What a day yesterday was! Wow! I think I am still exhausted. It was an awesome day to say the least. I learned SO MUCH! Let’s see….my day began early heading out to New Orleans and meeting my online artist friend, Ali, for the first time in real life. It was awesome! We became virtual friends from an online art/photography class and have been becoming fast friends. It was a true delight to finally meet her in person. Like we hugged immediately when we saw each other feeling as if we had known each other for years. We spent the morning talking at the speed of light. All things art. Dreaming and planning all of the next steps I could and will take. Ali had brainstormed a couple of shops that she thought would be a good fit for my art and after planning our outing we quickly realized it was already noon. So we loaded up my art and headed out. Butterflies were certainly setting in at this point. All the natural fears were coming to the surface. I felt so vulnerable. “What if no one was going to like my art?” “It’s ok if they don’t”, I would quickly tell myself and I really meant that. I know God has orchestrated this entire journey and there are places that will be a perfect match for my art. We entered our first destination in an area near the Riverfront that was full of beautiful merchandise. We looked around and I said “yes”, I could see my art in here. Well, it was time. Time to approach an employee and ask to see the owner or manager. It took me probably four minutes to get the guts up to do this but here went nothing. I did it! I was told the owner was not in but the manager would be happy to see my items. After looking at my bio and several pieces of my art he told me how much he liked it and that he would pass the information on to their owner and she would be contacting me. (HUGE SMILE) Whew!! I had done it! I put myself out there and my art had been received. I was ready! “Let’s hit the next place.”
At this point it was 1:30 and our stomachs were growling. We headed downtown to Magazine Street and decided we might need to grab some lunch real quick. Ali had a cute and delish little French Bistro in mind, Coquette. Again, she and I spent 45min dreaming and planning of what the future could look like. We enjoyed the most amazing lunch and then headed out to visit a few shops.
I can not get enough of the simple beauty of Magazine Street. The street is lined with colorfully painted shotgun houses that now house the dreams of retailers. From art to clothing to antiques, you name it you can find it uniquely available on Magazine. The first stop on magazine we made was to a darling place called Perch. It was oozing with beautiful furniture, unique art and home accents. Jack, the store manager was such a treat. He quickly loved my art and gave me the contact information for Caroline the store owner and said for me to email her my available pieces and let’s go from there. (Heart and face beaming!) I just loved this store and it seemed like a great match for my art. I can not wait to be in contact with Caroline and see where this may go.
Well, for four more stops the story was the same. No store owners were in. However, every manager loved my art and supplied me with owner contact information. I really liked this decorators space, Chet Pourciau. I had an instant connection with Chet’s design style. You can tell his expertise is in creating a happy space with style. I loved his eye for bridging contemporary with traditional chic. I think this is match for my for art! His manager, Nadia, was lovely and made some suggestions of different sizes and subjects they would also like to see. So, this gal is getting ready to make some more art this weekend and shoot the images over to the owner!!
All in all this was a very successful day. Priceless things learned but most importantly facing my fears head on and conquering them. I can not get over the response I have had through contacts about my art. I already have four stores from here to yonder that want me to bring my work in for them to consider. I can’t tell you how exciting this is. I have dreamed of this since I was a little girl but never really thought I would actually get to live it. More to come on how marketing my art is going.
I hope each of you has a wonderfully blessed weekend. Ya know what? Are you living your dream? I am living proof you are never too old to chase them. God knows your hearts desires, He put them there. Pray. Just pray about it!
Cherish your day-g
