Living the Dream

The life of an artist is not exactly what most people imagine. Yes, of course we paint…but we’re also ordering materials, stocking inventory, keeping records, shipping artwork, meeting deadlines, looking for inspiration, writing artist statements, and occasionally wondering if we accidentally started a small logistics company instead of an art career.

Yesterday I received a pallet of painting panels that needed to be organized and stored properly so they don’t warp. Glamorous, right? Still, wrestling with a stack of panels is easier than trying to flatten one that’s warped into a Pringle.

Last week I shipped finished work to Maine, California, and Washington state galleries. Once artwork leaves the studio, it’s officially out of my hands—which is why using a trusted shipper is important. Want to hear what can happen if you don’t?

Last year I hired an art shipper who came highly recommended. He made a couple East Coast deliveries without a hitch, so I trusted him with several paintings headed to Washington state for a gallery show. There was a deadline. The paintings missed it. By a month.

First there was a “family emergency.” Then there was an alleged tire blowout in Oregon. He even sent me a photo of the tire. Unfortunately for him, the metadata showed the picture had been taken two years earlier…in Texas.

At that point I was just relieved the paintings hadn’t been sold out of the back of his van at a gas station somewhere.

Once paintings leave the studio, it also becomes surprisingly difficult to remember where everything went. A database has to be constantly updated. Isn’t the artist’s life romantic? Somewhere between spreadsheets and bubble wrap lies the dream.

But honestly, there are days filled with meaning and magic. Long painting days where time disappears and the world narrows down to color, light, texture, and beauty—those days are treasured, and I am grateful to inhabit that world.

Now that the panels are stacked, the inventory updated, and the paintings shipped, that’s exactly what I’m looking forward to.

I hope your week is filled with a little magic and meaning too.