4 Trips in One!

Yes it was worth waking up at Stupid o' Clock to go on an early morning paddle before the public program.

Even though it was raining.

We got across the river to the Shush Lady, then collectively decided we didn't feel like going back so we went up to Hoboken, crossed back at Little Island, passed Pier 40, and got back late.

Exactly three people were waiting to paddle so we put them on the water and then decided to close the program.  The weather was miserable, no one else wanted to paddle, and we were very short on volunteer signups.

When we got back I was soaking wet and miserable, even after changing.

Justin was wearing waterproof biking pants; he said it's life-changing.

I need my kayak life changed to also be waterproof, so I have ordered new very waterproof outer- shells- top and bottom. Will test them out next Friday, hopefully.

Prints Launched EARLY!

My goal for launching prints was Oct 1st... but today I had time to just plow through the huge last batch of image editing and setup, and a million other things..,.. so I decided to take that scary plunge and just do it.

So my prints are available and live now!

Jessica Prior - Official Art Shop | Fine Art America

This has been ELEVEN YEARS coming, since I painted the first Topiary Cats back in 2013.

I am so proud of myself for still painting through all those years... 15 years plein airing now.... I knew I needed to be ready to go when Daya was in college. Technically and from a useable inventory perspective. 

I never wanted to have to catch up and resume painting after a long pause, it would be too much catching up. I could never get those years of practice and study back. And it's not just having a good product, being able to paint well and everything that has gone into making paintings- there is back-end tech too. Which I have also been slowly setting up- calibrated graphics monitor, even my website.

I was going to switch over my website to FASO a few years ago and I'm so glad I didn't after all.

What I have works, it's fine. Somehow I thought I couldn't do prints yet because of... well, insert reason here... and none of those reasons were actually true. 

Mostly I have been overwhelmed by knowing about all the things I don't know. 

It's been a bit paralyzing.

It's been an enormous amount of work, time, and money and I hope honestly that I can get some income from all this work.  A friend recently told me it's time for me to get paid. She's right.

And I really, really want people to have and love the Topiary Cats; they need to be out in the world.

Weirdly, I am terribly scared to launch as well as being excited.

It's amazing how much fear there is.

I have irrational fears that people are going to hate my prints once they get them, even though I know that isn't true. My Pratt friend Mark has been wonderful and helpful, so has my art friend Francis.

If Fine Art America is good enough for Mark, it's good enough for me.

I'm scared I did something wrong during the ENORMOUS amount of prep work I have done this month.... and it has been a LOT.  I want to crawl into a hole thinking about it.

But the good news is the updates won't be so terrible, now that everything is established.

And there's more to come but this is a good start.

Algae in Prospect Park

This painting was done by Lullwater Bridge in Prospect Park.

I really enjoyed painting the algae, it's a fun subject matter.

8x10 oil

Crossing the Hudson

I went to paddle after work today, and we ended up going on an impromptu trip to NJ to have dinner at Surf City!

View from Jersey City.... it took about 45 mins to paddle over.

Surf City!

The wind was blowing hard against us on the way back so it took about an hour to return.

Really the last beach sunset, but it was a good one.

This is definitely my last after-work beach sunset, due to temperature and the sunset being noticeably earlier.

I'm So 2018, Apparently

I have mocked up a little marketing campaign.

The plan is to print cards and stickers to leave around the city.

These are my rough ideas, which I have been showing to people to get feedback.

Daya said Definitely No to the first two... I like Too Basic!
Wall is her favorite, and she likes Doomscrolling which is great because I like that one too.

I asked why... she said "maybe in 2018..."

FWIW she's the only person who doesn't like Too Basic.

None of these are final and I won't use all of them, it's just a starting point.

OMG I am such a Dumbass

So actually after doing all that photography I didn't use any of them except one.

Because I was emailing Francis and he reminded me.... I HAVE A SCANNER.

I HAVE ALWAYS HAD A SCANNER.

HOW DID I FORGET I HAVE A SCANNER?

Now I'm wishing I remembered this like a long time ago and scanned in paintings that sold.

Scanning is way better, especially since I work small.

I am in the middle of such a massive pile of work with this, it's overwhelming.

The Pirate Kayak

Today was our 30th annual Harrison Street Regatta.

I did not race, but I was Andrew's coach and we made a pirate kayak.

And I coached him on proper pirate strategy.

Of course he won.  No one else stood a chance. Even though it was close.

Whoever comes in second wins, and cheating is allowed.

Now Andrew and I have to make the trophy for next year.

The test run....

The boathouse received a proclamation from City Hall for our service to the public and the power of volunteers.

I Can't Recycle This Box

 ....this box is huge and very much in the way and Pebbles won't leave it.

First Topiary Cats- Live

Oh my god the first batch of Topiary Cats is uploaded to Fine Art America.......

I have so, so much work to do....

But wow, it's really starting.

I can't believe it.

Daya said she's proud of me.... what an amazing feeling that is.

Children want their parents to be proud of them.... but wow when your kid is proud of you... that's amazing.

This is a stupid amount of work.

I need to be ready by Oct 1st and every time I cross something off my list, 5 more things appear.

The Silent Table & Best Dorm Photo

Daya was in the 9/11 memorial performance this morning at Lincoln Center.
I took the day off work to go see her.

I went for a nice walk in Central Park on the way over.

Balto said good morning.

Later in the day, Daya texted me this awesome dorm picture: