What it's Worth

I mentioned in my last post how the end of the year was a bit too busy for me, and how I'd have to make some changes if I wanted to make money at my chosen profession.

Being involved heavily with TED talks, specifically, my own community's TEDx Event, was important for both the community and my personal growth. Without exception, every attendee I have spoken with has told me how great it was that our small city had a yearly TED Talk event, and how eye-opening, uplifting, or inspiring it was to attend.

Another late-in-the-year event that took a lot of my time was a one-time job with a tight deadline before Christmas. It came with some headaches, but was worthwhile work and paid me, though not well. Sounds like something I should be doing more often, right?

I don't think I'm crazy for wanting to get more paying work. Further, in the Autumn, I wanted both time to do craft fairs on the weekends (to make a little money), and some availability for longer freelance gigs (to make a lot of money).

Except I got to thinking, and something rather amazing happened; maybe I had it all backwards.

My tight-deadline paying gig was to help design a community-friendly version of the Ferguson Report. Yes, THAT Ferguson. A very long, very detailed, very comprehensive study was undertaken by countless professionals and citizens of Missouri, in order to make sense of the tragedy that happened in 2014, and to help their city, state and country heal, learn, grow, and improve relations regarding race, poverty and mutual respect.

That's heavy and serious stuff, and I was happy to work on it, despite the obstacles encountered. The fact that Martin Luther King Day has just come and gone was not lost on me, as I spent part of my day wondering what was important in my own life, and how 2016 could be my best year.

Am I smart to give up working on a wonderful community event, one that has helped me grow, both personally and professionally? Won't the connections I make and the people I meet eventually begin paying larger dividends (for my soul, if not for my wallet)? In fact, I got the Ferguson job because of my TEDx connections.

Or had my time with TEDx run its course? Won't there be new challenges, new groups, and new organizations that will help me reach my goals? I have to believe that there will be. I want to love what I do (so that all of this struggle won't have felt like work). And I want to follow my bliss, as I believe that's where my true happiness will be found.

I suppose I've realized something: I've got to maintain connections to organizations in my community and the to things I care about. While it's tempting to focus on making money, sometimes it's about being rewarded.

Happy New Year. (Sorry about the old year.)

I knew it had been a long time since I had blogged, but four months is too long. Granted, it was a crazy four months, and I only vaguely remember a week or so when I wasn't feeling harried.
But it is a new year, so let's hit the restart button and be better at keeping the small flicker of my art and business alive in this vast ocean of internets (boy, that's a weak metaphor–you can see I'm out of practice.).

Firstly, most importantly, there is a new and fabulous Hidden New Hampshire Calendar for 2016. I'm very proud of this work. I put a ton of time into it, and despite coming to the realization that it's not going to make me rich, it's nice to have made something beautiful with my name on it. (Aside: I have to thank Rick Broussard of New Hampshire Magazine for allowing me to borrow some of that magazine's great content, and certain vendors for carrying it in their stores.) The state exploration function of this calendar works well, and my photography is ever-improving. I quibble with my own graphic design a lot, but it's scannable and functional, if not as elegant as I'd like it. By the way, it's early January! Did Santa Claus bring you a calendar? Don't be afraid to buy one here.

My calendar sold pretty well at my third and final craft fair of the year, in East Kingston, NH. I have become quite comfortable with my patron interactions, and realize that I probably need a couple more "wow" pieces to generate more sales. Kingston was a local crowd (inclined to spend less), so my $16 calendar celebrating their own state definitely made up for the lack of homerun pieces one might expect to sell had it been a tourist crowd.

Derryfield Sunset

Unfortunately, I was not able to do more Autumn shows and move more calendars because of my commitment to the TEDxAmoskeagMillyard event held each November in Manchester. As visual director, I was responsible for venue decorations, signage, programs, attendee badges, photography coordination, and branded swag for the attendees. I did not have a lot of freelance work going on at the time, which is lucky because, well…pick your poison: I would have had to turn work down, or go insane trying to get all my TEDx work done in my "spare" time. Despite some unexpected setbacks, the event went very well, thanks to the incredible efforts of several people on the organizing team.

However, I realized that the immense amount of work in the last few weeks of TEDxAmoskeagMillyard (October and early November) cuts into what is normally a busy time for BOTH freelance design (the Christmas push) and prime craft fair season. In other words, doing the TEDx event actually costs me money. I will reluctantly have to give up my involvement. I do have to say it was a very rewarding experience, in terms of the people I met, the work I did, and what I learned about my own capabilities. It's hard to believe that two-and-a-half years ago, when I began, I was uncomfortable being in a small group, having to drive content and find solutions, having come from a lengthy employment situation where the normal dynamic was direction from executives to a large, collaborative design team.

I'm not sure I would have had the confidence to continue with my own business venture were it not for my experiences with the great people at TEDx. But here I am, taking photos, designing stuff, and occasionally writing a blog post. Meanwhile, I am usually hoping that the many connections I've built will lead to more meaningful work. I think in my next blog post, I will attempt to entertain you with some of that meaningful work that kept me so busy since my last post.