea for my own, so I was very interested in seeing her breakdown. She also knew the figure for art sales in 2010 and even though I have a vague estimate for my own sales and freelancing, I haven't gone in and added them up despite my fancy cataloging software. I'm also in need of setting up a method for tracking art expenses for 2011. If you keep track of yours, I'd love to know what you use--pencil/paper, accounting software, receipts stuffed in a shoebox (my current method).

On another note, I re-watched Ken Burns' Shaker documentary on Netflix play-it-now last night while I was sketching out next week's one-piece-a-week project. (I was inspired to watch it again after getting hooks up in every room for my Christmas present--the Shakers loved pegs and they had dozens in each room. To the left are Keith's hooks in our bedroom, topped with a Julie Speed.) Interesting factoid: Shaker-Sister, Tabitha Babbitt invented the circular saw. Shakers are also responsible for the modern clothespin. They were big into farming, being the first to package seeds and sell nationally. They knew in the winter months that their neighbors would steal some of their crops for food. So what did they do? They planted more crops. They planted "some for them, some for the thieves, and some for the crows. After-all, everyone needs to eat." It's worth a watch.