Procrastination II

We’ve had a wonderful response to Monday morning’s post on Procrastination and I thought I’d share a few things to do to get out of “Stuck”. I wrote about my “vileness” of putting things off, and, as I discussed in my book, there are some things you can do to get going. As I mentioned, “Resistance” is the enemy, it is a nasty creature, out to defeat us all. It knows our soft spots, our insecurities and our soft underbelly. We should all learn to hate resistance.

Here’s a few things that work:

* Just Begin: When I have to write something, and I am distracted by 100 other things and notice an hour as gone by with no action, I just open the software right in front of me, without giving it a thought, on an impulse,  and let the empty page stare at me. My A.D.D. gets distracted by this new shiny object and before I know it words start to appear on the page. (Today the words were: “We’ve had a tremendous response to Monday…”). So just take a step.

* A schedule: If you set aside 2 hours a day for creation and turn off the phone, E Mail, Twitter etc and know that whatever you create that day is OK, you’ll get stuff done. One of the points of The Affluent Artist is to treat your creativity like a business, have regular “business hours”.

* Get off “Someday Isle”. Take daily action, do 5 things a day towards your goals.

*No self editing. Do something that really sucks if you have to, like “Opposite day”, do something you know will get rejected, that everyone will hate. That’s ok, at least you are finding your heart, your creativity. Too much of our time is spent worrying about results. You have talent, let it free.

*Your soul: Please it. Meditate, pray, run, stand on your head, it doesn’t matter. It’s my belief that I am not a material body who happens to have a soul, I believe I am a spiritual being who happens to have a material body. My soul is visiting this world for a while. While I’m here, I want to do work that pleases my soul, so I try to get in touch. When you are in grace, in that state of oneness with everything, creation just flows; no effort required. Get quiet, learn to be still and listen.

*Think like your customer. The more empathetic you are the better. Imagine being the person in the last row of your concert, the person reading your blog, the person using your website. The more you understand your client’s needs, the more you can see things through their eyes, the more excited you will be to complete your project. Ask your client a lot of questions, go sit in the back row, try to use his website, get the opinion of people who are similar to your customer. After seeing through their eyes, your talent will know what to do.

*Come from love. Creation comes from love, God is creation, God loves creative people. After all, that’s his line of work too!

*Get off the couch, put down the remote, no more donuts.

Remember right brains are taking over the world, the revolution is here!

Wait till Tomorrow… Procrastination

My particular version of self loathing and sabotage seems to be procrastination. I’m a pretty high A, high achievement, task oriented kind of guy normally, but I have to keep watching myself for those instances I put stuff aside until it piles so high that all momentum comes to a grinding halt because I have to tackle my “pile”. Partly to help you understand your own form of vileness and partly as a catharsis, I’d like to address this procrastination beast… Tomorrow.

Only kidding! Remember not long ago, I talked about Resistance and Steven Pressfield’s wonderful book, The War of Art. Steven blames everything on “resistance” the enemy of all creatives. I agree with Steven completely, I keep his book on my desk and refer to it often. Here’s a few ways my particular form of resistance crops up in my life:

*”I don’t want to”: Sometimes, I lack ALL self discipline and think I can simply ignore shit like paperwork and bills because, after all, I am a creative soul. This form or irresponsibility can be very seductive, after all, I am a creative soul!

“Tomorrow” I can get pretty caught up in this one and actually fool myself into believing it. Yea, that’s a great idea, certainly needs to get done, I’ll get it tomorrow morning. It’s almost like starting a diet…

“I’ll doing something creative instead” Gee whiz, I really need to fill out this bull crap, boring and static compliance report or I could start Friday’s blog, that’s it, I’ll start Friday’s blog, I’m feeling inspired all of a sudden.

“I’m afraid of failure/ success” What if they hate this new product? What if no one really wants to hire me to speak? They don’t really really hire speakers like me? Or, conversely: How will I get all these orders fulfilled? I don’t have the infrastructure…

“I don’t have time” I know this new blog idea could make me at least rich and maybe even famous but I have to file these forms and clean out these cabinets. I have to be organized.

