Back on track

with art!! Finally!!
With my friend loaning me her studio space for a Dec. event and the real estate nearing it's end...it's time I buckle down and get some art ready.
I started this large cupcake piece a couple of weeks ago but one thing after another just kept getting in the way of finishing it up.
Finally....I think it's done.
On to the next!!!

This is why

I’m now feeling like I made the right decision to leave real estate.

After a long six-month ordeal to see through to the end, a “short sale”, we are to close tomorrow….but not without having gone through an amazingly painful day today.

Anyone who has never dealt with short sales will have no idea of the trouble that goes on with this behind the scenes.
My buyers are a lovely young couple with a baby who are putting everything they have into buying this house that they absolutely adore!!Anyone who hangs in there for six months must love the house.

Today….what should have been the best day, dealing with the little details for the closing and the excitement of tomorrow turned into an utter nightmare.

The short version of this story is that the banks try to rob everyone of every last dime they can get in these deals and created a problem in the closing that would amount to over 3 thousand additional dollars that “someone” would need to fork over before this could happen.

The seller was in tears because he had no money left to give them. My buyers were down to their last dollar in this purchase, so I knew they couldn’t do anything about it….so I didn’t even have the heart to call them.
The other broker and I went back and forth over this and took every direction we could to try to make this happen. We had a seller in tears and a buyer living in boxes waiting to make their move in the morning.

Well….lets just say that we worked for six months….very cheaply!!!
We’ve now put in between us from our “almost” commissions, all that was needed to make this happen in the morning.
The seller is beside himself and the buyers don’t know that anything ever tried to step on their excitement…..as it should be.

Moral…..Yes….there is a Santa Clause. But now I’ve retired.

Starting over

Just when you think you've figured things out.....surprise!
I thought I'd finally figured out what I was going to do with the next so many years. I studied long and hard to pass the real estate exam and get my license. Yay for me. Times were getting tight and there were no jobs to be found. Schools were cutting back on budgets and that left me without a chance to find an art teaching job again. Sooo...figured with real estate I could simply create my own job.
Well...it's not really all it's cracked up to be. I've been with my office for the better part of a year now and it has actually cost me more money than I've made. Wait! I haven't even made any yet!!
I've paid for school, my license, mls dues, board of realtor dues, business cards, signs, etc...etc...etc
Oh...and did I mention that I'm sooo unhappy doing this??
In all this time I've now got one sale that is due to finish up in two weeks.
At the same time, sitting on my dining room table is a bill for the next year of dues for the board of realtors that is for just under $600.
It was looking at this bill, knowing how much I didn't even like what I was doing, and knowing I haven't even made a dime yet and I've already got to dish out more, that made me have to face it.....this isn't what I got into this for.
I wanted to help the household. So far, all I've created for it is debt.
I've been extremely unhappy in the business....so what in the world was keeping me in it???
Fear of failure!!! Yep...pure and simple.
It has taken a lot of soul searching to finally decide that this is it. I'm not happy, don't enjoy what I'm doing, and not even making anything while trying. Crumby combination.
I've been given a ton of support from those who know me...and for that, I appreciate every word. It's hard to try something new to begin with...and even harder to say that you just can't make it work.
Soo...I'm moving on. I've decided that I've got to invest more time and energy into my artwork and I've also taken a part time job as a merchandise rep for Hallmark. Certainly not lots of money in it....but I'm already ahead of the game.
Thank you to everyone who has helped me to look at myself and realize that life is too short to be so unhappy. I haven't "failed". I've tried something new and have learned from it. I'm sure I'll take away lessons to use elsewhere.

One more

Turns out that my husband had taken a couple of photos of me on the dock taking the pictures of the swans.

This is one of the pics that I thought was soo nice with the lovely fall colors starting to show up across the pond. It was soo pretty I just had to include it.

Last of summer

Sunday was a day that felt like it was the last blast of summer. The temps. were warm and the day full of sun. Inspirational!!

As the day wore on I decided that it would also be a great evening to do dinner on the grill. Toward very late afternoon I went out to get the charcoal going. At this point I noticed that the pond was being enjoyed today as well by a family of swans. There were two adults and one young one.

I went back inside to get some snacks for them and went down to the dock to feed them. How beautiful. Of course it wasn't very long before the geese came by to get in on the act.

When my husband came home from an appointment with clients, we put the ribs on the grill, made cocktails, and went off on a peddle boat trip around the pond. The swans actually stayed around the whole time.

When we came back in and I went out to get the ribs it was just starting to get dark.

The scene was beautiful and I just had to get a pic of that moon.

If this was indeed the last blast of summer.....it was a good one!!

Sweet Art

I've started hosting a monthly challenge on an art site called the "Master's Challenge". I decide each month on an artist and I make a couple of sample pieces of their work. The point is to make it fun and create a postcard in the style of the artist that is choosen.

The first month I did Andy Warhol. This was a great fun way to start everyone off. Pop art is just one of those things that people aren't afraid to play with.

This month...to keep it light a while longer I picked Wayne Thiebaud. YUM!

I've always enjoyed his work and subject matter. Come on....who doesn't love dessert.!! Cakes...cupcakes...ice-cream.

I can't wait to see how many folks try something in this style. It's the kind of work you can frame and hang in your kitchen!!

While most of his work is done in a thick oil paint so that the icing looks real.....I created these two sample of his pieces in watercolor.