And Then The Scary Fish Went Away

So, yes it has been a minute since I last wrote, but do not think that we have gone away. It has been busy, busy, and busy around here. Between cooking 6 days a week in a restaurant that is beginning to boom and trying to juggle my many art projects, I have been stretched thin over the past weeks. None the less, The beat goes on and the work is getting made. 

My last post was written when I had finished the sketch for the new painting that I am currently working on. Originally the painting had this ugly giant catfish in it, but due to events of late, it seems that the narrative has changed. When I started this idea, I was thinking of the future and the act of looking your fear and obstacles of diversion in the face and confronting it. I was thinking about looking at my dream and going through the struggle trying to get there. Now, it would seem that I'm not so concerned about the the things that would get in my way, because it appears that the moves I've made in my life over the course of the last several months were indeed the obstacles that I was thinking of.

I guess leaving a career in teaching to go work 6 days a week at Three Angels Diner was one step. Getting over losing a large salary for shit pay was another one. Dealing with the idea of going with a new gallery was the last one. So here's what has occurred since these decisions were made. One, we have been getting rave reviews at the restaurant. The patrons usually end their meal acting surprised when they realize that the chef is the same person that paints the paintings in the dining room, so the attention has been nice. The money, well the pay still sucks, but now I've sold 3 paintings since December. That makes up for the lost salary, so we are not worried about that as much. I now have the confidence that I do not necessarily need the attention of other commercial galleries as much as I thought I did. It would now seem that the diner has become my gallery, and I am confident that I will move more paintings in the future. I get at least 100 eyes to look at my work daily, and I've sold more work in the past 3 months than my previous gallery did in the last 2 years. There seems to be a buzz around the whole idea of art and food at the moment. Hell, we were taped for a Canadian television show last week. I watched the camera man take multiple shots of my work, and then he taped us cooking. I love the exposure that comes from simply doing what you do and doing it well.
Of course I still have fears about the future and about my career, but things seem achievable finally. Hence the loss of the scary fish in the painting. This painting is gonna be a blast to paint. Now my only concerns for this idea and image are really strong shades of blue. The working title of the painting is "Float On", yes after the Modest Mouse song. I think it makes more sense now. I like the idea of just floating along and letting the waters take me where they may. We'll all float on okay.
Enjoy,
Spillmanville needed to write a bit over this here morning coffee and sunshine.