I shipped out the Large Black Tailed Red Leghorn and Bantam Mottled Cornish drawings today (the Bantam Rose Comb White Leghorns left last week). I tend to get rather attached to the drawings when I have them around for a while, but it's good that they are finally being sent to the sponsors.
I've been thinking a lot about next year, and life-after-Standard, etc. Things need to change... a lot, or I'm not going to make it in this business. I'm starting to work on revamping the price list. It's really quite daunting. I really have to kick myself or I feel like I ought to be apologizing for raising prices, I worry that they are too high, or too low (well, too high for buyers, too low for me!). I know roughly the kind of hours I spend, and I know roughly how much I need to be making, and it's a pretty simple calculation that comes out with a pretty large number. But why should it not be so? My work is worth that. I deserve that. Repeat, repeat, repeat.
It's hard to imagine life-after-Standard. It really has been life-altering. I must admit I am looking forward to being done, and yet I'm sort of scared to be done. What then? More chickens? (Yes! But not right away!) I have things in mind I want to work on--horse art for upcoming shows, a few commissions waiting for me to finish up all these chickens. To tell you the truth I have quite a lot of chicken art in mind that I would like to do, a series of something, but I don't want to get into that yet, and I'm not sure how well it would do. I am not even sure who to market this stuff too. The show crowd wants "perfect" birds, and only in their own particular breeds. Would the general public have an appreciation for the different breeds and varieties? Or, to the non chicken person, does one chicken pretty much look like any other? I suppose the only thing to do will be to just try it, and whoever likes it will buy it. I hate that it sometimes comes down to money, but I'm afraid that the more time goes by and the older I get, that is becoming much more of a motivation (hence the "things need to change"). You know I think I might like to do...actually cut back a bit on commissioned work, and do more things that I can put in galleries (not sure I can pull that off, commissions are sort of the bread and butter...). Or put the originals up for auction somewhere (ebay?) Decide my minimum price and let it go from there. Of course I'd really have to "have a name" in order to pull that off, and I don't...yet. The poultry show crowd will know me when the Standard work is done, but how do people get known to the rest of the world? And could I even handle that sort of thing? Do I really want that? Aaaack!! Kind of scary to think about!
Well, I am in a rambly mood today and could probably just keep writing all night, but, I do need to sleep and don't want to get into a long drawing project tonight either.
But, in closing, I leave you with a random pretty picture, a closeup of a mutt rooster (half Dominique, half BBRed Rosecomb, he's sort of almost Crele colored. I sold him last week).
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