Let It Snow

I flew up to Vermont last Thursday to see my family and to drive over to Connecticut to pick up paintings from a show I was in. I was supposed to fly back to Florida last night but my flight was delayed so much that I would miss my connection in DC. My only choice was to stay until Tuesday morning (yay!).
So here I am, in Hyde Park, VT looking out at the landscape that has been imprinted on my soul, the landscape that my childhood took place in. It happens to be snowing a ridiculous amount, adding to the magical feelings that always come up in me when I am home. This trip gets my juices flowing for my future in New England. My husband and I plan to move to either Burlington, VT or Portland, ME sometime this summer. We need to do some more research about what these cities have to offer two artists. So far it seems that Burlington has a ton of artists but lacks greatly in venues for sculpture and painting. I'm not sure if that bothers me or not since the art world is so global anyway. I know that both Burlington and Portland have a place for a Crafter.
Being home and chatting with my mom has also given me renewed perspective on the difference between my "art" (painting) and my "craft" (jewelry). I know there is argument for those two camps being inseparable but for me they serve very different purposes. My art is where I ask the most important questions in my life. If it is an authentic practice for me, it manifests my mindset, energies, youth, etc. My jewelry is an aesthetic practice, very much linked to my painting but meant to be aesthetically pleasing and fun. My jewelry is also meant to be sold. My painting (as I am finding out from a seemingly negative-but actually quite accurate and fantastic review-in the Stamford Advocate, March 11, 2007) can be disturbing. It is not made for a market like my jewelry is. I could get rejected from every show in the universe and my work would still be what it is. I paint because I have to. I make jewelry so that I have time and energy to paint. I love making jewelry. It is creative and fun but is not as emotionally testing as my painting. It is what I love to do without pain (beyond the work it takes to have a business which can be seen as a certain struggle in itself.)
Actually, the struggle in owning a business is one that I need to practice. Specifically, focusing my efforts primarily on jewelry rather than thinking that I should make more things, other things. I'm full of ideas but I need to limit them if I am going to be successful in the craft world. As my mom would say, I need to use my creative energy within more of a focused practice to find innovative ways to market, organize and allow my business to grow.
For now, I think I might go snowshoeing
Lesson of the Day: Every step of starting a business is a learning experience.