Monday, April 2, 2012

Reflections/Decisions

quick snap for blog

photo sent for promotional purposes

Quite often people comment about how much I blog and how much time it must take me.  I have to confess - I am not trying to write 'literature' when I post - I'm just jotting a note to my friends and it rarely takes more than 20 minutes or so to write up a post.

Today I wound up doing more 'catch up' - it's 4 pm and I've barely spent 20 minutes in the studio and that was to choose yarns for one more towel warp and start winding it.  I got about 1/4 of it wound and then had to stop and roar around town - again.  It also became necessary to do some photography for sale and promotional purposes, which required a lot more thought and time than the usual snaps I take for the blog.

My general rule of thumb is to drape or scrunch the textile to convey - at least a little bit - the drape of the cloth.  To make the tactile come alive as much as possible.  I don't claim to be a great photographer, but digital photography has really helped a lot - I can snap as many shots as I like, ditch 95% of them and not be concerned about the cost of developing them, only to be disappointed and toss the photographs aside.

Towels shown above are now available for sale at my Art Fire store

One of the things I've been doing the past few days is reflecting on the course I will (should?) take for the next few years.  Now that I feel so much better - and had a successful teaching tour last month - I'm thinking I ought to work a little harder at promoting myself as an instructor.  (A little positive feedback is dangerous for the ego!)

Along with that decision comes the realization that I have not increased my teaching fees for a very long time.  I intended to raise my daily rate last year and then when the roof fell in in terms of my health, I decided not to bother.   But I've been told by several instructors that my daily rate is too low.  So I've decided to give myself a birthday present and increase my daily rate to $350/day (plus travel and accomodation).  Any bookings made before July 9, 2012 will be at my current rate of $300/day.  So my next task is to remember who all I spoke to on my recent trip and let them know.

And now, back to the warping board, music courtesy of Diana Krall (fellow BC native)

4 comments:

Sandra Rude said...

I love to listen to Diana while warping and threading, too! She's one of my favorite jazz singers.

Laura Fry said...

I have a collection of easy listening for those tasks - the rock and roll is for weaving. :)

cheers,
Laura

Anonymous said...

This post was a good reminder that I take too many blog shots for my website....everything I've been shooting lately has been pretty flat as I've found it hard to get "drape" to show when I take photos....the scrunch is a good option. Thanks again!

Boomer Knows said...

cost of living goes up and your rates have to eventually as well. You're classes are worth it! You provide a lot of useful information. great, "Bang for your buck!" hugs!