“I’ll surf the net” There is news on the NBA free agent market, I need to know if Rasheed Wallace signed, there’s my blog and my God there is Twitter. Web 2.0 is calling me…

So, here’s what I’m going to do, I’m going to knock it off. Every time I don’t get something done that I need to get done, I’m going to let you know. I’ll send out a tweet or something. Here’s an example. I’m good at working out but crappy at dieting. I usually eat whatever I can eat without getting out of my car. But Tuesday night I’m joining a new workout class that includes dietary guidelines. I’m going to finally lose the middle age gut and go for it, flat out for 6 weeks, no excuses, no resistance. I’ll let you know my progress on FB or something, but  I’ve been putting this one off for too long!

Anyone want to join me? Make a pledge, right now, for the whole world to see under comments, come on, I could use a team behind me! Let’s support each other!

Shecky Hancock, Continental Comedian

I’m taking a few days off for the Fourth, but in honor of Independence Day, I’ve dug up transcripts of a Philadelphia Night Club Comic, Shecky Hancock, doing his act at the Continental Congress Press Club Dinner in 1776. Enjoy it, and remember, these jokes may have been funnier 223 years ago.

Cue the fife and drums playing the Tonight Show theme and host John Hancock saying, “Heeeeeere’s Shecky!”:

Wow it’s great to be here, I just rowed in from Hoboken and boy are my arms tired! It’s so great to be here in Philadelphia in such esteemed company. Last week I played the state legislature in New Hampshire and I’m not saying they were a tough audience… But I just got the feathers scraped off my ass with tar remover. Tough crowd. That live free or die thing? Let me tell you, they are pretty  glum up there. Comedy is not their thing. Let’s just say they make the Quakers seem like party animals!

Hey, did you see where John Adams is saying he really gave Jefferson all the ideas for the Declaration of Independence, that Jefferson only put the words down on paper? Yea well, Adams is also claiming he invented something called the internet.

Oh, Mrs. Washington, good to see you: your doctor sent a letter, turns out those are splinters…

Wooden teeth Martha, that’s all I’m sayin…

What a classy broad; seems like Big George isn’t just first in War and Peace!

He’s first where it counts, if you know what I mean… (Spreads hands).

Everyone say hi to the band led by fife player Doc Williams. I’m not saying Doc likes the ale here in Philadelphia, let’s just say that the serving wenches all have played his fife too. Give him a big Colonial welcome.

Then there’s the big guy from Boston, my cousin, he got me this gig. I’m not saying John Hancock is vain, but when congress asked him the reason he signed his name so big on the Declaration of Independence, he was surprised and asked: “You mean you wanted to sign it too?”

Hey, come on now, that’s funny, what is it the Red Coat?

Should I take it off?

Hey, that reminds me! Why did the chicken cross the road?

Cause the British are coming, the British are coming!

I know, I got a million of them, be sure to tip your serving wench

Speaking of the British, rumors that King George is mad were confirmed when he offered us a Peace Concession:

Free British Dental!

Cause you know the British don’t have very good teeth, Work with me People. These are the jokes, you can laugh or you can just revolt, we got an hour of this stuff.

That Nathaniel Green sure likes his grog, I’m just saying, buddy, Rhode Island, is that a state or Massachusetts’s back yard? … Hey, the Indians called, your loan is due! They want blue beads this time.

Hey, you’re all right, I kid because I love. Rhode Island’s great: I spent a week there one afternoon.

Hey there’s the guys from New Jersey, Paulie, Tony, Paulie Junior, Tiny, Big Tiny, Anthony. How You Doin? Hey, can you get me a deal on a powdered wig, you know, one that fell of a wagon?

Hey I kid the guys from New Jersey but don’t take it personally. I mean PLEASE don’t take it personally, I’m kidding ok! You wacky guys! Seriously, if you want to make a little book, these are the guys to see. You’ll love their payment plans… I’m taking Washington at Valley Forge, getting 6 1/2.

