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Well, not a lot of people blogging about their art shows.

So, I will throw in my 99 cents worth, (Inflation, 50 cents ain't what it used to be).

I am sitting at my fav beach bar in NSB, the Ocean Breeze.  It is Man-day Monday, which means everything is half price-- food and drinks.

I am blogging while sipping Don Julio anejo tequila , lightly salted rim with two limes on the rocks.  With a Yuengling draft chaser.  Gonna have blackened salmon on basmati rice with mango.  Gonna do the tequila again and get out of this place for under $24 while sitting on the Atlantic Ocean and blogging to all you.

Somebody has to do it.

Jeeze! Nels, will ya ever tell us about Bonita!

Thought you would never ask.

OK, Bonita, actually Bonita Springs.  It is like a north suburb of Naples.

Lots of money here, most of it from the Midwest.

The local art league runs this.  Run by Barry Witt. He was a former director of the Naples Art Show.  He started this show over 20 years ago.

Looking at the Weather Channel forecast, we knew we were in for serious bad weather on the Sunday of the show.  This show was two weekends ago.

Forcast for Saturday was sunny, cool, with winds in the15-25 mph range.

Sunday, was supposed to be rain most of the morn with wind gusts up to 40 mph.  Not pretty.

Thankfully, most of the patrons were aware of this.  They showed up in serious numbers on Saturday.

Down here, they like big pieces to go their big walls in their big houses.

Sales were fast and crisp. People bought strongly up to about 4pm.

I had nearly a $3K day.  I was happy, along with most of my neighbors.

Speaking of neighbors, my neighbor is a noted glass artist who I first met at Main Street Fort Worth, 20 years ago.

She is my hero. She and her husband are in their eighties, both are battling serious health problems.  Yet, here they were with a double booth.  And she was selling and wrapping all day.  They are my heroes, when I grow up I want to be just like them.

Aware of the weather, Barry made a great decision and told all artists they could pack up Saturday night and nobody would be blackballed.

Earlier in the day, the Naples show, down the road, told artists to pack up, the show was cancelled Sunday.

I think almost 99 per cent of our show packed up that night.

Most of us had a great day.  They bought knowing there would be no Sunday.

In Florida, January shows are hostage to the weather.  And usually we have some brutal fronts come along with heavy winds, rain, and cold temps.

My roomie for the show, jeweler Phil Hall and me slept in on Sunday morn, happy to know our displays and Art were safe.

It rained hard and the wind blew very nasty.  We were glad to not be in it.

We are both from New Smyrna Beach.  We knew the weather was tracking southwest to northeast.  We headed home just after 11am.  It was a piece of cake.  No bad traffic or weather, I was home in less then four hours.

My next blog will be about my hometown show, Images.

Later, Gators, I am in my 48th year of doing shows, and I still love it.

On a cold morning in January 2018, I was asked by a client who has bought images of horses why have I don’t have pictures of big cats. I was surprised. I smiled and answered if you are interested I certainly will attempt my luck on the big cats.

After she left I sat in front of my computer and started my search; I am very attracted to the snow, so the first question was how do I find a big cat that lives in the snow. It was not too long before the pumas showed up in my search, I soon realized that Torres del Paine National Park has a lot of pumas. It was the start of my research on the pumas.

I researched Torres del Paine National Park is a national park encompassing mountains, glaciers, lakes, and rivers in southern Chilean Patagonia and its accessibility on allowing photographers and videographers to take photos or film in the park. Will I need permits? Will I be safe sleeping in the tent? How close can I get to the pumas? Will I disturb them? What will I do with the puma pictures to inspire people? And so the questions came to my mind.

How I captured Images of Puma

After a good eight months, I made my expedition to Chile to take images of the mighty puma. I flew into Santiago also known as Santiago de Chile, which is the capital and largest city of Chile as well as one of the largest cities in the Americas. From there I took a flight to Puerto Natales and then drove with my tracker to Torres del Paine National Park. It was a very scenic route I photographed a lot of landscape images; the lakes were blue as though the sky was on the ground, it was a feast to my eyes I just could not put the camera down. Before we got to my hotel, I saw a lot of beards and the famous guanacos. Guanacos are a cousin of the lama they inhabit both the Pampas plains and mountainous regions of South America. Found in the altiplano of Peru, Bolivia, and Chile, and Patagonia, with a small population in Paraguay. In Argentina and Chile, they are more numerous in Patagonian regions, as well as in places such as the Torres del Paine National Park. I kept stopping our car and taking pictures of the guanacos, after the 5th stop I made my tracker politely remind me that I was there to take photos of the big cat puma also known as cougar or mountain lion. He then pointed up at the mountain and said they are watching you.

