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RED HOT POKERS
 "Red Hot Pokers" one of my latest creations. Come and see it for yourself at The People's art Fair, St Stephen's Green, next weekend, Friday 24th, Sat 25th and Sunday 26th. |
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Painting in Enniscorthy during the Art in the Open Festival  | Greetings!
"You are busy? How can you be busy? I mean, how can an artist be busy???" I am always met with incredulity when I say I am busy. "Even in a recession?"
Well, yes, this artist is busy. And it's good. And no, it is not all painting and wafting through meadows with canvases and bullocks behind hedges. My work has shifted a little bit from painting what I like, to what other people want. I've started doing commissions. At first I thought that it might be a bit scary, but it's been a bit of fun, and has kept me busy.
In addition, there is quite a lot of organising and no, it's not all exhibitions and stuff. There s quite a bit of, well, numbers. Not my strongest point, ever. And these last few weeks I have been struggling with my tax returns. And, yes, even if I do have tax free status as an artist, I still have those forms to fill in. And, no, I can't do it all by myself (I do try). But I can tell you that in almost four years, I have painted 216 paintings, I have sold 104, and 64 are currently "available" for sale, and 48 are still works in progress. I'd say Half of those are ready, really, I just need to sign and frame them, and find the right occasion.
So, sometimes numbers make sense to me in a way even I can understand. But most times, well, I just find numbers confusing...Like when I announced last spring that my calendar was a fantastic self-financing success? Well, suffice to say, I never included my postage in my calculations, and neither did I include the enormous time & energy involved in dispatching all those packages of joy. I learned recently I didn't even add up the actual sales properly. Just because they all went out the door fast and furiously, just because I don't have one left for myself, just because people are still asking me for 2010 calendars, doesn't mean the numbers added up! However, my career as an international financier with Kiva is still going strong and one of the loans has already been paid off months ahead of schedule.
Recently, I have had lots of requests and enquiries about the 2011 calendar and when will it be ready? Well, I have pretty much decided that I won't do one this year, but will do it next year. I am not sure how the decision came about... It was probably when I started rejecting some of my paintings because the were not "landcape" (calendar) shaped, or may be when I realised it felt like a full-time job, between August and November. But really, the penny dropped when my "dispatch team" booked his holidays for the last week in November AND half of December...
So, it will be strictly painting until the end of the year, and next year I will start organising my 2012 calendar early. In next few days I will be getting ready for Stephen's Green again, I'll be at the north side of the Green, Stand 94/95, near top of Grafton St. and then it feels like a short skip & hop until the RDS, 5-7 Nov with many thanks for your continued interest and support,  Mary Duffy |
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