November is always a hectic month as I run around like a chicken with it’s head cut off. Gross, I know. But true too. I’m trying to make any money I can through my Etsy shops so I can buy Christmas presents for my family. This year that is proving more difficult than ever. That is one reason why I’ll be at the 283 Holiday Market on December 4th, in downtown Athens, GA. I’ll be selling my popular watercolor bookmarks, bookplates and even original paintings. Until I get through this event I will not be around much.
However, I’m still visiting my usual haunts, even if you don’t see me outright. I just completed my tribute fractal to the late Benoit Mandelbrot, the mathematician who discovered the art and geometry of fractals.
"The flame that burns Twice as bright burns half as long." ~ Laozi
I also created new iPhone and iPad cases in both my Zazzle shops: iMakepeace and Makepeace Art.
I also have a new set of bookmarks and pendants in my Etsy shop Nature’s Charms, as well as a limited run of a very special bookplates:
After I get through this holiday mayhem I will be reevaluating my art and the direction I want to take in the new year. I feel as if I’m being pulled in two directions. What I want to create and what sells. I don’t like feeling this way. Nor do I like having no time to write. When I’m not doing what I want to do, what my soul urges me to do, I begin to feel like a wraith. A shell of a person, moving through the space between life and death. Okay, maybe that’s a bit extreme, but you get my point. I need to be me and I need to do what makes my heart soar.
And on that semi-depressing note I will leave you with Mama Stray Kitty. She is a young cat we recently discovered on our back porch. I put food out for her and she began coming back everyday. It was not until the third day that I discovered she had kittens! Unfortunately, I haven’t been able to photograph them yet. Soon, I promise you! Till then here is the Mama.
Amanda Makepeace's Imagination Run Amok 
It is good to re-evaluate things…good for you. Torn between passion and staying afloat financially is many an artist’s dilemma…but I believe that you will find your balance.
I will, thanks! 🙂
I know what you mean about torn between what you want to do and what sells. I was able to get some advice and started doing the smaller, quicker versions of what I really wanted to do. That has worked for me, for now. Though, I still take on commissions that are not really in the style I want to work in. I think re-evaluating once in a while is a great thing.