Candles for Bette Midler
No one ever said freelancing was easy but I'll be damned if it hasn't been entertaining and interesting. I'm kind of amazed at the projects I've found myself on and how they all came to be. When I follow the thread back it really all came from my little Bartering Artists group...which started because I needed a haircut. Thanks hair!
Let's go back in time when I was contacted by the lovely Megan - a stranger to me at the time. Apparently she was in the group Bartering Artists I had started and she asked me if I needed some part time work on a temporary project. I surely did as I was totally, totally broke. Turns out the project was for none other than Bette Midler- a fundraising party that was held annually by her required some votive candles to be blinged up with sequins and glitter. It didn't pay much but I needed every cent. Sure I could do it-and I was in. Hot glue gun burns and cramped hands and glitter all over me every day. We're having fun right? YES. When I think about the craptastic concentration camp I used to work in I preferred hot glue gun burns any day. After long days working in the studio I would trek over to the bus and wait- sparkling and glittering in the sunlight.
When the project was done they referred me to a little anonymous looking place just a few shops down- apparently they were looking for a painter and hey- I'm a painter! I didn't know it at the time but I was interviewing with Eyecon murals and was about to get my schooling proper in the world of murals...they are the BEST and I still can't believe my luck in falling in with them.
Worked on a beautiful ceiling project with them and when that job was done it was back to the other design studio where I was doing the candles, this time we were fancying up some large fake animals in glorious silks for some Parisian show. I was learning how to do production work and bruising my hands with little decorative tacks. The people I worked with were wonderful and we all became fast friends.
Winter in the studio was cold but I had my monkeys and cotton batting to keep me warm
When that project was done I was off on another mural project, this time with Eyecons neighbor DB Green. That project required lots and lots of small murals for a recycling company so I was employed for a good while and really getting my chops and speed up with the paint. More new friends made and more wonderful times.
Working on one of several small murals for the recycling plant
When that job was done it was back to hustling vinyl records, paintings and the like. It was during this time that I developed my signature style Ive been working on
It was kind of by accident I started using spray paint in my works. Because it was what I had on hand for my records and I was fast running out of money I started using whatever I had.
Soon the paintings became much beloved and some were even purchased. This floated me for awhile while I took on odd and end jobs like DJing at Double Wide or go go dancing for birthday parties. Times were tough and the electricity got cut off. The internet was turned off and then eventually I was facing eviction. This all happened after I got REALLY ILL and had to go to the hospital a few times. I am still in debt and still have an eviction over my head. The day I got the eviction letter was the same day I got the phone call from EYECON ...would I like to participate in the biggest makeup painting in the world and be part of their GUINNESS record breaker? I at first thought this was a joke but joke or not I was in. And lo and behold...
Team Eyecon on the day Guinness officiated the makeup art as the biggest in the world
Our cupcake prizes!
I remember back to being in my basement prison in the job I despised so much. One thing that really bothered me (besides not being able to paint) was that every day was the same....I clocked in, put little price stickers on stupid consumerist crap every day and took it up to the store for people to buy and stood behind a register and sold it to them. EVERY DAY. What was I putting into the world? What was I achieving? At the end of the day what did I have to show for my work and time except a bunch of peoples receipts I had to tally up and turn in to someone else. I was so bored and it felt so empty. Now- even though times are tough and the money isn't always there I have a sense of personal satisfaction that a piece of ME went into whatever work I did. My brush strokes. My hot glue gun burn and pain, ha ha! New people and adventures all the time, new projects to start and complete and see go out into the world and be enjoyed by others. That's why I do it, I love producing. I love creating. I had to choose this life.
So in a very condensed nutshell- thats the domino effect. Of needing a haircut, starting a support network, taking on work with an open mind and being adventurous to try new things as they came. Things might not always sound like a great opportunity and your instinct might be to pass something up because it doesn't pay enough- but I've found that embracing these opportunities because you're gut says you'll get something out of it- is usually the way to go. It's how Ive been operating since I quit in 2010 and I'm still happy with my decisions.
...and I still don't have a car!
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