In Neutral

For several weeks I've been re-thinking my goals in life. I went back to selling on eBay back in October to make extra money for Christmas and I'm happy to report that everyone got nice gifts from me because of it. I've been selling there since January 15, 2001 and had a 100% positive feedback record. Today a customer (male) left me a neutral because he felt I overcharged for shipping. An extra $1.38 apparently broke his budget but since I charge a flat rate for all my customers (he lives in Jersey) there are times when it costs less to ship, as in his case. I clearly state in my listings that I will happily refund monies if a customer is unhappy FOR ANY REASON. My husband feels I'm over reacting and in essence I am. What is one neutral out of almost 1500 feedback. It doesn't really change my overall profile but because of my obsessive personality it changes everything!

For almost 12 years I have been putting off a project that will not only benefit my pocketbook but will benefit a lot of people as well. Since I was in kindergarten I always thought I'd become a teacher. I have taught various mediums over the last 40 years that I've been an artist so that seemed to fulfill my need to share my knowledge. But that domain name I've paid for year after year has been sitting there and now I think it's time to put it to good use. artdemos.com has been waiting for 12 years to host my online teaching methods.

When the idea first occurred to me there was not the availability of hosting services that there are now. So I am mulling over how important it really is to continue to produce art for others to buy. Perhaps it really is time to share my knowledge with others so that they can produce art for others to buy. I know that making art is what saved my life when I was going through my fight with breast cancer. It took me outside of my everyday concerns of survival and allowed me to find peace. And oddly, or maybe not so oddly, things have been popping up in unexpected places that have reinforced this notion.

So I write this with an eye toward sharing what I know in a classroom setting that you can pop into even if you're in your pj's and it's 3am in the dark of night. If you'd like to put in your 2 cents worth, go over to my new blog Art Demos Dot Calm (just click on the title of this posting) and vote for what classes you'd like to see demonstrated. I'll be making a decision in the next 5 weeks about whether or not this plan is conceivable.