And Sam Adams, keep those beers coming buddy, your great, love the hair babe, love the hair.

How about Betsy Ross, look I’m not saying that Betsy is ugly, let’s just say that bell wasn’t cracked before she got there, ok?

I mean’s she a real two sacker…

Sew a flag? Hell, that was a face mask for the Cotillion! Yowsa!

Hey there’s Ethan Allan, anybody ever tell you you make a helluva bed? It even holds up for Ben Franklin’s “special” parties.

Virginia you’re all right, good to see your delegation here. Tall men, wooden teeth, long hair, is this a congressional delegation or a reunion of Led Zepplin? Lee, Mason, Jefferson, doesn’t anybody have a last name?

Don’t worry about that slavery thing guys, nobody will notice. It’s not like they’ll start a war over it or anything. No really, you’ll be ok. (to rest of the congress; Oh My God!)

Ben Franklin, Hey Ben CAN YOU HEAR ME?

I’m not saying Ben is old but he didn’t just discover electricity, he discovered daylight.

Ben invented the lending library, the post office and bifocals. But, Ben, how about inventing mouthwash? I’m just saying, Ben had garlic for dinner… Last Tuesday. Really Ben you could knock a bald eagle off a manure cart.

You can call it “Macaroni” if you want Ben, but that’s not what comes out of a pony.

It’s ok, I kid Ben cause I love him… And because he won’t remember what I said in five minutes. Right Ben?

Ben’s from here in Philadelphia. They settled on “The City of Brotherly Love” as a motto because “Streets full of horse shit” and “Swamp fever: it might not kill you” were already taken.

Come back this weekend guys, we’ll have fife and drum karaoke and all you can eat Goat Brains. Mighty tasty! Grog is 3 for a shilling unless you have our Constant Grog card, we punch a hole and every 6th grog is free! So come and make Merry. And if Merry is busy, you can enjoy one of our other fine young and meaty serving wenches. Badda Bing!

And how about that economy huh? You didn’t like taxation without representation, how do you like it with representation?

I know congress has spent more money than it really has, don’t worry, it’s not like they can do that forever!

George Washington threw a dollar over the Potomac 20 years ago, but he can’t do it now. It’s not that George is twenty years older, it’s that the dollar doesn’t go as far these days!

and now:

The Top Ten Reasons Your Man-Servant Might be a Torrey Spy

10. You find him going through your tea bags.

9. He roles his eyes and salutes you as “Mr. Congressional Smarty Pants”

8. He killed a Frenchman, just to watch him die.

7. Armada, what armada?

6.  Your muskets always seem to be plugged with goose dung.

5.”Benedict Arnold, uh no, we never met. Good to meet you Ben.”

4. When he has a few drinks he looks at you and says “God Save the King and Die you Patriot Bastard!”

3. He passes notes to beautiful women one third his age. No wait: that’s Ben Franklin

2. He told Paul Revere, “No it’s TWO if by land, THREE if by sea.”

1. Three words: Union Jack Undergarments.

You know you crazy congressmen, that’s it for me. But seriously folks, before I go, I gotta tell you, I dig this whole Revolution thing you guys are stirring up. The whole countryside is into this whole crazy independence movement, people are singing Yankee Doodle, reading Common Sense and they are getting their kicks from this kooky revolution kinda thing and you cats are doing the work of the Man upstairs.

May Jehovah Bless you and Good Night!

According to the transcript: Shecky was then shot by Aaron Burr.

Negotiating Your Price…

Right brains, as awesome as they are for creativity; sometimes don’t quite get the business part of putting your work out there for the approval of others. Capitalism is a tricky thing, those of us who are getting paid for our creations can get nervous, cranky or just plain defensive when it comes down to naming our price. I posted a video last week about negotiating your price and it was a huge hit, it got a lot of laughs and got re-tweeted all over the place. However, I think it gave the impression that anyone who won’t meet your price is trying to screw you and, unfortunately, it is a whole lot more complicated than that in the real world.