Next morning we got up at 4.30 am and started our search for the mighty cat. After driving for 1 hr I asked my tracker to stop again, he looked at me and smiled, I had just seen the footprints of a mountain lion in the snow. We parked the car on the side of the road and followed the footmarks for 30 minutes and then I was rewarded. I saw and photographed the puma on my first morning. From that day onwards I came across the big cat for 9 days, I had a great time photographing and making videos it was an amazing experience. My tracker had never had any trip where he saw the cougar for 9 days straight he told me I was very lucky.

The memories of those 9 days always make me smile when I look at the black and white photo prints and the short film at my New York art gallery. Chile and the people I met will always hold a special place in my heart.

View more black and white wall art

More info: ejazkhanearth.com

Saintes-Maries-de-la-Mer, Early Morning. Photographing a horse in the ocean has not been one of my favorites. When in this location, I am normally playing around and not focusing. I’m just present physically, not mentally. I have also never taken a good photograph from here, I blame it on the quality of light, location, horses etc; never taking responsibility.

This day, a friend of mine got upset at me because I was joking around and distracting him not allowing him to focus. He said, “why are you here if you don’t want to be?” That put me into place. I decided to focus on fine art photography and make it work, even though I didn’t like anything about the location. After looking at some of the images from this location, I realized it was all in my mind. It had nothing to do with external elements.

View more photos & stories at ejazkhanearth.com

TRAVEL WITH US | Contact us to join our next expeditions.

My passion has always been pushing the boundaries of human endurance, coming as I did from the bylines of Mumbai to the Big Apple and exploring the harshest extremes of nature. The lure of Alaska had beckoned, but now I wanted to push the envelope beyond that to the rugged terrain of the icy arctic snow to Grise Fiord, in the northernmost part of Canada, population 132. The planning for such a journey has to be meticulous and took 7 months with someone finally willing to take me to a space where no USA photographer had gone before & tracked the Arctic Wolf at the North Pole.

The desolate location found me sitting in a tiny 6seater aircraft, which took 5 days to reach Grise Fiord, due to harsh conditions. The tiny aircraft was forced to land midway in a swirling snow blizzard, with no one around, & no connectivity to normal life as we know it. I was hit by a panic attack, scared of the isolation & fearful of dying alone & anonymous in the cold Arctic snow, I broke into cold sweat despite the sub Artic temperatures. Finally, I reached the tiny town of Grise Fiord and met a sprightly 72-year-old man called Raymond who was to be my wolf tracker! I went into another bout of shock looking at the elderly man, whom I thought would need help himself, let alone be able to support my quest for the Arctic Wolf. Nevertheless, we left the one-horse town, on a snowmobile ride for 8 hours. The destination was a desolate wilderness, which had no trees, no grass, no signs of life other than the two on the snow.

No roads, no paths to follow, just oceans of snow and my tracker and me. We pitched our tent in the freezing cold of -56 Celsius and that was to become our home for the next 9 days. The artic could just as well have been the land of the midnight sun, since the Daylight shone even up to midnight on a clear night, and yet it felt like it was only 4 pm. Since we were two of us on a snowmobile, there was a weight restriction & so we carried limited supplies. We awoke the next morning to search for wildlife so we could eat for the next 9 days. The biting arctic cold was oppressive & hostile and even 6 layers of warm clothing could not protect me from the elements of nature. Covered in polar bear skin pants, I began to understand how the animal felt, in its own natural habitat.

Searching Wildlife Animal to Captured Fine Art Photography For Wall Art Decoration

Our hunt began for food, and that proved to be one of the highlights of my trip. Once our search had ended, we pitched the third tent as a base camp which was more than a mile away, from where I would stalk my arctic wolf prey to shoot on celluloid. Few people can relate to the isolation of being alone with yourself, the elements and your maker, and it holds a mirror up to your soul when you spend 15–18 hours alone in nature. The wilderness offers you no second chances and no toilets, no showers, and no bedrooms. Dinner each night is frozen air cured slices of wild Musk Ox served cold, and sleep in a basic sleeping bag deep within the snow. Sitting in mounds of snow for hours on end in total isolation brings home the stark reality of who you are & how insignificant a being the human is, amongst Gods Creations.

