The last couple of weeks

The last couple of weeks.

Last time I posted here I said I was off to Ayr to visit my daughter for the weekend, that was a couple of weeks ago and I seem to have been busy ever since. The weekend was wonderful, daughter and grandson were great,

we took the dog Daisy to the park and gardens of ‘Oswald House’,

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Auchincruive

we also took the ferry over the Isle of Aaron
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isle_of_Arran

,and of course we spent time at the stables with her horse Bertha.

I’m still working extra hours at work every day to pay back my time off but it was worth every second.

Last weekend was my much anticipated meeting with the coffee shop manageress who offered to display my art. The meeting went really well. She took a total of 11 pieces, she is asking rock bottom prices and if any sell she will take 20% commission but it’s a start.
I love the venue, it has a peaceful, calming atmosphere and every one is very friendly. It’s a new business, a coffee shop plus alternative therapy centre and gift shop. Anne-Marie, the manageress wants to encourage and promote local arts and crafts.
She sells beautiful  jewellery made by a local housewife, there are individual hand made greetings cards by a young local lad, hand made candles and soaps and of course paintings and drawings. I’m the third local artist she has taken on. She is also advertising for me for commissions for portraits (people or pets).
My appointment at the coffee shop was early,  9am Saturday morning, which gave me the rest of the day to do other things. I couldn’t afford to get the canvas paintings framed but I did take some of my drawings to a man in the high street who does framing and mounting.
He also displays and sells work by just a couple of local artists.  He put some of my pastel drawings in mounts, backed them and then wrapped them in cellophane, its amazing what a difference that made.
Anyway………….my daughter gave me a lift to the coffee shop with my work and helped me carry every thing, she saw the drawings that had been mounted and said she wanted the portraits of her dog that I did a while ago mounted in the same way. So; I took her dog drawings to the same man and he was very impressed with them, apparently he likes drawings over paintings and particularly likes pastel drawings, especially if they are pet portraits. I get the feeling this man could prove to be a valuable contact.
After taking the dog drawings into him for mounting I went into another local coffee shop. I know the owners of this place, it’s a local coffee shop with a difference, it’s a coffee shop combined with a second hand book shop. It’s a registered charity, a non-profit making organisation which promotes the use of fair trade produce. They put all profits from the coffee shop back into community projects like music evenings, film shows and suchlike. By the end of that visit I think I had volunteered to start a community book club in the shop AND the owner offered to display and sell my paintings.

SO;………..within one weekend, I’ve gone from never displaying or selling any of my art, to displaying in one coffee shop, producing more paintings to display in another coffee shop and making contact with a local man who frames and mounts work as well as showcasing local artists.

This is like the fulfillment of a prophecy. I’ve recently become estranged from a (previously) very close friend. We didn’t argue or fall out or anything, she just resigned from work and now that we no longer work together she seems to have distanced herself from me. Initially I was quite upset  but another of my very good friends told me that some people come into your life for a long time and some for a short while and we shouldn’t feel bad about this. She also promised that when one door closes another always opens. What a very wise friend she turned out to be because that is exactly what seems to be happening. My friend from work seems to be leaving my life but new people and opportunities seem to be opening up to me
And that, in a nutshell, is what’s kept me so busy these last couple of weeks.