Negotiation in any business, is adversarial, try not to take it personally. Business projects are expected to make a profit; not support artists. Nightclubs hire entertainers to sell more drinks, radio plays songs to sell more ads, writers get advances to sell books.

Ultimately, you get to decide the worth of your talent and what you will work for, if you believe you are good enough to charge a whole lot more than other people in your field, for the same work, that’s ok, but realize you’ll get less work. This is not a bad strategy if you have more work than you can handle and want make the same money doing less work. We’d all like that option, but the fact is, very few creatives are in the position to name their own price, most people have to be somewhere around the competition.

The other extreme is to work as cheaply as possible and get as much work to pound out as possible, even if quality suffers. Elance and street corner theater are your venues and it is probably hard to feel good about yourself if you are always the low bidder. If you are a commodity, someone who only wins on price, it’s good to understand that and know that you have made that choice.

SO is there a middle ground? Of course there is. Obviously, people don’t always buy the cheapest option, heck did you see the lines at Apple this week for the new I Phone? There are some basics of capitalism and markets that you need to know and love.

1. Know your market. Price out a job like the one you are offering and see if you are in the ballpark. If jobs are going for $200 to $600, you’d better offer quite an apparent improvement to the buyer if you want to charge $2,500. Keep in mind, what you think is an advantage to the buyer may not be something he feels the need to pay extra for. You might be surprised that there are good people out there with a whole different price structure (higher or lower) than yours.

2. Understand your client. Ask a LOT of questions, most jobs don’t even go out to bid if the buyer has found someone who can give him exactly what he wants. Some jobs don’t need a whole lot of customization and talent, some do, you should find out why the customer is doing a certain job and adjust your bid accordingly. A client may have a low budget on project because he anticipates the project is not going to be all that profitable, it’s a good idea to understand his goals. It’s not the buyers problem if your costs are higher or if you have to do all the work yourself because you don’t have a staff. The buyers obligation is to get the work done for the best value.

3. Be able to add value. If your job is seen as a commodity, say you transcribe, then most people will go with the low bid because they are going to get the same results. Buyers understand it’s good business to save money where you can. BUT: If you tell me you’ll not only transcribe my work, you’ll correct the grammar and clean up my syntax, I’m going with you, even if you aren’t the low bid.

4. Be gracious. People would like to think that you want to do their work, that you care about them and that they are more than a wallet to you. Even if you don’t get a job you’d like, it is good business to be so gracious that next time, the customer remembers you and feels like he owes you one (Or maybe tell his friends and readers about you). In general, people do business with people they like and know. Price is not the only determination but yes, you might decide that you’ll lose money on a job or it’s not worth the price to you. That is YOUR choice, be gracious.

So, that’s enough for today, running a business is not antithetical to creative minds. Right brainers who plug into a customer’s need using empathy and paint pictures with stories can get paid a lot more than the low bidder. Use your creativity to not only do great work but to GET great work!

Here’s how negotiating with a dentist might go:

Karen Wall Garrison Paints Live Events

I had about a 100 mile drive this morning and planned to spend it listening to one of the comedy channels on my satellite radio. As a writer and speaker, I really admire guys that have risen to the top of their profession and, besides, I’m at a place where laughter goes a long way. However today, the “host” of the comedy station I prefer (He’s sort of like a disc jockey for comedy, totally superfluous)  decided he would dedicate my travel time to discussing the death of Michael Jackson and the effects on comedy and pop culture. It was very bad radio and he got no calls from listeners. The truckers who listen to “Raw Dog” weren’t interested in a discussion of pop culture and neither was I.

There’s a lesson in here for artists, it’s what I’ve been talking about, finding your niche. Look, there were plenty of places I could have turned on the dial had I wanted to discuss the ramifications of Michael Jackson’s passing to Western Civilization, the comedy channel just wasn’t one of them. The show host screwed up big time, he forgot who his audience is and I’ll be surprised if he is back on the air again.