The frailty of humanity is best expressed when confronted with solitude & battling the elements of nature’s fury — be it snowstorms, blizzards, hurricanes, tidal waves or earthquakes, making you one with your maker, brings reality to the forefront. I became delusional, like the protagonist Pi Patel in Yann Mattel’s “Life of Pi”, seeing things in the -50 sub-zero temperatures and freezing cold & loneliness, the only solace is that I could meet my aged tracker at nights when I returned for the day. Less than 7 days into the expedition, my delusions became more vivid and I began to see artic snow wolves in the moving blizzards of snow. My fingers numbed without sensation, my feet frostbitten and my personal organs that had developed a mind of their own. From Mahim to Manhattan, the cacophony of human chaos presents a symphony of sound when compared to the high pitch of silence in the Arctic circle, and at times I prayed for the cacophony to return. Having faced all the adversities one could think of in one week, I decided to call off the expedition on the 7th day, frustrated and broken within, that I was defeated, not by the elements of nature alone, but by the gremlins within my mind.

Once the snowmobile was packed and on its way, en route the nearest town, 8 hours away, I was suddenly stopped in my tracks — the elusive Arctic Wolves appeared on the horizon, almost to bid me goodbye, as I was giving up my expedition into their native territory. Divine intervention or poetic justice, it was the highlight of a week of adversity and terrifying loneliness, facing nature’s elements, yet meeting the beauty of the Wolves in their pristine natural habitat, untouched by a human hand or even a cell phone tower. There are times that one marvels at the magnificence of a solitary existence, this was one of those times. I have been fortunate to learn to make myself one with my nature and surroundings and have shot the magnificent Musk Ox in Norway, the Puma in The Chilean Andes, the Arctic wolves in the arctic circle, the Alaskan Bear in Alaska and the magnificent Arabian Horses in the beautiful valleys of France.

My journey and travels now bring me to my motherland, India, where I will dare to confront the greatest Mountain range on earth and picture the magnificent HimalayanSnow Leopard, one of nature’s enigmatic animals, almost extinct and reclusive.

Global Warming Effect the Arctic

With Global warming and the snow receding, the Himalayan snow leopard is forced to lower altitudes for its food. The cattle of hill tribes & natives play a great role here and their livestock is easy prey. It is time that we educate our natives to care for these precious animals like their own family.

Human beings are the most efficient predators on earth and the snow leopards will lose this battle, like many of the great beasts that went before. Educating natives & humans to co-exist with the snow leopard will help in elongating their lifespan into the next century.

Our world needs to recognize these beautiful beasts and rescue them so future generations of our children can admire God’s creations for what they are.

View more Wildlife Fine Art Photography

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Watch the Arctic Expedition Short Film

Camargue is perfect for wild horse photography, I have been going to this location for the past 7 years or so. I know what the weather conditions will be like, the smell in the air, the mosquitoes, the muck water, and also how the horses will run through the water, etc. Here, for the most part, I functioned on autopilot. So I didn’t think about the environment, beautiful wild horses, or how to take the photographs, things happen, and I come back with decent-looking images. I knew I was not growing anymore at this location, familiarity had made me comfortable but I still just continued without making an effort to change or seek out wild horse black and white wall art for decor.

Before I left for this trip to take wild horse photography, a friend of mine and I were having dinner at a restaurant in NYC. She asked, “what are you going to do differently this time?” And, ” how will you photograph beautiful wild horses?” It was as though someone stabbed me with a dagger. However, she was right. I was coming back with similar-looking photographs and nothing different as well to have people shop for wild horse photography. So I consciously made a significant effort to change things around to capture wild horse decor, and not function on autopilot to achieve my wild horse pictures. Since then, I do my best to improve my daily routines. I don’t like all the results, but I love having variety in my life now.

HORSES HUMANS AND PHOTOGRAPHY

Humans & horses — a relationship that pictures can’t do justice to It is so true a photograph speaks a thousand words, but even an old black and white wild horse photography picture cannot tell us how long humans and horses have had a codependent relationship. The horse has been a tremendous support to humanity, helping with transportation, farming, war, sports; you name it, the horse has always supported human.

