2008 in Review

The end of the year is a great time to sit down and see how you’ve done. I realize I’m a couple of days late, but what the heck, I was on vacation!

I write down my goals for my art each year and call it a “business plan”. It is loosely structured on a typical business plan; it’s more an “art plan” with business stuff thrown in. I start the year with this plan, then edit it throughout the year as various goals are met (or completely airballed, as the case may be). Longer-term goals are also included, forming the basis for the next year’s plan.

At the end of the year I stop editing the old year’s plan and start a new one. This is when I take account of which goals were met and which weren’t.

As with any business plan, I had laid out how much I hoped to make from sales of my art in 2008. I totally missed my goals in terms of net profits for 2008. Frankly I don’t feel too bad about that, given the abysmal economy. I actually ended the year in the black in spite of some large one-time capital expenditures. My gross sales in 2008 greatly exceeded those of 2007, so that’s a good trend.

Those sales were a direct result of doing a LOT of art festivals in 2008. I really got out there and got my work in front of a lot of people (and nearly killed myself in the process). I exhibited at 10 outdoor art festivals, plus one open studio (at a friend’s studio). This all gave me terrific exposure, but it was too many festivals and totally wore me out. I’ll be cutting back on the number of festivals I do in 2009.

I handed out hundreds of business cards at all these events, and garnered several very welcome follow-up sales as a result. I’m now absolutely convinced that the combination of business cards plus a web-based portfolio is a powerful tool for artists. It’s rare for someone to just stumble onto my web site and decide to buy a painting (it happened to me exactly once, which I consider a complete fluke). But this year I had several people who had seen my work at one of my shows come back and select a painting off my web site, often at a much later date. I was surprised the first time this happened, but when it happened several more times I realized it works quite well this way.

I did pretty well with my blog in 2008. I don’t think it impacts sales much, but that’s not really the point. It is good exercise, forcing me to articulate what I’m doing with my art, and it hones my writing skills. And my hits are steadily rising! My blog visits in late 2008 finally cracked the 1000-per-month barrier, which is more than double my hit rate in 2007. (I realize that in the grand scheme of blogging this is small potatoes, but I’m happy with it.) I’m convinced that posting regularly (once a week is my aim) is the key to steadily increasing visits.

When I first started blogging, I was worried that I’d run out of things to say. I made myself a list of possible topics to fall back on just in case I ran dry. However, I don’t think I looked at this list once in 2008. I don’t seem to be in any danger of running out of things to say about my art. It reminds me of my half-joking comment to a visitor at the open studio who asked me to tell them about my paintings: “be careful when you ask an artist to talk about their work, you’ll never get them to shut up!”

In 2008 I got out and visited several galleries, museums, and exhibits. I got to visit both LACMA’s new Broad Contemporary Art Museum and the MOCA. (I highly recommend the former over the latter.) I also made it to both of Los Angeles’ big art fairs in January, the Los Angeles Art Show (which I highly recommend) and ArtLA (which I don’t). I hope to get to many more galleries in 2009, and of course will return to the L.A. Art Show later this month.

Perhaps the most empowering action I took in 2008 was joining an artists’ salon. It’s a group of artists who get together once a month to critique each others’ work, network, and talk shop, and it’s been a fantastic experience so far. In December I brought in my work, both the pointillist landscapes and the new experimental abstract pieces, and received some fantastic feedback. I can’t describe to you how exciting it was to have a roomful of artists (most of whom I barely know) discuss my work. I was pretty nervous going in, but the support and encouragement I received was energizing. That was my very first-ever art critique! The first of many, I hope.

So, for me 2008 was a year of hard work, too many shows, a gratifying number of sales, and terrific encouragement. I look forward to 2009!

Tips from my Garage Sale

I held a garage sale on Saturday. I’m SO glad it’s over!

This was my third garage sale, so I’m not a complete beginner, but I do learn something new each time.

