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| I'm now printing 5 grackles at a time |
In order to make a living doing my art, I need to decrease my production time or use cheaper materials. Well, I don't like the cheaper materials idea, so I'm tackling production time. Working more efficiently on my sell able items will allow me to work on other projects--products that I'm excited about working on but have pushed back due to lack of time (these projects also have the potential to sell at a higher price point). In this vein, I carved 10 birds for my grackle collages on the same piece of wood--5 on one side, 5 on the other--allowing me to print several at a time.
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| Collaged boards waiting for grackles |
Revelation: Keep it Simple, Stupid!
I reduced time and effort by minimizing the amount of colors workshop participants could use. So easy to do and I don't think it diminished their experience (we were just proofing after all).
OK, I realize these simplifications aren't rocket science, but every little tip helps. If you have any of your own, I'd love to hear them!
2 comments:
Good to see you enjoying working and thinking in high gear. You're right -- when you want to keep the quality high on things you sign your name to, working smarter is definitely the key. That and working steadily (which is hard with a family that depends on you, I know)instead of trying to work faster, which only leads to mistakes. Like you, I've trained myself to know how long a specific task should take. And I've learned to value even small amounts of available time -- ten minutes before time to make the salad for dinner? Okay, I can buff the finish on a bowl and maybe apply another coat.
I'm a thrift shop scrounger for things like office supplies, hardware, big garage-type rolls of paper towels, even music for the workshop. And sometimes old, well-made tools are better second hand than new ones right out of the box.
Along with pushing yourself,I hope you take a break when you need one -- some still time, even just a few minutes. A buddy used to call those breaks "psychotic vacations." Close enough to the truth.
Well said! After a month of absolute craziness, I am learning those "psychotic vacations" are vital to my well being and creativity. I have a blog post coming soon on that very thing, since after saying no to something I wanted to do, I was actually able to regroup with that extra time and caught up on some outstanding action items--and I've decided I want to feel caught up more often. It feels good and allows for some creative thinking.
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