Riding a HORSE has traditionally been associated with power, prestige and was reserved for the ruling elite. The horse has been so intertwined in human lives that we even measured the power of the engine based on a horse’s strength and called it horsepower. As we evolved, the horse has been right there shoulder to shoulder as a building block for humans and a reason for us to shop wild horse photography. Now we all face a challenge, CLIMATE CHANGE is real and affects both humans and animals, will humans be there to support the horse? read more

CREATING WILD HORSE PHOTOGRAPHY

Creating wild horse photography and wild horse decor is such an honor, I feel so lucky. Sometimes I can’t get over how real they look when our printer prints and mounts them on plexiglass, they come back to life again. At our art gallery in New York City, people shop wild horse photography, and we hold some huge wild horse pictures from France and also North Carolina, Stallions or Mare in our signature black and white as well as in full color.

View more of our WILD HORSE PHOTOGRAPHY below.

If you wish to go on a Camargue horse photography tour, contact us for details.

MY WILD HORSE PHOTOGRAPHY

My passion for wild horse pictures has taken me to the most amazing places in the world. Understanding the movement and thought process of every wild horse and the beautiful wild horse I have encountered has been a rewarding experience. I have learned so much of what it means to be one with nature and to appreciate what mother nature has given to us. Camargue, France is my favorite place to visit some of the most beautiful wild horses. Their stature, manes, and also their poses are incredible.

Since one of my greatest passions in life is exploring the world’s coldest destinations, photographing wild horses in the snow is a thrilling adventure. Therefore, being in front of a herd of wild horses running towards me is an event like no other. They are smart and gentle creatures but I love exploring their strength, power, and fortitude. Each wild horse has its very own characteristics and personality. This makes each photograph I capture, whether my black and white horse pictures or fully in color, unique and memorable.

I can’t wait to explore more locations and photograph different breeds of wild horses. Enjoy this collection and make sure to come back for new and exciting wild horse photography!

Enjoy More Animal Pictures

Horses | Lions | Tigers | Elephants | Monkeys | Bears | Birds | Snowy Owls | Arctic Wolves | Mountain Lions | Musk Oxen | Bald Eagles | Bison | Reindeer | Arctic Fox

Back in 2009 before Facebook was even a glimmer in Mark Z's eye, there was ArtFairInsiders.com ... an exciting place for artists to discover. So many of us work alone in our studios and it was fun for all to share the life of being a creative who stands on the streets of the U.S. selling our soul created work. The post below had over 60 comments from artists across the country dishing on the Krasl Art Fair, Magic City Art Fair, Coconut Grove Art Festival, etc ... If you've got the time to read, you'll find lots of interesting information from the good old days when people stood in line to buy art ...

You'll find so much good information, such as this excerpt from Jim Parker:

"... the weather was excellent for the most part. My sales were about what I expected for this economy. Ann Arbor has been four days of work for two days pay for several years now. Too many artists, a confusing layout with lots of dead ends, and waning interest on the part of the public for real art bought from real artists in favor of Walmart and Costco crapola. Canvas prints haven't helped this at all, nor has cost-cutting and lower pricing structures from certain groups of photographers in a vain attempt to compete on price alone.

I bucked the trend this year and only showed split-toned black & white digital photographs at a higher price point. I've been at the same spot three years running, at a slower area of the State Street show. Previous customers do know how to find me and email marketing pre-show helps a little. I was on Channel 7 news on Friday, and a few people mentioned seeing me. Publicity was great.

My sales were about the same as the past two years in this location. However, my newer work does not look like the cookie-cutter Tuscan landscapes, or the national park sh... "

"In the interest of getting all the show reviews in the same place we are incorporating the Show Reviews section into the Blog. Please post your show reviews here. One of the advantages is that you can add "tags" at the bottom of each review so it is easier to search the reviews for specific events.

https://www.artfairinsiders.com/profiles/blogs/show-reviews-archive

Arts, Farts & Applecarts
A Blog about Being an Artist

I published this blog in two parts on my website. It is mostly directed at people who buy art, but I thought other artists might find this interesting as well.