Here are some things I’ve learned from my three garage sales:

1. A garage sale (or yard sale, or tag sale) is a LOT of work. One person can do most of the work, especially the pre-sale preparations, but on the day of the sale another person helping out is a must. At the very least you’ll need to take the occasional bathroom break, and you never want to leave your garage sale unattended.
2. It’s not worth holding a garage sale unless you have a LOT of stuff to sell. If you can’t fill up five to six 8-foot banquet tables with stuff, don’t bother. If you don’t have any large items (furniture, large power tools, garden or patio stuff, etc.) don’t bother. I had a handful of large items and too much stuff for four banquet tables, and my results were pretty borderline. The sale did clear out the stuff in one fell swoop, but I didn’t exactly rake in the big bucks. If you have only a little stuff, see the tip below about what to do with the leftovers.
3. Give yourself plenty of time to prepare. Due to a tight schedule, I was a little rushed this time. I only had 2 weeks to prepare. It turned out OK because I’ve done this before and knew what to do, but it’s much better if you have 3 or 4 weeks to prepare.
4. What you do for those 4 weeks is gather your stuff. Ideally you want to designate one place in your house or garage (or attic, or basement) where you’ll stash everything that’s to be sold. This way you won’t forget anything on the day of the sale. This can be hard if you don’t have lots of space (which you probably don’t have if you need to hold a garage sale!). So in that case, pick a few places where you’ll stash the stuff. As you go about your daily routine, look in every closet, look in every corner of the house, look in the garage, and ask yourself sternly whether you REALLY need to keep each thing you see. Do you really need that old coat, those ratty towels, those 80s style pillows, the old VCR, or the leftover insulation from your last home improvement project? How long has it been since you wore those clothes? Do those shoes hurt your feet? Are you really going to finish that quilt? Any thing that is no longer important in your life should go into the garage-sale pile. Every time you find something, put it in the pile right away. It’s too easy to forget stuff at the last minute!
5. During the final week before the sale, you need to price the stuff. I recommend using blue painter’s tape and a permanent marker. Put a price on everything. If you have a lot of similar things (books, clothes) make a sign stating the price clearly, such as “$1 per hardcover, 50 cents per paperback”, and put all the things together in a box, or put that stuff on a single table and tape the sign to the edge of the table. I had a box of old Christmas ornaments that I labeled “3 for $1″. A lot of them sold. People enjoy rummaging!
6. Be very open-minded about what you can sell. Remember, it costs you virtually nothing to set something out with a price tag on it. The worst that can happen is no one buys it. People will buy the weirdest things! I mean, a half-full bottle of motor oil, a never-completed woodworking project, a VCR missing its remote control… I’ve sold all these things and more!
7. The best sellers will depend on your area, but some things are pretty dependable. Children’s items are always a big hit. Another is collectibles, especially large collections priced at about half the going rate on eBay. That way, someone can buy your whole collection and still make a couple bucks reselling it on eBay. DVDs seem to be hot right now, though I had no trouble unloading a few old VHS tapes. Tools are hugely popular, especially with the husbands. Books do pretty well, but if you have too many you’ll need to price them 25 cents or lower just to get them to move. I had only about 20 books this time, so I priced them higher at $1 each (50 cents for paperbacks) and they moved pretty well. Clothes can do well or not sell at all, depending on your neighborhood (and your prices). I sold a lot of clothes for $1 each this time, but couldn’t move any clothing at previous sales. You never know!
8. Be prepared to deal with some unpleasant folks. There are two types: the early birds and the thieves. Actually, you won’t deal with the thieves directly, you’ll just notice at the end of the day that something big or pricey is gone and you didn’t actually sell it. It happens. It’s happened to me at two of my three garage sales. It’s a fact of life: there are some really low-life scummy people out there. You can choose to be outraged, or you can choose to feel sorry for the people who are that desperate (or that psychopathic). The other type is more troublesome, but there’s a fail-safe way to deal with them. These are the “early birds”. They’re professional garage “sailors” who want first pick at your stuff, show up way before your sale is scheduled to start, disrupt your efforts at getting set up, and then try to dicker your prices down to boot. They’ll bog you down, distract you, and prevent you from getting set up. I don’t think they’re worth my time, so I just get rid of them. All you have to do is tell them “we’re not open yet” in a firm tone of voice. If they keep coming, you may need to walk directly toward them and even physically confront them. They’ll retreat, scowling, and sometimes they’ll even snarl something rude at you as they go. Don’t pay them any mind, they’re not worth your time. They will evaporate about a half hour before your sale begins. Good riddance!
9. Here in southern California, it pays to know a little Spanish. Many people who go to garage sales are recent immigrants. Here they’re mostly from Mexico and Central America. When I told early birds “we’re not open” and they looked confused, I tried Spanish. I would say “A las ocho” (eight o’clock), and they’d back off, understanding that I wasn’t open until 8am. During my sale, a bilingual neighbor stopped by and hung out with me for much of the sale. She facilitated several sales by chatting up the Spanish-speaking shoppers. I probably would have lost several sales without her help.
10. Advertise your sale in the local paper (most have a Garage Sale section in the classified ads) and on Craig’s List, a day or two before the sale. List the date(s), times, and maybe mention one or two of your biggest items. Since classifieds charge by the letter, keep it short. Don’t put your address, just the street name and a cross street. They’ll find you from there. Don’t list your phone number, you don’t need people calling you.
11. Use signs! This is much more important than a classified ad. Buy a 5-pack of posterboard at an office supply store, and cut each board into 4 quarters. Use a big black marker to write “SALE” or “Garage Sale” on each in HUGE, fat letters (as big as you can fit) and a big fat arrow, then plaster these all over your neighborhood with the arrows pointing toward the sale. Don’t bother with any other information: no one stops to read the signs and they don’t need the exact address. Once they’re on the right block they’ll see your sale. Here, garage sales are so common that just the word “SALE” is sufficient. If you don’t see signs like this in your neighborhood, put “Garage Sale” or “Yard Sale” on the signs to be clear, and put a few up the week before your sale (list the sale date on these signs). Put these up on busy streets. If you have help, have your helper put up the arrow signs the morning of the sale. Otherwise, put them up the night before (but be aware that you’ll get a lot more early birds this way). Remember to take all the signs down after the sale (at least before the next weekend).
12. Be prepared to bargain, but not too early. If your prices are good, you can stick to your guns for at least the first couple hours. My sale opened at 8. I stuck to my posted prices (and sold plenty of stuff) until 10am. I had fun with it. If someone asked for a lower price before 10, I just told them to come back after 12 and then we could talk. Usually they’d just laugh and pay the full asking price. After 10, I allowed more bargaining. It can be fun, dickering back and forth. It’s not a loss if you sell something for a ridiculously low price. Remember, it’s better to let the stuff go than having it stick around!
13. Be prepared to deal with the leftovers. You’ll never sell everything at your garage sale, no matter how cheap you priced it all. Once the amount of stuff drops below a certain level, people will actually drive by and not stop because they don’t see enough stuff. So, you’ll need to have a backup plan for the leftover stuff. For the nicer things, you can try to sell on eBay or Craigs List. If you can’t sell, a good way to keep things out of the landfill is to post on FreeCycle, or in the “free” section on Craigs List. You can also try donating to charities. Some, like Big Brothers Big Sisters or Vietnam Veterans of America, will even come pick up your donation if you have enough stuff. Thrift stores are another option, though they can turn up their noses if they have too much stuff already. The method of last resort, of course, is the trash.

