Friday, September 05, 2008

Friday Equals Fused Glass

Coffee in the Chicago skyline mug, "Racing To the Red Light" by James McMurtry on iTunes for Paul Tarlow on the launch of his new fused glass site. Way to go Paul, very nice! I would've saluted him with the Austin skyline mug, but I had already poured Chicago before getting on-line this morning.

It's Friday and I'm pooped. Last week 1525 lbs of raw glass came in, and this week I shipped out 429 lbs of finished work--286 lbs of it yesterday. I am tired of toting that barge and lifting that bale. Lucky for me, no shipments go now till next Tuesday.

Today sees the three biggest kilns firing full loads (Bertha, Bettina and Middle Ground). I almost got all the base pieces cut for them yesterday and should be able to whip the rest out as soon as I finish posting. I have to pause now for a second and roll on the floor laughing hysterically at the idea of whipping anything out--I'm a full day behind in firing again (after putting in three solid days over the holiday weekend last weekend). I seem to be incapable lately of expediting tasks and keeping on top of everything.

I am reminded, as I lag ever further behind in my ideal production schedule, of the article I finished recently for the upcoming issue of Profitable Glass in which I referenced a panel I participated in for the Arts Business Institute at the last Buyer's Market. One of the topics we discussed was the amount of time we actually spend in production. Most people starting out calculate their potential income based on full-time production and this week further proves to me that full-time work does not even close to equating to full-time production. I am lucky to spend 25% of my time producing work (and realistically, it's probably a lot less).

But I am not going to let the inevitability of a full inbox when I die ruin my weekend! I am Not Firing This Weekend. I might work on designs and the upcoming studio open house, but that's the closest I'm going to come to Siyeh Studio work. There's a Sky Chair on the front porch with my name on it, and I am going to spend much of the weekend in it reacquainting myself with my Kindle.

1 comment:

Bill said...

Just don't kindle the house.