You are talking to the lady whose degree was smearing paint on paper with a minor in the historical study of people who smear paint on canvas and body parts (with one class away from a secondary minor in making books and paper products), so preacheth to this choir, friends. I am purportedly your most useless member and have been told as such even before my degree was awarded, but we all know that and l o l will not bore you. That said, a lot of my employment search leads to weird things. I'm presently in this precarious position of possible freelance (quelle alliteration!), which will probably lead me to "Do I get a shitty retail job that might have some benefits to free me up for making pictures?" It's a weird limbo, looking for a lot of opportunities that I know probably won't get me paid but might get me to places that will be paid; it's like pissing in the dark, investing my non-existent cash in something that might not work out, and all in the name of Possible Exposure. Since art is more or less a popularity contest in the hopes that you'll stumble into an interested party, it's a weird gig; you're expected to be jumping for joy at opportunities to Donate Your Art For Free because
exposure! Fact: the requests I've had to donate my work free of charge to auctions within the metro area against the offers to purchase my work are, in the 2012 year, officially at a ratio of 2:1. And that's just this fiscal year; invariably, all of Herron is more or less a Free Art Monkey Farm, save that the winners of each contest
usually get fucking prize money. The art world is just all kinds of ugh sometimes, the likes of which I could get into major tl;dr territory if I'm not careful and decide to go Bitter Betty. Which okay, I'd
rather not, Funemployment Family (and apologies for going there in a happy space!), so let me just sum up in short: I've applied in bursts. A few times, I've had interview opportunities, but not nearly as many as I think that I should given the proportions. It's to the point where I wonder if I need coaching on my resumé and cover letter writing. We'll see after I write this follow-up e-mail to the art director, wah wah wahhhhhh.
Anyway, more positive things please, you are probably thinking! I'm definitely thinking that too. So let me tell you what I'm thinking when I'm not contemplating the above, which is what happens every time I submit an application packet:
- RP, of course! God, you think those essays come from an employed mind?
- Lots of knitting thus far. I'm probably going to start my second sock after I finish up with my e-mail here, and I have a shawl I wish to knit for Angela that I'll be starting very soon. And a blanket that I'm making on and off!
- Prior to this week: working on my show. Now, I'm going to get back into painting; I had a talk with Laura in chat last night that got me started on an idea w/r/t weird search prompts Google gives you that I'm really excited about, along with a commission from Cassafras! (True story: she is technically my boss right now.) If I get prize money from Bookmark for best in show, I'll probably invest it in some good paper so that I can also make myself a beautiful sketchbook. (I've been waiting to do this ever since I bought my portable book press, so.)
- Watching the Olympics. Which leads me to…
- I'm thinking of getting back into running again. I was training for a 5K at the beginning of the year and watching Shalane Flanaghan's finish at the Olympic marathon has inspired me to start training again. I also need to take my bicycle into the shop for a general tune-up once I have money to spare, so there's that too.
- People want me to be all social with them. I haven't been feeling it lately, but when I do, they weirdly seem okay with me not spending any money. Which is awesome, because I literally have none post-car repair. :(
- P.E.O. meetings! Ngl, P.E.O. makes me feel hopeful and really excited about the world, so having the Sisterhood in my life is pretty important for my emotional health. I'd probably try to induct everybody in this Google group but lol HOW??? If we were all in the same city, I'd probably try to make some sort of intellectual salon for us where we could just talk about things that are interesting to us. Maybe I'll get an online one started in an e-mail later this week. Any topics anyone would like to discuss? I'm obviously more academically tuned to digital pop culture and art from 1945 onwards, but if anybody wants to talk nerd subjects in another installment of Funemployment, just say HOLLA.
- Weirdly, more tea drinking than booze drinking. I just forget to alcohol most of the time. :(
True to form, I tl;dr'd even my Funemployment experience to everyone. Yep, seriously. Roll thy eyes, everyone, at my typical nature.