Taming the Paper Piles

I’m an organization-TV-show junkie. My favorite organizing show is “neat”, which really gets inside the head of the client to figure out what kind of organizational system will work best for them. I love how each person is treated as an individual, and no single one-size-fits-all solution is forced on anyone.

One tip I picked up from “neat” is how to effectively sort your stuff. They set out large bins clearly labeled “keep”, “toss” and “give away”. Everything goes into one of these bins. For me, the biggest bugaboo is papers, so I adapted their bin method for sorting my papers. As I mentioned previously, I tend to pile up my papers. I usually (though not always) pile related papers together, which does simplify the sorting process somewhat.

Here’s what I did to sort out my papers:

First I set out a paper grocery bag for paper that would be recycled. Any paper deemed not worth keeping went into it. (The exception was documents with sensitive information that I needed to shred before recycling. The “shred” pile got its own bag, with a nice big label.)

I gathered a bunch of boxes. (I make a lot of mail-order purchases, so I always have lots of medium-sized cardboard boxes lying around.) Each box needed to be the right size to hold a pile of papers. If a pile threatened to overtop its box (like a lake overtopping its levee) I’d shift the papers into a bigger box. Most boxes were between 4 and 8 inches tall. All were broad and deep enough to allow the papers to lie flat on the bottom.

Each box got a big label. I have plenty of scratch paper (I’m a bit of a paper collector), so I pulled out some bright violet scratch paper and stapled one sheet to each box. I wrote a one or two-word description on the violet paper with big letters, easy to see. “Art receipts”, “medical”, “financial”, “landscaping”, and “home” were some examples. Into each box would go all papers associated with that topic (or at least the ones worth keeping). Papers not worth keeping went straight into the recycle bag. If I found a paper (or, more typically, a pile of papers) that didn’t fit any of the existing topics, I’d make a new box and give it the appropriate label. And so on, until all papers (or at least most of the worst piles) were sorted into various boxes.

I should point out here that this method does require that you have some working space. That was a bit of a struggle, given that my previous filing system consisted of piles of paper on the floor (and of course every other available horizontal surface). I needed to get the piles out of the way of the boxes. It was a gradual process, and involved a lot of shuffling of boxes back and forth around the room. Hey, no one said the process was going to be pretty.