There are a lot of different kinds of art fairs. Typically, they are gatherings of artists, usually outdoors, where artists can exhibit and sell their work. In recent years, the New York City-centered, gallery establishment, has co-opted the term, “Art Fair,” to mount expensive and extravagant exhibitions by high-end galleries from around the world. That’s not the kind of art fair I participate in. I’m talking about grass roots, artist-centered, localized art fairs.

These days, local art fairs are sprouting up all over the country. Too many, in my opinion. These art fairs originate in two ways, by arts organizations and civic groups, or by entrepreneurs and promoters. 

The majority of art fairs are profit-making enterprises organized by promoters. It is a business for these entrepreneurs, who depend on us artists to pay entry fees and booth rentals. In return these promoters guarantee an audience to buy our work. These entrepreneurial businesses provide a service to us artists by bringing artists and customers together. But, the more art fairs they can organize and sell to us artists, the more profits they can realize. Some of these businesses have 100 or more art fairs going on in any given year. Some of these art fair promoters are good, with a healthy respect for us artists. Some are not so good. But, in an effort to make more money, they continue to organize and establish ever more art fairs, diluting the market for buying art.

Art fairs organized by arts organizations and civic groups are the other category. These are non-profit art fairs run, mostly, by volunteers, although some of the big ones have a paid staff that work year-around to organize and promote their art fair.  The goal, in most cases, is to provide their communities with access to the arts. The best of these community-based art fairs have a long history and tend to draw the best crowds. Over the years I have participated in both promoter art fairs and community art fairs, but I prefer, and do better, at art fairs run by arts organizations and community groups. 

In my art gallery I might see a couple dozen people on a weekend. At an art fair, I see thousands. Art fairs are a terrific venue for selling art but they are expensive to do. Some misconceptions about art fairs: 

First, art fairs are not all alike. There are thousands of art fairs around the country but only a handful will provide the audience and the income to satisfy the professional artist. The good ones can be very profitable as long as the weather is good.

The good art fairs are difficult to get in to. Artists have to apply to art fairs with samples of their work. A jury reviews the samples of all the artists who apply and selects only the best artists in the application pool. A good art fair may have up to 2000 applicants but only 150 booths. Only a fraction of the applicants get to exhibit.

Art fairs are expensive for an artist to participate in. Besides the application fee, which ranges from $30-$60, a 10x10 foot booth fee will range from $400-$1000, depending on the show. Add the expenses of lodging, transportation and meals and an artist’s investment in a given weekend show can be over $2000 before selling a single piece.

Art fair equipment is also expensive. Most professional artists own their own tents and exhibit panels. The best setups cost $2000-$3000. And then, there is the vehicle for getting all that equipment and artwork to the art fair. A reliable van or a trailer and SUV devoted to the art fair business can easily cost $20,000 and up.

How can artists afford to participate? Here is a short statement from the application prospectus for the Cherry Creek Art Fair in Denver (one of the best): 

…historically very high art sales potential, estimated at $19,400 per artist in sales for 2021…

Yes. Art fairs can be very profitable.

Another misconception is that us art fair artists travel en mass from art fair to art fair… like a circus. All artists are different in their approach to art fairs. Some travel with RVs to sleep in. Some use hotels or B&Bs. Some seek out nearby campgrounds. But, no, we don’t sleep in our art fair tents. It is a gypsy lifestyle, but each “gypsy” has his or her own agenda and interpretation of that lifestyle. I know art fair artists who sleep in their cars and brush their teeth at a local gas station. And I know art fair artists who travel with an entourage of helpers and stay in the best hotels. I know a high end jewelry artist who travels with an armed guard to protect his gold and diamonds.

Part 2

Art fairs are a lot of work, and they are also very stressful. The work is setting up the outdoor art gallery, and the stress comes from the uncertainties of weather and the mood of the buying public. After renting the booth space, reserving a room for the weekend at a local hotel and traveling hundreds of miles to an art fair, an artist might have $2000 or more invested before selling a single item. Hopes are always high among artists before an art fair begins. We are an optimistic breed.

