TWO LOAVES

A good project for a rainy winter day. We gave a loaf to Kate and Noah and shared some with Michael. This batch carmelized nicely on top.I have been reading The Bread Bakers Apprentice and picking up some pointers. Many questions go unanswered and baking small batches at home produces bread that is in a class different from artisan loaves.

FROST ON THE WINDOW THIS MORNING.

A DRAWING FROM ONE OF MY SKETCH BOOKS.

IT MAY BE THAT THE VALUE OF ANY WORK OF ART IS PRIMARILY THE EXPERIENCE WHICH THE ARTIST HAS IN THE CREATIVE PROCESS. THE FINISHED PRODUCT, WHETHER IT IS A PAINTING OR A POEM OR A PIECE OF MUSIC HAS LITTLE INTRINSIC VALUE. IT IS MAINLY A RECORD OF A CREATIVE MOMENT.

The OBO Sale room.
Like many painters I had a storeroom piled with paintings of all sizes in frames and out, experiments and finished work which I had driven thousands of miles and shown at many fairs and festivals. So when it came time for my annual studio sale I mailed 800+ postcards to friends and patrons with a special offer. I told them they could take what they wanted from over 300 paintings and put as much as they felt was fair in an unmarked envelope as payment. I called it an OBO (Or Best Offer) sale. I had to explain to many friends to ignore the marked prices and that I had paintings that were not doing me or anyone else any good. My main goal was to make room for more paintings and I was not attached to the money in any way. People were thrilled ! They took bags of paintings, telling me they could never have afforded my paintings before. They called friends and neighbors and new faces appeared. I think about 250 paintings are now out in the world being enjoyed by friends. They payed less than 20 cents on the dollar and I put about 8000 in the bank. It was a total win-win event. The secret was non-attachment. I honestly just wanted to get some space to make more paintings. Now it is time to get back to work.