Finally it was time to decide what to do with these neatly boxed piles of papers.

One pile just stayed in its box. All the maps I found while cleaning out my studio I threw into a shoe box, and they fit so well that I just left them in it. That’s now my map storage system.

Other piles needed additional sorting. “Financial” needed to be broken up. Some financial papers were so old I just needed to dispose of them (shredding them first). Others needed to be archived somewhere secure, but didn’t need to be particularly handy (such as old tax documents). And yet others needed to be close at hand, like recent bank statements.

Eventually I had two types of piles: active papers that need to be close at hand, and papers that are more archival and might be stored elsewhere. The “elsewhere” things were pretty easy to deal with. Pick a suitable storage container, label it, throw all the papers in, and put it away somewhere. No big deal.

The hard ones were the active piles. Things I need to access often, quickly, and easily. I’ve already described my poor success with filing cabinets, so that method was out. Since I naturally tend to form piles, I settled on a more orderly system of piles contained in a horizontal paper-sorting box. The key here is still clearly labeling everything, including each individual slot.

You have to be able to trust your system. Ambiguity is anathema to good organization. Unlabeled piles of “miscellaneous” stuff are no good, you’ll quickly forget what’s in there. Everything, every file, every pile, every box, every binder, they all have to be labeled. That way it’s very clear whether any new paper belongs in an existing pile… or is about to spawn a whole new pile.

Organizing for the Visual Person

I’m a visual person. That’s pretty obvious, right? I mean, I am an artist after all. A visual artist.

It turns out that visual people often have trouble with common organization techniques. Take files, for example. For years, decades in fact, I dutifully made up file folders, labeled them sensible things like “auto insurance”, “medical”, “bank statements” and so on, and stashed them (alphabetically) in my filing cabinet. For a while I’d be very good about putting the right papers into the right file folders. But always something would go awry. The file cabinet would fill up and I’d start piling papers on the desk or the floor, meaning to file them “someday”. Of course someday never happened. Occasionally I’d get “temporary” file boxes like cardboard banker’s boxes or plastic file bins and stash some of the files in there. Sometimes I’d be really organized and put the older files in the boxes, making room in the file cabinet for more current files. But not always.

I can’t believe how long I struggled to use a filing cabinet. It just never worked very well for me. For me, the old saying is true:

“Out of sight, out of mind.”

I’d literally forget what file folders I had. Years would pass and through various moves I’d just lose track of them. Sometimes I made new folders that duplicated older ones I’d lost track of. Folders would get stuffed too full or jammed together, and trying to sort them out was too overwhelming. On top of all that, my filing cabinet was ugly: I hated dealing with it. So I avoided it. I procrastinated filing stuff. And the papers piled up.

A few years ago, I got the idea of using 3-ring binders as files. I began “filing” some things in binders. I labeled each one clearly on its spine, and stored them all on a bookshelf where I could easily see them all. This was a huge leap forward for my filing system. The binders were easily seen, and therefore I never lost track of them the way I did files at the back of the filing cabinet. I used only black binders, and the visual effect was very pleasing to me. I enjoyed using them, so I used them pretty consistently. At least for some things.

But still, there were some things that defied the binder filing system. You have to punch holes in papers to put them into binders. Not all paper is exactly the same size, especially things like receipts, medical bills, calendars, notecards, business cards, credit card bills, articles torn from magazines, and so on. Sometimes there’s too many papers to fit into a binder (I like to keep the binders small, mostly 1/2 inch wide, occasionally 1 inch). These things still piled up. The binders were part of the solution, but not the whole answer.

In the past few weeks I’ve been re-reading “Organizing from the Inside Out” and mulling over my organizational problems. The first thing I realized was that I make piles. That’s just who I am. Fighting this natural tendency doesn’t work. I’m visual, I need to see my stuff. I need to be able to easily grab my papers and quickly riffle through them on a moment’s notice. For some things, piles are actually very efficient, and I like efficiency.

I’ve decided to work with my piling habit instead of fighting it. I bought some horizontal sorting boxes to help contain the piles. Each “pile” gets its own slot. The papers are still easily accessed, yet each pile is distinct. The main difference is that they are no longer piled on the floor (or the ottoman, or the kitchen counters, or the dining table). Actually they’re on my desk, so they’re even closer to hand than before.

Will this completely cure my piling problem? I’m not sure, but it’s at least another big leap forward.

