First Week of School (Or What’s Inside the Bottomless Bag of a Side Hustler?)
Annnnnddd we’re back!
I’ll let you in on a little secret: I’ve been back to work for about three weeks now. The first two weeks are about getting ready to go back and the third week is actually the first week with students.
I know. It’s weird. I don’t make the rules. 😂
I was quiet on the blog most of the summer. Part of it was that I was working on a large project for some very, private individuals. Another reason was I was taking a few classes for the summer and I have yet to use those skills in a more finished piece. You can read about those here and here. The other part was I was just out here in these Delawarean streets, living my best life!
Wanna Recap? Here goes…
Summer Recap
I knocked a couple things off the outdoorsy bucket list with some good friends.
I’ve lived in Delaware most of my life and had never visited Winterthur or Longwood Gardens. All that changed this past summer thanks to one of my college friends, Brenda of @littlebsartastherapy and one of my calligrafriends, Mary Lynn of @whimsyandinkstudio.
I got this little gift from Mary Lynn. I just loves it! ❤️
I’m super grateful to the two of them for getting me out of my usual routine, showing me the true size of a chipmunk (since Alvin and his brothers are very misleading), for introducing me to the most beautifully curated florals and gardens in the state, and for reassuring me that just because their heads turned pitch black, I really didn’t kill my last batch of Venus Flytraps (although I shouldn’t have thrown them away either).
I got to enjoy a few short-term, hand engraving, in-studio commissions.
When should you get an in-studio commission over having an item customized on-site? Glad you asked!
In-studio commissions are best when you want a lot of text or illustration that won’t work for the short turnaround time of an on-site event. Usually, in an on-site activation, people have 10-20 minutes or so to wait around…Or, they may go shop and come back in 30 minutes or so. In that time, they want their project completed, boxed and ready to go. A bottle like the one below would take much longer to complete and should be requested for in-studio services. The one drawback to that is you are paying out of pocket versus on-site where the brand or store pays the calligrapher and the customization is complimentary. It’s a luxury service, hence the luxury price. But, there’s nothing like being able to give a gift that has been completely customized by hand! From conceptualization to completion, the craftsmanship and care is likely not to be found anywhere else. If you value one-of-a-kind treasures or need a gift that steals the show, then a calligrapher who does in-studio commissions will be one of your best friends.
I did a few on-sites too…Some without sound because social media is so stingy. 😑
With an on-site event, since your customization is complimentary, it’s great for lightly customized gifts that have short sentiments of about three words or less on them. The tried and true ones are names, ‘Happy Birthday’, ‘Happy Anniversary’, “Best of Luck’, etc. There may be a few clients that try to squeeze some verbose quotes on their bottles. 😅 But, by and large, on-site events are meant to be quick, complimentary customizations that can be completed in about 10-20 minutes.
Of course, brands don’t always have to do on-site events. They can also do bulk, in-studio commissions for VIP events. But, that’s a story for another post.
In short, I had a wonder-full summer! But, it’s time to put my teacher hat back on and get ready to make the donuts.
First Week Back
Every year, I look for items to prepare for class as well as tools to gear up with so I can practice at some point during the day.
The first week back, I visited The Barnes Foundation with some fellow visual arts teachers, enjoyed a workshop on Material Culture for professional development. I found a coloring book to take back to school. Making coloring sheets will come in handy to talk about the artists in their collection. Some of those artists include van Gogh, Matisse, Renoir and a few others. On the trip I even found out some tea on Gaughin.
This year, my school became a true K-8 school as we added 2nd graders to the roster. I got to be honest. I met them this past week and they’re pretty cute! But, along with my kindergarten and 1st graders, they are also pretty exhausting! Pray for me! 😂
In the meantime, I got this lovely gift from Alanna Flowers of AGF Design Studio to take back with me for an added boost of encouragement.
Alanna is a New York lettering artist who inspires me to no end. She’s just out here being awesome! Her newest book, Love Letters: An Alphabet of Affirmations, is bursting with her energetic and vibrant lettering and some positive vibes! It’s perfect for my littles at school. I bought a copy to donate to the school though because they obviously can’t have mine.
I’m super-genefish that way (a made-up term meaning generous enough to get you your own, but too selfish to share mine 😂). I also know my littles are still working out how to deal properly with their germs. I’m all for giving them their much-needed space at this time in their life. 😌
And, not to give the inside away, but one, little, peek won’t hurt! The page below is one of my favorites!
This page says, “It’s not necessary to be neat all the time,” which I love, because I am not the neatest when I’m making art (not by a long shot). Adults need affirmations too! If you have some littles in your life or need a quick, artful pick-me-up, you might consider picking up Alanna’s book for yourself!
