I am no longer allowing people to send me any notices through the contact form that was on this site. Why you may ask? Because I’m getting hundreds of spam contact submissions from Russians. Spammers and hackers pretty much are ruining the Internet. I’m seriously considering deleting my websites and being done with the whole situation. It’s just not worth it.
Blog
Time Flies
Time Flies!
Where does the time go? I’ll tell you that the older I get, the faster time flies by. I’m getting older and find I can do less in a day than I could 10 years ago. I’m trying to balance work life with home life, and spending time on my hobbies which are many!
I love to garden, make wine, bake bread, ferment things, can food, paint, read, play video games… never a reason to be bored!!
It seems like its been forever since I posted here. Honestly, I’ve let the website slip… but I’m hoping to do a makeover here over the next couple of months. Check out my new GLOOT page!
Self Quarantine & More
Self Quarantine 2020
Wow it seems like I haven’t posted in forever! It’s hard to keep all the balls in the air, and seems harder the older I get. Well, like most of you, I’ve been staying home, in self quarantine, 99% of the time for the last 2 months or so. I’m very lucky that I live in the country so I don’t really feel cooped up. Normally working from home helps too, I like being home anyway. The downside is that all of my artisan coops, and shows, are closed or cancelled. Not too many opportunities to make a living. Although many states, including mine, are slowly opening back up, I think we are not going to see a robust economy anytime soon.
I’m in the age group that is most at risk, so I’m not keen on returning to life on the outside, as it were. In the meantime, I’ll be focusing on gardening.. if spring ever actually arrives. I’ve also started to grow micro greens and sprouts at home. It’s fairly easy, and provides fresh greens even in winter. It only takes a few minutes a day and is well worth it. My daughter is home from Boston for the duration, so I’m enjoying caring for her again after having an empty nest for a number of years.
It’s not all bad for me, but I know I’m very lucky. I am worried that the artisan cooperatives wont’ survive this pandemic. We rely heavily on tourism here and that’s just not going to happen this year. Like many self employed & artists, I’m wondering how I’m going to reinvent myself, and if I have the energy to do that yet again. It’s not easy to figure out where and how to focus one’s energy at a time like this. Possibly clear out my studio and have a destash sale? Work on getting the website really humming along? Retire? Idk….
I hope this post finds you all safe and healthy, keep up the good fight!
Nancy
Check out my farm site, I’ll be posting my sprout/micro green journey there soon. WinterRose Farm
Support my business by ordering online. Check out my ever popular magnets!
Hackers suck
If you’ve been having trouble with my site today, it’s because some ass has been banging on my site with bots trying to break in. As of now I’ve rebuked over 500 attempts; this traffic from India may have caused my site to slow down to the point of being unusable. For this I apologize; I do more than most to try and keep up with this stuff and block entire networks all over the world. These misbegotten sons of the crap you scrap off your shoe are causing the internet to be almost unusable.
I’ll keep fighting the good fight, hang in there with me.
Nancy
Stainless Steel Chain
I’m considering switching to stainless steel chains for my work. A number of years back the cost of sterling silver skyrocketed and I was forced to switch to silver plated chains for my necklaces. With 100’s of necklaces in stock, I can’t afford to keep that much money tied up in chains. I considered chains sort of like packaging, they are not the main focus of the piece, my glass is the focus, the chain was just a vehicle for displaying it. Many people have a nice chain they can switch out. However, I was still unhappy with the silver plated chains, yes the cost is great, but they discolor over time. I often have to discard and replace the chains because they tarnish and can’t be cleaned (I’ve tried, they get weird,) and that’s just not very sustainable. I detest throwing things away like that.
Just about a year ago, I ordered some stainless steel chains for myself. I’ve worn one for a year now, every day, it doesn’t discolor, it’s strong and I really like it. The only downside I see is that it’s not as shiny as silver, and I wonder if that would be off-putting? I also like the idea of steel and glass together, as in architecture. In addition, some people have allergic reactions to silver so cannot wear the silver chains, but stainless is hypoallergenic. Stainless steel is stronger, cleaner and will last longer.
