...TRY!
I can't believe how long I've been stuck in believing I was not "good enough" to... (fill in the blank).
While it feels like a very long road to the place I am today...It really only took one person to nudge me into the world of valuing my artistic creations.
I met Christine quite miraculously.
I was volunteering at The Children's Hospital Boutique on the Westside of Olympia and just happened to be at the register helping pack up bags for customers when what I was packing got my attention, and I said something! The customer, at the time, wearing a mask said, "Oh I use this china and dishes for my mosaic creations." I got a little excited about meeting another artist and replied with, "Oh, I have a studio," and she answered, "Oh, I do too!"
While I was too busy to continue the conversation, I mentioned that I work every Monday if she wanted to connect again, come by again. Sure enough, she did, and was back the following Monday to share information. When she gave me the address of her studio, I asked, if this was her home, and she replied, "No, I live in Olympia." I thought for sure she meant like downtown--or anywhere else other than what we ended up discovering!
I told her that I Iive at the Delphi Golf Course, and she said, much to my amazement, "I do too!" So, I went even further to say, "I live on Glen Annie Lane." Her eyes at this point got really big--and she replied, "I do too." Turns out, we live across the street from one another! :) And in fairness to us both, my driveway is so long that I have a hard time meeting and seeing any neighbors... but I don't really care anymore because if God wants it to happen, He finds a way.
Christine is the one who has been the inspiration for me, my girls, and now a group of friends who meet at my studio once a month for ART NIGHT and now SELL from the same studio. But it all happened because she ASKED.
She wanted some company to sell at the Olympia High School fundraiser, Bearzzar. And even though I had never done this before--didn't know where the school was or how to display what we had to sell--I said "yes" because, you really don't KNOW until you TRY.
This has been my mantra going forward. I have a lot to learn about selling and
marketing, not to mention the clay, wheel, and kiln I own. It has been a wild, fun, busy, creative, and fantastic journey.... because of all the awesome people I am blessed to be getting to know and be in relationship with. So, as long as I am open to learning, changing, risking... I will never be bored.
I am LOVING having people play with clay in the studio. Mostly because I love hearing peoples stories, but then I get to witness their hands create something magical and personal.
Can I inspire you today to do something new? Because, you never KNOW until you TRY.
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