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| Daybreak on the River: SOLD! |
Winding down for a few days away -- and not too soon, I may add. As the old adage states: be careful what you wish for.
Since June the Gallery has sold 7 of my paintings. It took me 4 years to earn representation, with a growing sense of anxiety that these works I had labored over, thought and dreamt about would forever be stacked against the workroom wall.
And then a few are placed in a wonderful space and sell. Oh joy, oh rapture!
Until you get the phone call, can you bring more?
They want more. Quick, dash into the workroom and pull the next candidates, grab another one off the dining room wall. Delivered. Phew! O.k., now I can go back to relaxing and enjoying the summer.
Another phone call -- more sold? Bring more . . . ? I glance around the walls of my house -- nothing. Luckily, I have a few ready for varnishing . . . (oils take forever to dry in summer -- arghhh!).
Delivered. Pour myself a glass (or two) of wine and put my feet up. The phone rings -- don't answer that, I say to my husband. He just laughs at me.
Now you know why I'm going away for a few days -- I'm hiding from the price of success. But then again, I shouldn't jinx myself -- pride cometh before a fall, doesn't it . . . ?
Damn, you just can't win. It must be that old catholic school training . . . guilt at success is like going straight to heaven, skipping over purgatory and dancing on the head of the devil. Dangerous stuff, that.
Maybe I'll get used to this. Maybe not. Next time I wish upon a star, I will think carefully and refer to a lawyer regarding the proper phrasing.
Care to share you stories of success, ambivalence and the accompanying guilt of not being thankful enough? I'd be happy to post them -- :-)
