Artistic Endeavors

     I wish I could have lived somewhere near my artist friends. I know that I could have learned to paint, if I had a bit of personal training. Where I live, I lack those friendly people who love to share their skills. It's a shame since I have a large store in which I could have displayed their works. I tried buying online at Ebay, but by the time I paid the Ebay fees and Pay Pals fees, and shipping and handling fees, the art was simply to expensive to try to resell. I have many collectible prints, but no one wants to pay a reasonable price for the art, let alone want to pay the high fees for framing.
     I would enjoy turning my store into my own private studio, but I can not produce work to sell. That's a shame. Gosh, I would spend endless hours painting, if I could make it worthwhile. Oh, I could go back to my silver and turquoise work, at which I excelled. However, today's ladies spend their money buying cheap jewelry, then comparing it to handmade pieces. There is no competing with imports. I learned that many, many years ago. I had thought about selling on Etsy.com again, but even their site is totally flooded with "stuff."
     I guess I will have to make a decision soon. My wife is retiring and God only knows how much longer I will be allowed to teach at our local college.  For now, I enjoy teaching. With all the coming changes to the higher education system, I have no idea what will happen. When the fun is gone, then I will go back to opening my store. The future is so unsure for so many people. And to make matters worse, just today, I heard that United Health Insurance will more than double our rates in 2014. I don't see how that can be met with all the other problems coming.
     I am so happy to see some of my artist friends being so successful. I have watched several as their skills have increased. I hope they are making enough money that they are still able to continue their artistic endeavors for a long while yet. I really can't complain. I had quite a few years of great fun and success cutting turquoise and other stones and gems and creating pieces of jewelry that people still knew to appreciate.
Nanu nanu.