Sloane Solanto

Good Morning World,

As I mentioned in the last post I received this book in the mail Saturday…now I am simultaneously praising and cursing Chris Guillebreau….so bad that I didn’t want read the book at all last night and picked up A Year of Living Conciously instead…the first thing I read contained this “He said he’d lowered his expectations and decided to settle for less than what he wanted”…BAM…Damn you Gay Hendricks…me and all my self help books disrupting my seemingly comfortable world.

I get mad at my current work situation…rant and rave about it and then it smooths over….temporarily…until someone randomly sends me another helpful book in the mail. I am half way through and it is shaking me up to the point that I came home and CRIED last night! My husband says, Oh those stories are not  realistic to our time…when was it published?….uuuuhhh last week dude! And this shit is reality, these people are not fluffy ladies whose husbands are supporting them so they can take the chance on a new venture, these are working people who come up with brilliant ideas….I haven’t been this shook up since the last time I spent time with Amber Karnes…she is a go getter, a hustler and living the dream of working for herself…while teaching yoga and starting a farm!

But what am I to do???  I admit it, it is very scary to think of such things…and the guilt and obnoxious dialog that goes through my head…Oh you should be grateful you have a job. You are a fool, you will fall on your face and have to go crawling back…You have an obligation to your family.

But my family says things like “life is to be endured not enjoyed”….hmmmm I don’t like that. Or someone telling you that you have never worked in the real world and what would I know about having to work in it…..I hate that words like that imbed themselves into my brain….

But then the realistic voice speaks up and says.. That job is unfullfilling and offers no future for you…with a family of his own to support he will never retire and when he does this really isn’t what I want to do for the rest of your life…Plus the last 3 years you have lost benefits…what will it be this year? There is no job security and I think people are fools to think there is..a boss may be fair and a decent boss but the reality of it is they are only in it for themselves…so that being said I need to diversify my talents again and add something new into the mix….BUT WHAT…that is the million dollar f*ing question!

TaaaaDaaaaa the snake is completed!

Well, he may end up with a tongue…the one one I had attached on Saturday didn’t stick…

I did the top of the wall also….

After much thought and a little research I realize I am going to need something stronger than elbow grease to get those bottles clean…looking like muriatic acid…my neighbor is bring me some from his job and I will go to the hardware store and get the proper gloves and eye protection.

I managed to get a coat of paint in the kitchen but the second didn’t happen on Sunday…after grouting the snake I was beat and needed to take the afternoon off…so I lounged around, read my new book….

which just came in the mail on Saturday as a gift…how cool is that?!

I even skipped dinner and ordered a pizza….lazy bones…hahaha

Busy busy week ahead of me at the day job…I sure hope the customers are nicer to me this week…

Toodles!

Good morning world. I have been gone but I have not forgotten about you…life has been crazy since my Baltimore trip (last posting)…Chris and I are remodeling our kitchen, I have been working on the wall, and I started volunteering with Friends of Virginia Beach Animal Control….in the middle of all this I thought it a good idea to abandon ship and head to NYC! Probably not the best timing at home but definitely good for the soul!

During this trip I realized the value of this blog…which I have been sorely neglecting and had actually debated shutting down….I have been gone from someones life for a very long time..but not forgotten…through this blog I was unknowingly building the relationship again…so by the time I contacted my old friend she had already began building trust in me again and was willing to let me into her life…

The obvious next step was to see her live and in person and it just so happens she lives in Brooklyn, NY…where I have never been…even better….but this trip wasn’t about packing in as much sightseeing as possible…it was about love…the sights will always be there but the people in our lives may not…..

So that being said we spent most of our time wandering around and talking…25 years is a whoooooole lot of time to catch up on! I didn’t take many pictures but here are a few….

Here is where I stayed…

and met a beautiful girl…..

We did do a walking tour eating our way around the Lower East Side learning about immigrants and what they ate through the…

I also saw some cool random art….

One store we did browse in was abc carpet and home …I thought this metal and bungy cord chair was awesome…

OK…I am out of time…must go to work…I will be a better blogger from now on…I SWEAR!

Last weekend some friends and I headed up to Baltimore. Our destination was

and

One word…..

AWESOME

For a full list of the ACC Show exhibitors click HERE

Here are some of my favorites….

Monika Fine Millinery

I bought a Junk Head from this artist that will hang in my new kitchen!!

Mud Spun Studio

Beaded goodness!!!!

Kathy was very nice and showed me her bead spinner and told me her bead source, Beyond Beadery, so I could finish the deer head I started years ago. I love an artist who shares knowledge.

This fellow, Doug Meyer, was a genius. I loved his sense of style.

and last but not least….

That’s probably enough for one sitting….I will tell you about the AVAM next time.

I was catching up on reading last night and read February 20th in A Year of Living Consciously by Gay Hendricks..

I really liked this passage and wanted to share it with you all….

Have AN “OUT OF YOURSELF” Experience

Many people get trapped inside their own personas, especially as they approach midlife. They find themselves unwilling to do things outside their own worldview. Gradually their circle of friends gets tighter, the range of experiences they enjoy more limited. Unless they do something to shake themselves up (benignly, if possible), the circle can become a noose.

An antidote to rigidity is to do things outside of your experience, things you wouldn’t ordinarily do….

That being said…I printed out my application for volunteering with the Friends of Virginia Beach Animal Care and Adoption Center. I hope I can handle it…but I won’t know until I try.

I plan on posting about my Baltimore adventure soon, so stay tuned for that!