I was taping a Home Study Course of The Affluent Artist and came up with an example of a niche that makes me wish I was a painter. Because, if I was, I’d go to Daytona Beach at Bike Fest and I’d start painting rich Harley Guy’s portraits next to their motorcycles. Then I’d open an Etsey Gallery of these things, travel the country to various bike fests and Harley Dealers painting the portraits and tell about them on my blog. I’d have a life of fun travel and create a niche for myself with no competition, being a Starving Artist would NOT be an issue. “I’ll be in San Diego this weekend and bidding is open, I’ll only be doing two portraits this trip, bids start at $10,000.”  People who could not afford the portraits could buy limited addition prints of their model motorcycle.

Through Twitter, I met an artist who has that concept down pretty well. Karen Wall Garrison, born and raised in Long Beach, CA- is mostly a self-taught artist. Her “formal” art education began in the generously-funded public school system of the sixties and seventies, where she attended Newcomb Elementary, Marshall Jr. High and Millikan High School. She attended honors programs in the visual and performing arts, and studied ballet and violin. Her first art class was at the age of 5 at California State University Long Beach, by special invitation for young artist prodigies. Throughout K-12, Karen won awards and scholarships with her art, and began her commercial art career at age 17 with menu illustrations for the Hof’s Hut Restaurant chain. She attended LB City College, CSULB, San Antonio Community College, Golden West College and Coastline Community Colleges, never earning a degree- but focused her studies on visual art, graphic design, dance and career enhancement.

Karen does something REALLY unique, she does “Live” portraits at events like weddings and charity events. Anyone can have a photographer, but it’s something special to have an accomplished and well known artist commermorate your event forever.

She sets up her easel and paints a vibrant and colorful canvas, capturing the event as it happens! A great way to commemorate your special occasion-it’s a perfect addition to weddings, corporate parties, fund raisers, music festivals, or any other gathering.

Karen’s work also includes landscapes, murals, portraits and pets, and museum reproductions. As a professional artist, it is evident that she has mastered many of the principals we talk about here all the time, she has found a market, a niche and has reached a point where people recognize her work as her own.

You can see more of Karen Wall Garrison’s work by clicking here.

The guy on the radio missed the point, if I wanted to hear about Michael Jackson, I’d have put on some other station, I came to the comedy channel for comedy. If I’m the parent of a bride and want to give her something special, I’m going to consider having a famous painter who owns this niche paint my daughter’s wedding. Karen has done a remarkable job of finding a need out there and providing a wonderful creative product to fill this need. All hail this week’s Affluent Artist!

How Dying Network News= Your Opportunity

Do you remember a time when you didn’t buy plane tickets without a Travel Agent, you couldn’t buy stock without a Stockbroker and the big three television networks had a monopoly on television programming? I’ll tell you what, that day wasn’t that long ago!

Sure there are still travel agents, stockbrokers and television networks, only their jobs have gotten a whole lot harder. Being the only one that has certain information is a very valuable business asset, trying to play that role in the Web 2.0 age is pretty stupid. Knowing a little about the way business is changing is crucial to your survival as a creative in 2009, as I’ve been saying, if your job can be sent to India or done by a computer, you are toast.

When I was a rookie stockbroker in the eighties, all I had to do was get a prospective client into my office and show them my ADP terminal. It was a black and white screen that quoted stock prices in real time and scrolled the Dow Jones News Wire. Once I proved I had access to information they couldn’t get at home, these people couldn’t wait to become new clients. They left stock buying to their stock broker.

If I wanted to go to Vail to ski, I called a travel agent who found everything from a car to a flight to a ski resort, not to mention ski rentals and restaurants. She had a computer terminal with connections and a telephone, you left travel up to your travel agent.

There were only three television channels and they each hired very serious people to tell us what was going on in the world, they controlled the information America got and Walter Cronkite, Huntley and Brinkley told us what to worry about and who was famous. They did it at 6:30 every evening, you’d better tune in or you’d miss the information they were doling out. Local news was the same way; did your team win tonight? Better tune in at 11 to find out.