How to Customize Plastic Drawer Storage Units

I just discovered a hidden feature of the plastic drawer storage units sold by Staples (this and this). They are modular!

There are little tabs inside each of the 4 corners under each drawer that allow the drawers to separate. (Skinny fingers help.) You can rearrange, add, or remove drawers. You can take two units and make them into one. Or do what I’ve done and take a drawer from one to give to the other:

I already had the 6-drawer model, which I’d bought years ago. (Nice to know they still make these things exactly the same.) I needed another unit, but it needed to be slightly shorter to fit the space I have for it. All the units are the same height, so I bought a 4-drawer unit thinking I was going to have to cut it down with a hacksaw. But no, I just had to push the little tabs! No hacksaw needed! I’m so pleased, I just had to share my discovery. (Does that make me some kind of storage geek?)

So, now I have a 7-drawer unit and a 3-drawer one. This is all part of the ongoing studio reorganization process, I promise!

Okay, I have to admit, the product description page SAYS these things are modular. I just never noticed before.

Studio Reorganization Progress

There’s been some real progress in my studio reorganization project. And some mission creep, too.

My original intent when I moved here two years ago was to keep the home office out of the studio. I had it all planned out: art stuff goes in the studio, home office goes in the kitchen. I had the movers put my desk in the kitchen. I meant to put the computer on the desk, keeping it out of the studio entirely.

Things didn’t quite turn out how I’d envisioned. I use the computer a lot for my art, including processing reference photos, archiving photos of completed paintings, updating my web site, blogging, keeping track of art shows, accounting, updating my mailing list, and so on. The computer quickly migrated into the studio. Some, but not all, of my home-office stuff followed. Envelopes and stamps were still in the kitchen, but the checkbook was in my studio. Paying bills, printing photos, mailing applications to shows, and numerous other everyday tasks involved running back and forth between the studio at one end of the house and the kitchen at the other. How ridiculous!

So, with help, I’ve finally moved the desk into the studio, where it should have been all along. I finally have desk drawers for office supplies! I also moved a tall bookcase and my paper storage “tower” into the studio. The stamps and envelopes now have a good home right by the desk, along with other frequently-used items.

What is my paper storage tower? It’s this:

The “tower” is two laminate shelving units stacked on top of each other, with extra shelves added to make more slots. I made it years ago to hold all my different kinds of paper: lined paper, tracing paper, colored paper, printer paper, envelopes, labels, folders, sheet protectors, slide sheets, etc. Paper is best stored flat, so the tower was very handy for that.

Over the years it got full. Too full. In order to move it from the kitchen to the studio, I had to empty it out. That gave me the opportunity to re-sort its contents. After two years of running to the kitchen for envelopes, stamps, lined paper, blank notecards, labels, etc, I know EXACTLY which things I use most often. Those things get to stay in the tower, and the rest can go elsewhere.

This highlights the biggest organizational breakthrough for me. This whole home-office-slash-studio reorganization project is based on the simple idea that the things that get used the most need to be kept close by, and things that don’t get used very often are stored farther away. I know, it sounds stupidly simple, but it’s taken me a long time to realize what a powerful concept this is. The whole studio reorganization is based on this concept. Blank canvases, which I need often, will be kept handy. Printer paper is stored right by the printer. Envelopes and stamps are next to the desk. Art tools that I hardly ever use will go to the back of the closet. Books I reference frequently get to stay in the studio. Books I hardly ever use will go elsewhere.

But this means there are things coming out of the studio that need to be stored somewhere else in my home. Ah, there’s the rub. There’s a lot of stuff in the way of that happening. Which has precipitated a cascade of reorganizing and decluttering all over the house.

When I moved here I didn’t know exactly what I would use, so I brought a little more than I really needed. A few extra pieces of furniture, a few extra pillows and blankets, a little more clothing, and so on. With no attic and no basement, the extra stuff all ended up stuffed in closets and the garage. Especially the garage.

The garage is getting full. There’s a lot of stuff out there that I haven’t used since I moved here. At this point it’s obvious that it can go. If I haven’t used it in two years, I probably don’t need it! How to get rid of it all? A garage sale!

So I’m having a garage sale. You can actually make a little money from a garage sale, if you have enough stuff and price it low enough to actually sell most of it. I’ve done this a couple times before, and it’s a LOT of work, but it’s so worth it! I’m very excited about it.

Mission creep: the project has grown from a (not very) simple studio reorganization to a whole-house purge and garage sale. Yikes!

It’ll be worth it. I keep telling myself that.