While taking a nap this weekend I had an epiphany…right out of the clear blue…wasn’t even pondering the answer that suddenly hit me…I had to jump up and do some calculations and YES it made sense….what the hell am I talking about…..

How much to charge for my work!

The last few years I have been focusing on craft…unfortunately my awesome little critters take waaaaayyy more time than I can actually charge for…a friend asked me to put some in her new store…at a 60/40 split I figured out that I would average $3 an hour and that wasn’t even including material! Forget it, sooo not worth it, they are cute and all but I’ll save them for friends.

Even at the low price I do charge for my craft I still have the folks who insist that I am asking to much…whatever…you go home and make it then.

My new leaf this year…well an old leaf brought back to the forefront…art….on canvas….and this time around I am not going to sell myself short..if you can’t afford it, I am sorry but it doesn’t mean that I have to give it away..

When I ask advice on pricing people ask me how much time I have invested…suggest that I set a timer…well that doesn’t work for me…there are constant distractions…a husband with some thing to say, a dog’s sad eyes asking for a minute of love, a snack, a drink, a step back and ponder the piece…

Plus I am not a painter…I work with collage..so there are some steps to get through before actually adding color to canvas….

First I have to paint the tissue paper…each sheet gets painted twice….each color in gets 4 sheets so I can achieve a variety of tones and textures…

The tones and textures are what makes my pieces unique…at first glance you might think my work is a painting but upon close examination you begin to see a plethora of texture and color….the canvas I am working on now will end up with around 28 sheets of painted paper to work with…

not to mention the fact that the piece is composed of slivers of paper that I have applies with tweezers…

this weekend my pallet consisted of the basket colors…a rich blend of browns, black, burnt sienna, and gold….

Soooo the conclusion I came to was to charge by the inch……$1.67 an inch to be precise! I like this….I have a tendency to price things on an emotional level…how much I like it or how much I think it is worth to someone else….this takes the guess work out of it…here is my creation and this what I think my time is worth….end of discussion.

I have been at loss for blogging material lately because I haven’t been up to much bedsides planning my awesome new kitchen!!!

In Sloane’s World we have Sloane Logic and I thought I’d share a bit of that today with you. You might even put it to use in your own life…

Here’s the situation…I am tired this week, it happens to the best of us and sometimes because of forces beyond our control. The fact that it was cold and rainy last night, which made me cringe thinking about waking up at 5am to go swimming. Here’s where the logic comes into play….stay with me it makes sense…my hair needed to be washed but I chose not to because…..when the alarm goes off I will want to stay in bed…but my hair is dirty and I need to get up and take a shower and if I am going to have to get wet anyways I might as well go swimming!

That my friends is Sloane Logic!

Mornin’ Folks, I am feeling better about things now…I am relaxed, working on a canvas for my kitchen remodeling project I am planning and am content.

I never posted the afghans I made for some of my favorite little people for Christmas…so today I won’t bore you with my ramblings and I will post some pictures of things I have been up to…

Knitting….

Girls blankie…made two of these

Boy’s blankie…which ended up the family blankie..or rather mommy’s blankie!

Detail shot…I just love the texture of these afghans!

Collage…

Image I am working with for new kitchen canvas…a harvest photo I snapped a while ago…

Enormous framed canvas give to me by my friend Sherry…

This time of the month is probably not the best time to ponder life but unfortunately that’s where I am today.

I am one of those people who get an idea in their head and have to run like hell with it…often times it is time consuming, expensive and unrealistic….although sometimes not and that’s why I do it…I guess I just have to try everything and really get into something to see if it’s what I want to do…more often than not I don’t want to do it. I am not beating myself up or anything, I’m just sayin’.

Sometimes I do get bummed because I am not the type of person who can stick with things…you know, like go to college and have a career. I can’t pick one form of art and just do it…shoot, even food…I like to bake and cook seasonally until it get’s to hot and then I don’t want to do anything..I have dabbled in a vegan diet and been a vegetarian on and off for years…I just don’t want to commit…if I crave a steak damn it I am going to eat it….but at least I have found a husband and home I can stick with so although ungrounded in some parts of life I am fully rooted in others.That makes me happy.

Today’s pondering involves the selling of one’s art and craft. Now that I have the tent, tables, displays, etc…then I have the computer, software, camera and lights….as well as a web site that I have no idea how to change the design on.  Oh yeah and the video camera that I am supposed to be taping myself actually making art.

OK this is great, now the reality sets in…how do you manage all of this???

First off let me vent about some of my role models….who are so quick to tell you to take the plunge…but fail to tell you that their spouses are ready, willing, and able to support them financially…I am not in your situation.

Time management….priorities….I have a husband, a home & pets. Family members   who need attention…..a full time job….and I have to exercise a little….and sleep …I like a good night sleep!

I am having a hard time figuring out how I am supposed to make the art (while filming it), set up and photograph it, edit it, write the description, blog about it…personal site, Twitter, Facebook, Stumble and Tumble after you have added it to Flickr and Etsy. Write the occasional news letter, learn how to work on your web site (because a free blog is so yesterday)… figure out how to edit that damned footage of you making said art and posting it on YouTube.

Oh and what if you want to sell in person…you have submit and commit months in advance and make sure you have enough stuff to sell by that date. Although I have met some really super, awesome folks you still have to endure those who like to tell you that you are weird, disturbing and whacky.

Sorry this rant is a little choppy but I am trying to post this from my phone and not having an easy go of it….I just needed to let it all out!

As you can see I am very disillusioned today…but I did take some time this morning to work on a canvas….because in the end it’s only the art and the sanitybthat cones from creating it that really matters to  me.