Old farts like me remember those days, my kids don’t. They use their mobile device to buy a stock, book a trip and find out who won the game; they do it NOW. In fact, just today, the network news reported new ALL TIME lows for CBS and ABC network news, the slide to irrelevancy is near completion.

Yes there will be successful stock brokers (I am one), good travel agents (just less of them) and network news; but our product will have to change to deal with smaller and more specialized markets. Stockbrokers offer financial planning now, travel agents specialize in cruises (or some other niche) and networks have the ability to tell stories in a way no one else does. Note, none of these things involves having a monopoly on disseminating information.

So, what’s The Affluent Artist message here? Actual, quite a bit of this is relevant to the creative.

* Information gets out and people who think they can control it suck. Turn in for news at 11? No thanks, I’ll look on my Blackberry right now. You don’t write for editors or publishers anymore, you don’t paint for gallery owners. You can get your work out to the masses with a You Tube channel, a $19 web cam and a Starbucks connection. You create for your end user, your customer. You use the web to find them.

* That smaller more specialized market thing? I believe you need a niche, you need to find your potential buyers and design stuff just for them. Think of your creative self as the local handcrafted furniture store, building stuff your customers want, you know your neighbors and what they need. It’s JUST like that, only your customers can be anywhere in the world.

* The world is begging for more content. Creative people are in big demand right now, if you can tell a story like no one else or design a product no one else can, you have a talent that people are willing to pay for, Web 2.0 allows you to get that work out there in a more efficient and targeted manner.

I’m pounding away at this business model thing because it is so relevant to the way people buy. Going to open a bicycle shoppe in London? Before you do, through social networking, every bike rider in town should already know who you are and you should know them. Then, selling them bicycles is like shooting fish in a barrel, you know what they want and you can just give it to them.

I’ve got a lot more to say about this, I’ll keep you posted.

Meatball Sundaes and Our Revolution

Not along ago, I blogged about the rise of right brainers and the book “A Whole New Brain” by Daniel Pink. I told you there is something important going on and I’d keep talking about it in this space because the Creative Class is taking over the world and I want to be your revered leader and President for life. (Ok, I’ll settle for selling you some books and getting paid to speak to you).

If you look to the right, you’ll see I offer links to my other places on the web, and I only (currently) link to one blog, Seth Godin’s. Seth understands marketing and what he has to say has quite a bit of bearing on how our revolution is working.

Meatball Sundae is about putting fancy toppings on something not designed to have fancy toppings. Specifically, he is talking about using the new internet, Web 2.0, to sell old established products, products designed to be sold through mass marketing. Meatballs are staples, existing products that no amount of sweet toppings will enhance. Companies who are successful using the new web, in other words, are not selling old products, they are asking a very important question,

“How can I create new product to capitalize on the web.”

Here’s why we should listen to Seth: As I’ve written here before, the way people buy things has changed forever. Advertising that “interrupts” us is going away. People who filter and parcel out information are going away. You can reach your market directly now, you can find them and you can have a group of buyers that is unique to YOU. My buyers are NOT yours and vice versa, the idea of advertising to everyone en masse is gone forever, you target your clients, target them with a laser.

Meatball Sundae, Purple Cow, All Marketers Are Liars and the rest of Seth’s work, including his blog, tell us (and big companies) that we live in an age After Advertising, that we can sell our work without trying to get some editor or gallery owner to buy it. Our work can stand on its own merritt and it is our responsibility to find the buyers. Our word, our opinion can get out there faster than the editor at the New York Times and so can our customer’s opinion. The world is about the democratization of information and NO ONE is more poised to benefit than creatives.

When I started in the financial planning business in the eighties, my branch manager said, “Interesting fact, 2% of the population is mentally ill.” Then he handed me a phone book and said, “Here, go find the 2% of the people who are crazy enough to do business with you,” and he went back into his office. Today, thanks to Web 2.0, you can find those people, the people who will become your fans and clients and you can:

Design Products They WIll Buy.