If severe weather hits the art fair and the public stays home (or the art fair is cancelled for safety reasons), there are no booth fee refunds and the hotel still has to be paid. All art fair artists have their own personal horror stories about those lost weekends. Marcia reminds me of some of the more memorable disasters that we survived over 20 years of exhibiting at art fairs… the tornado warning sirens going off in Columbus,… cowering in a campus building watching the wind and rain batter our tent in Ann Arbor,… sloshing through puddles up to our knees, in Winter Park, Florida,… hiding with our fellow artists in the brick rest rooms with tornado sirens blaring in Peoria. 

I especially remember one show we did in St. Louis. This was before we invested in a heavy-duty tent. After setting up the booth on a cloudy, threatening day, Marcia and I went back to our hotel and had a nice dinner as the rain and wind picked up. Early the next morning I got a phone call from the art fair. “You better get down here. Your tent has been knocked down by the storm.” We rushed to the art fair and, sure enough, the tent was all bent out of shape and lying on its side with all my art scattered around… my precious framed artwork lodged under the devastation. Volunteers from the art fair sprang into action. They showed up in force with towels and tools to dry off the artwork and help us get the tent back up. After we realized the tent was a complete loss, the committee, somehow, found another tent that we could use. With the help of about a dozen volunteers, we got our booth set up again. Lots of artwork was ruined, but a lot was saved as well, thanks to a terrific art fair committee.

There were a couple camera crews from local TV stations recording the destruction caused by the storm. We weren’t the only artists who had storm damage, but, apparently, we were the most photogenic. We were featured on several local newscasts and, over the weekend, we were the beneficiaries of a sympathetic audience. We sold lots of artwork and had our most profitable show, ever. Yes. The bad with the good…

I now have a 10x10 foot Trimline tent; a dome-style tent that is one of the best brands for withstanding foul weather. But it is expensive and very heavy. It is a beast to set up. I use 7-foot tall pro panels (carpet-covered walls) in my tent and I’ve designed and fabricated many additions to display my artwork and to keep my tent from blowing away. It typically takes me about five hours of back-breaking labor to set up my exhibit. I prefer art fairs that have an extra setup day before the art fair begins (which also adds an extra day to the hotel bill). Although no tent is impervious to bad weather, this heavy Trimline tent gives me a little peace of mind when the wind picks up.

A long time ago, when I made my living as a TV producer, I produced a documentary called “Art Fair.” It opened with scenes of artists setting up their exhibits at an art fair in New Smyrna Beach, Florida. One of the artists tells this story: 

“Two ladies were admiring all the art exhibited at the art fair. One asked ‘All this beautiful artwork. Where do you think they find the time to make all this art? The other one answers: Well, you know, they don’t work!’” 

Please notice that the “a” in artist above is a lower case “a.” It should have been lower case in my previous blog about being a professional artist. I’m proud of the fact that I can make a living selling my work. I’m proud that there are enough people in the world who consider my work relevant enough to actually pay me money to buy it. That makes me a professional artist. But that certainly does not make me a great Artist. Upper case “A” I reserve for Artists who history deems to be “Great….” Artists like Picasso, Dali, Georgia O’Keefe… you know the ones. I know a lot of professional artists who make a living selling their work, but are (in my opinion) terrible artists. So, “professional” is about money. It’s only about my art-making as a job. 

I’m pretty prolific. I make a lot of art. I sometimes wonder if I would work so hard at it if I was rich. If I was rich, would I be making the same kind of art? Maybe I would be more experimental. Financial independence provides a lot of freedom. If I was rich, would I be making art at all? Necessity and, even desperation… are great motivators. (…the mortgage is due… I gotta sell some art!). Maybe I need a little panic to motivate me.

As idealistic art students in college, we looked down on artists who had actual jobs… especially jobs that had nothing to do with art. Even our teachers were suspect. There’s an old adage… “those who can, do; those who can’t, teach”. But, I’ve come to learn that teaching art, to some, is a passion equal to making art. The question still remains… if those artist/teachers were not teaching and not receiving that paycheck every week… would they be more highly motivated to make and sell their art? It doesn’t matter at all for those dedicated teachers who have a true passion for teaching. My only point is that desperation is a great motivator.

Another ongoing conversation I had with one of my professors in college, was the concept of the “selfish artist.” To be a great artist, do you have to be so self-centered that the art takes precedence over everything else? Maybe your family, or your students, or that 9-5 job you have, are distractions from your true calling… making art.

Personally, I’m distracted (happily) by my family, my friends, my dog, my cats, my house, etc…