The Good, The Bad and the Worser

(Pictures of house plants are provided to give us something living and green to focus on. I haven't killed them yet, which is one of the good things! A selection of begonia, dracaena and succulents).
The observant among you will notice that I am typing this at 3:45 a.m. (Well, I started my post then and am continuing at a more civilized hour). I couldn't sleep because of all the roiling 'round that my brain was doing.

The good? I have a one person show at a (community) college art gallery... YAAAAAYYY!! It all happened spontaneously and serendipitously because of an other artist's erratic behavior and sudden departure to points west. (It's actually sort of interesting that this other artist- an in demand young man!- disappeared to Southern California on a whim and left the curator with no show to hang.) So because I am a professional (I'm laughing here) and I have a ton of hang-ready work AND the curator loved my pieces... I have a show. I'll keep you posted as to the opening date and artist's talk.
I also have another REALLY GOOD art related event coming my way that is partially under wraps until February 1st. But let's just say I'm EXTREMELY pleased and excited!!

And that's a good thing as other aspects of my existence suck, big time. My job? The one that I've had for 12 years and really like (at times)? Probably won't be long before I'm seriously unemployed. Our hours have been cut (nothing personal- it's across the board), and apparently there is a hemorrhage of money and plenty of bad luck (unfortunately typical of the antiques/auction world). It's a changing market and there are other options for people to divest themselves of treasures and merchandise. But we also suffer from sinking morale (with nothing being done to boost it!) and increasingly peculiar conditions. * It does keep me up at night!
The worser and worser is: Do I really want to look for another job? What on earth am I prepared to do? I'd prefer to bury my head in the sand and deny the possibility of having to look for a different mode of economic support. I've certainly always had a fraught relationship with gainful employment! And I am silly/deluded/impractical and delirious enough to still hold out hope that "someone" will "discover" me and buy all my back inventory of artwork and catapult me into financial freedom. Are we all laughing now? I guess we need a good laugh as it's fuckin' freezing outside and we have a long way to go until spring.

*I am suspicious that "they" are surreptitiously trying to get us to quit. There is a major game of "uncle" going on; a brinksmanship battle to see just how far they can push us.Talk about stressful.

Work Related

Just look at the cool dragon I scored at work! A nice perk has always been the ability to purchase (generally reasonably) interesting stuff. We joke at work that you have to be a "stuff person" to work at an auction house... otherwise it will overload your circuits and you'll go crazy. There is a lot of stuff in the world. The other truth of an auction house is that if you wait long enough, the same thing (or something very similar!) will come along. It's down right weird when we have an auction and get several identical objects consigned by different people. Last year we had the same Lalique vase twice in one sale and just last month, we had two nearly identical wooden swans from different estates. (How many of us have large wooden swans hanging around?!)
As many of you know, I have liked my job. I hope to be able to continue to do so but there are strange things afoot. Despite The Orange Menace constantly crowing about how swell the economy is doing, the auction that I work at seems to be floundering a bit. I understand that the auction world is changing and people are getting smarter about selling their own things on Ebay and Craig's List, and there are thirty million online auctions now...
Here's some really lovely fabric that I got- for a song. Even if I only used it as a backing for an art piece, it would still be a steal; there's over a yard and it's wide.

Anyway, I'm having my hours whittled and it doesn't make me happy. (And just in time for the holidays and the darkest, most brutish time of the year!!) Let's hope things pick up in the near future.

And here's "Steve". I pulled him out of the dumpster behind the auction. It is truly a source for strange things, and No, I did not name him "Steve"*. Look at the back of his neck:

See? I guess my point is how enriched my material world has been while working at the auction. Not only do I get to collect unusual and various things, I get to handle- and photograph- all sorts of delightful and museum-worthy items. I have developed a real appreciation for stuff I'll never own (nor particularly want to): like silverware and Chinese vases and ugly settees. They're all fun to absorb for a few minutes and then they go on their way.
Additionally, I feel entirely too jaded and exhausted to think of looking for another job. I have job-related baggage and little or no desire to have to become a perky and accommodating job applicant at this stage of my life! This has been a good, three-day-a-week job for an artist like me... don't make me start over now!!!!

*Steve is still living in my office at work. I have a prodigious collection of flotsam and ephemera that embellishes my work room, including a large drawing of Lenin and primitive Band-Aid art... and bugs! And teeth! And odd pictures of people grasping cats by their necks!