Find people you can create for. In a DVD package I’m releasing soon, I give an example of a fictitious painter who likes Harley’s. So, he decides to go to Bike Fest in Daytona Beach and set up a booth, he’ll offer to paint portraits of rich guys on their bikes. By selecting a niche with people who will be enthusiastic to give him money for his creation, our hero can use blogs, Facebook, Harley Davidson Dealers and grass roots marketing to get the word out that he is the guy. No gallery owners need apply.

People want to get to know you, they want to know other people are buying from you and that you are not going to screw them over. You don’t find your customers anymore. Nope. YOU DON’T FIND CUSTOMERS ANYMORE!

Your Customers Find You.

I’ve gone on enough for today; I’ll revisit some of Seth’s principals this week, it is imperative that Self Employed and Corporate Artists understand the entire ramification of his work. Like I’ve told you, the revolution is here, grab your pitchfork AND your I Phone!

Growing Older But Not Up

Ok, all work and no play makes the Affluent Artist a grumpy boy, so can I share my day with you? It was amazing!

Sometimes I see me as old manatee
Headin’ south as the waters grow colder
Tries to steer clear of the hum-drum so near
It cuts prop scars deep in his shoulder
But that’s how it goes (that’s how it goes), right to the end
Though his body’s quite flexible, that barnacle brain don’t bend…

Jimmy Buffett

A few years ago, with my fiftieth birthday approaching, I decided to buy a motorcycle. Not just any little starter Japanese bike, oh no; A big, honking Harley Davidson. I went as far as to visit several showrooms, look up the licensing classes and talk to bike riding friends. One of them said,

“Well, the classes are great, they teach you what to do when you go down”.

“You mean IF I go down”

“Oh no, you’ll go down.”

So, it was decided I would buy a boat.

Amie, my 24 foot Stingray cabin cruiser has literally changed my life. I keep it on Merritt Island here in Florida, right near the Kennedy Space Center, my Happy Place. My time on my boat is when I bliss out, I sleep on her often, slipping out alone in the morning while the mist is still rising from the canal, feeling like I’m one with the dolphins, heron, eagles, manatees and God herself. I never run out of new experiences, but today it was the manatees who gave me a memory I’ll always remember.

Manatees, as the video shows, are these big ole mammals, cousin to the elephant, that I’ve seen swimming around for a few years now. Mostly, you try not to hit them with your boat, they all have scars on their backs from boat propellers, we are their only natural enemy. They don’t move very fast and stay near the surface. They travel in groups, I’ve seen some alone but as many as 12 animals together at times. A couple times fishing, they’ve come up to the swim platform and looked up at me, wondering what I was up to I guess, but that’s the closest I’ve come to an encounter until last Saturday.

Last week, I was hanging off the back of Amie when a manatee decided to swim under my feet, I was suddenly standing on something in 25 feet of water. WEIRD! But, he swam on by, probably more surprised than I was and leaving me glad these big vegetarians don’t eat legs.

Today, my son was fishing off the bow and I jumped in off the back to cool off when my family said, “There’s a manatee coming your way”.

He sure was.

My new BFF, we’ll call him Marley (they are West Indian), came on over and spent some time visiting and brought the family! Marley swam under the boat and right up to me, circling me two or three times and then settling in right next to me for a while. He came up for air inches from my face and looked up at me with an eye that showed an intelligence I’d only seen before when I looked at an elephant in the zoo.

Marley hung around circling me now and then, staring at me and occasionally putting his big ole snout in spots only my neighbors dog does, we were having quality bonding. After a bit, two of  his friends showed up, we realized after a while, it was Momma and Baby Marley, just as curious and fearless, they looked at me with kindness in their eyes and I think I heard the baby:

“Can we keep him Momma?”

“Well, he’s big enough to be one of us, but he’s so damn ugly.”

