Creating Habits

"If you're respectful by habit, constantly honoring the worthy, four things increase -- long life, beauty, happiness, strength.." --- Buddha

I am working on creating new work habits and looking for ways to reinforce them so I stick to them.

Home Page Art by Delilah = http://artbydelilah.com

Top of the Mornin to Ya! Luck of the Irish

Luck of the Irish
I am half Irish and felt so lucky to go to Ireland this summer. It rained every day but one in the weeks we were there. I understand that is the way the weather has been for last few years.
So with good measure of Irish Blood I felt right at home in the mist. My Grand mother used to remind me we came from sturdy Irish Peasants and to be proud of it.


Irish mist covers the country side. The rain is really a soft mist, not the hard pounding kind you get in Michigan. It makes a hazy look to the greens of the country side.


A vine cover castle from around 600 AD. It is so strange to see things so old.

One of the many rings of stones found in Ireland.
I kept my rain coat and hat on and had no problem seeing all the sights.

Yes these Palm trees are from the south of Ireland. Ireland is full of flowers and green but the palm trees were a surprise to me. Ireland is further north then Michigan but they do not get snow.

The Irish Flag waves High
Of course no trip to Ireland is complete with out a taste of Guiness!

Here is a smiling Irish eyes to you. Happy St Patricks Day!

Beware of the Ides of March

"Beware the Ides of March!"

I've loved that line since reading Shakespeare's Julius Caesar.

The term ides was used for the 15th day of the months of March, May, July, and October.

In Roman times, the Ides of March was a festive day dedicated to the god Mars and a military parade was usually held. In modern times, the term Ides of March is best known as the date that Julius Caesar was assassinated, in 44 BC, the story of which was famously dramatized in William Shakespeare's play Julius Caesar.This warning was given to Caesar before his "friends" assassinate him has always seemed like a such cool line, and I only get to use it once a year. So, on the Ides of March, "beware!"

Or more importantly, have some fun with a great quote from Shakespeare, then get on to other, more interesting things.

Home Page Art by Delilah = http://artbydelilah.com

Have a TEAM

The poet wrote that "no man is an island' and that is certainly true for artist.

By definition, business flourishes in the "market-place," with vendors and suppliers, staff and customers all swirling around! It's how business gets done. Artist need to remember they are in a business.

Artist often forget they are running a small business. They too often feel alone. They don't get the help they need, the help that could push them to the next level.

An artist is a micro-businesses, one person quite literally the owner, the manager, the staff,the computer expert, the janitor and the bookkeeper. That can be lonely and inefficient. Working from home, or from a one-person studio can be distracting and (at times) depressing. If you can afford it try to get some help. It could move you to your next level by freeing more time to work on what you love, your art.

Even if you work with other people, however, too often the feeling or sense is still that we are "all alone," especially if you are in a position of leadership, you have a passion for what you are doing and sales are down, you are struggling to push your art to the next level.

One of the most valuable resources any artist can have is a Master Mind team of trusted colleagues who will listen and advise you.

Having a TEAM of people who will be honest with you, who understand your challenges and will share their wisdom can be a HUGE advantage!If you don't have a "kitchen cabinet" or unofficial "board of directors," get one! I have sweet little team of 3 other artist who share their daily goals and personal challenges with me. One who's blog I am sure you would enjoy reading is Lisa Call a textile artist.

Get a support team. In today's challenging market a good support team, not a whining wooh -boo-hoo team is a great advantage. Get advisers you trust, people who know and understand your situation, people who do not compete with you and who will not play games. Meet with them once a week if you can or like I do daily on the Internet my TEAM is from across the US and we take care of business, and help each other to be the very BEST artist that we can be.


Home Page Art by Delilah = http://artbydelilah.com

Vista or an Apple

I recently installed an update to my vista computer and of course it required a restart to complete it, so I restarted the computer but while it was starting up and putting the final touches on its update(where it says please do not shut down computer) it blue screened and had to restart(the blue screen happens every once in awhile when i start my computer normally...)now whenever i try to start my computer it starts trying to do the update thing but it does nothing and then it shuts itself down. I have tried to go back to the last system recovery point, maybe that will work, if not i could really use some help. It seem that Vista is sending really bad updates for it system. I have been reading that many people are having the same issues.

None of my hardware works with this system. If I have to buy all new, maybe it's time to give apple a try.

Having a bad day in the art studio not getting any painting done

Home Page Art by Delilah = http://artbydelilah.com