I have some great artist friends, right?! 🥰
I’m also taking back this beauty from Erin of @neilsonletters.
It’s the coolest piece of mail art I’ve ever seen!
There are a lot of Marvel Avengers fans at my school (🙋🏾♀️). I’m always trying to convince them to be artful in the things they do. This is definitely going to be a show stopper!
Side-Hustling as a Practice
More than any other summer, this summer was great because I got to see what doing this calligraphy biz would be like full-time. I was pretty busy overall. But, I’d still love to see the live-event market grow in Delaware. The First State may be a little slower than other states to catch on to live-events, brand activations and what not. Fortunately, living a hop, skip and a jump to Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Maryland and New York makes up for it for now.
But, going back to work means I have had to put my side hustle on the side again for a minute. The day job gets the priority while I get back in the swing of things. Juggling both isn’t the easiest thing to do. But, I make it work for me by keeping up with my skill-building, practicing whenever I can. For that, I use portable tools that I can tote around.
What’s in My Bag in 2024
I’ve always had an affinity for things that are nice-looking, versatile and compact because I’m usually doing most of anything I do on-the-go. I have to be able to take it with me or I will likely rarely get to use it.
The first pick is this super-cute, newly developed case for nibs by Inner Quill (formerly Creative Inkwells).
I love this thing! It’s beautiful and works perfectly for me when I’m at school or even just around my house. All I need is a pen and a little water and I’ve got everything I need ready to go. I can fit multiple nibs for whatever kind of calligraphy I feel like doing in the moment. I also have a few dinky dips to switch out colors on a whim. It’s literally perfect in every way. 🥰
One of my other favorite finds is the Original Flourish Oblique by Tom’s Studio. It’s adjustable (my favorite quality in nib holders) and its minimal, sleek design makes it a beautiful piece to use when I have an audience. I actually own three so I can have one everywhere I go. I have one on my desk at home, one in my bag for going out and about, and one in my box for gigs.
Now, I will always love my adjustable wooden holders. They write well and they feel great in the hand. But they are a little too homely for providing luxury services. They also require a screw driver when I want to switch out a nib. The Original Flourish Oblique doesn’t require a screw driver at all. It utilizes a piece that’s more like a knob. I just twist it tighter or looser as the nib size demands to snug it in the holder, and I’m off and writing.
Keeping up with watercolor is another story. I leave a Mijello palette, and a watercolor notebook in my desk at the job. I pack a Sennelier, metal, portable palette to go with me wherever. I also have some portable brush sets. One is a da Vinci Kolinsky Sable Travel Set that I have had for years. Fortunately, I bought that when it was about $80-over $100 less than it is now. The other is a newer, synthetic travel set by Escoda (again, at a similar price and much better rate than I’m seeing today 😳 ). I pack a wedge brush and some drawing materials, and I figure, when I have a few extra minutes at lunch, I can practice my brushstrokes and swish a few florals into existence. So far, that has happened exactly once this past week. But, I imagine as the days get colder, and I prefer to stay inside, there’ll be more opportunities.
Incidentally, Jen Sweeney, the instructor of the Wedge-Brush Florals course I took this summer, is coming out with a wedge brushset of her own soon. I’m hoping she’ll do another set, and make it the first portable wedge-brush set in the near future! Just putting it out in the universe because ya never know!
Besides all that, I keep a black notebook and some white, Sakura Gelly Roll Pens and Uni-ball Signo Pens for practicing florals. I’ve come to the conclusion that florals will forever be a challenge for me. It may get easier, little by little. But, I don’t think they’ll ever come a time when I’ll not need to be practicing them. Since, I also won two fineliner sets by Sakura, courtesy of Sakura of America and @sillyrachael, author of Learn to Draw Flowers Step-By-Step, this past summer, I intend to practice with those any place where my fineliner-loving middle schoolers are not. 😂 I also have some Tombow and Pentel Touch brush pens and Rhodia graph pads.
I’ve gotten to practice during a couple meetings and over my lunch this past week with a few of these things.
As you can see, my practice usually doesn’t look like much. There’s not a lot of time for perfection and I’m prone to taking more risks in practice I wouldn’t take on a job. But, I like to think practicing keeps my hands warm for when I have to perform or do something for payment.
Case in point, last, but not least, I engrave on whatever I have around. Remember this one?
Well, it’s seen a lot of the engraving drill since I first bought it. 😬
That thing is practically a sketchpad at this point. 😂 I’m sure I’d do some of the things I added differently today than when I first engraved it. But, practice is practice! It’s likely the busiest tumbler I’ll ever own. And it’s probably time to buy another because I’m running out of space. You know…
Have stuff, will art, any day of the week.