The cool thing about this, at least to me, was how natural this was. I didn’t go to some fenced off part of a spring or a zoo. I was in these 800 pound animals’ habitat, dangling off the end of a boat, just trying to cool off when these curious giants took a detour to come and visit, to check me out.

The “large” family all examined me, each making eye contact before they determined I was of no importance, that I wasn’t going to join their clan, and they swam off, no doubt wondering what fell of the boat and couldn’t get back on… I was left with a visit I’ll never forget.

I love my boat, I love the baby dolphins that I’ve seen grow into young adults, the stingrays that swim by, the sunrises through the rear hatch, the time with my family, and I know I’ll always remember the encounter I had today, it was very special.

How Artists Negotiate

Afraid to ask for your price? Do you feel like you go hat in hand when it comes time to negotiate with a prospective client? Show them this video first!

“COW”

Annie Strack’s Passion

 

“I have always been an artist; I cannot remember the first time I picked up a brush or created my first work of art. I used to take it for granted, until a harrowing incident led me to change my life and my career. I had been working as a jeweler, until a gang of armed robbers convinced me that it was time for a career change. While I laid bound and gagged with a gun to my head, listening to the gunmen discuss my fate as if my life had no more meaning than a discarded gum wrapper, I had an epiphany; life is too short to waste even a moment on anything that we do not love, anything that does not bring joy and passion into our lives. I have been a full-time professional artist ever since.”

  That’s this week’s artist, Annie Strack, and she has turned her second chance at life into a successful creative career that any of us would envy, talk about understanding your purpose for being on the planet! I’d love to show you some of her work and give you some quotes from her bio, parenthetically, I’ll reinforce the career advice we can all use. 

For those of you just finding the Affluent Artist Blog, I only profile artists whose work moves me and I am careful about letting their work speak for itself; I’m not an art critic and I don’t want to sound like an amateur! Annie’s work touches me because I love the medium of watercolor and I am a seashore and boat person, I find God in my vessel, Amiee, amidst the dolphins and manatee here in Florida each weekend. Annie paints watercolors I’d  like to imagine resemble heaven.  

A classically trained artist with extensive experience in many mediums, Annie Strack has been published in numerous magazines, including Art Calendar, The Artists Magazine… (She understand the importance of publicity and making it easy for people to find you.)

She is the author of ‘The Artists Guide to Business and Marketing,’ and since 2005 she’s been a monthly columnist and feature writer for Art Calendar Magazine; the premier national business magazine for professional artists. (Obviously, Annie understand the importance of knowing where money and art intersect, she is a PROFESSIONAL)

She is an expert exhibit curator and art business consultant, and a highly admired art show juror and popular workshop instructor… (She understands the importance of being a mentor, of giving back, of coming from a place of abundance.)

 

Her art is in over 1,000 collections worldwide, including the US Coast Guard, US Navy, US Senate, US Pentagon, Fredonia Museum of Art, Zigler Museum of Art, Lake Pontchartrain Maritime Museum, Jefferson Parish Courthouse, St. Tammany Parish, New Orleans World Trade Center, Biloxi Sun-Herald, & many more. (She understands marketing and working with affiliates and getting sponsors).

I paint the places that I know, places that I love. I want you to step into my paintings and experience these places with me; to feel the sand between their toes as they walk on my sun-warmed beaches, to dive into my paintings and swim in my oceans, to cruise through my paintings on the decks of my boats. If home is where the heart is, then each of these paintings is my home. I want you to not just see a painting, but to feel the ocean’s wind in your hair, taste the salt spray on your lips, and hear the seagulls calling to you.” (We always talk about finding work that makes your soul happy, do you think Annie has a happy soul?)

Please click here and go see more of Annie Strack’s work and read more about this Affluent Artist, kiddies, you can do this! You can follow your heart and have a successful career doing so. You can create images from God, through God and have God’s abundance. Like I’ve said many times, God loves creative people, after all, that’s his line of work too! I believe you can be a creator and be successful in the process!