So i’m gonna go out on a limb and swap out for stainless steel chains this season and see what happens. I’ll have a limited number of sterling chains, as well, but the price is significantly higher. I’ll also use up my silver plated ones but, after that, I think I’ll not order more of those.
~Nan
New work at Glass Orchids
My goal for winter was to create new work at Glass Orchids, for the upcoming season.
I have to say that I’ve failed miserably at that task this winter. This winter I’ve been consumed by other tasks, after getting through the holidays I’ve spent my time working on websites for myself and the various arts organizations I’m a part of. I’m also the manager of two of the artisan cooperatives I’m in , and organizing for the upcoming season takes a lot of work. I admit, I also enjoyed days of laziness which are greatly needed to refuel for the coming year.
I’ve got plans for new work at Glass Orchids, so many plans lol…… but first I’ve got to set up for the opening of the cooperatives, do my taxes (which no are not done yet), clean my studio, plant my garden, and then, yes then, create new works!!!
In addition to working getting this site ready for prime time, I also created a new website for one of my cooperatives: Belfast Harbor Artisans.
So it’s 2019….A New Year
A new year, a new season! January is typically the month I rest up and take a little break, but this year the new season seems to have come earlier….. working on websites for The Bangor Art Society, Belfast Harbor Artisans, converting GlassOrchids.com over to GlassOrchids.art, working on a site for my sister, and one for SouthWestHarbor Artisans…and helping River Arts with theirs.
Getting the agendas set for the coop meetings this weekend, and entering pieces for shows at River Arts and the Bangor Art society. I need to organize my studio and stock, and make new work, and do taxes… planning my garden for this spring….applying for shows……why did I ever think Jan/Feb were slow months?
This year I’ve left 2 coops, and am going to try and pare down what I make to those things that have been selling, and things I just love to make. I’m hoping to focus a bit on obtaining a few new wholesale accounts too. 20+ years doing this and I’ve still not found the Golden Mix, the formula to maximize income based on wholesale. retail, coops, consignment, online sales……. sometimes I feel like Jason of the Argonauts.
Now, just to get back to something I said above.. I’ve moved GlassOrchids.com to GlassOrchids.art.. why? Well, maybe you’ve read my saga of Google Jail? GlassOrchids.com is in google jail so I get no traffic or search engine placement. I made an innocent / but ignorant mistake and will pay for it forever apparently….. but hopefully with GlassOrchids.ART I’ll be able to recover…. time will tell….
Anyway, till next time,
Nancy
Fryeburg Fair
Wild preparations are underway for the Fryeburg Fair! I’m firing my kilns on overdrive. The show runs September 30th thru October 7th, 8 days, 12 hours a day; whew. This year I’ll have many more items made with upcycled glass bottles, as well as other new items. Long hours ahead getting ready for the fair!
~Nan
Getting away from it all
I just got back from 5 days/4 nights on Monhegan Island. I turned 60 last week and took myself on a short retreat as a gift to myself on this momentous occasion. This was my first trip to what is, apparently, mecca for Maine painters. It was like stepping back in time… children can roam free without fear, I stayed at Monhegan House and there are no locks on the doors; there is a hook so you can lock yourself in for sleeping which is great. I asked about it and they said they have NEVER had any issues with theft etc… it’s like the land time forgot.
I planned on painting non-stop everyday lol.. yeah sure…. I napped a lot, I finished 2 novels and started a 3rd, and yes I started 7 paintings. Now, I haven’t painted with oils in awhile and found it frustrating that I could only go so far with each and then had to wait for them to dry before continuing. I’ve been using acrylics mostly because I want them to DRY so I can finish. It’s ok, I now have 7 paintings in process. I’m really only happy with 2 of them but hey, that’s par for the course with artists.
This island seems to have this weird thing where the restaurants don’t serve wine but the tiny shops have amazing wine selections. I did my part in forcing them to restock. Sitting by an upstairs window, drinking wine, reading a book and watching the sunset… listening to the distant tolling of a bouy bell and the gulls plaintiff cries… .. really heavenly.
I highly recommend this island for those who enjoy quiet. If you are like my husband and can’t rest then NO, don’t do it…. but if you can sit quietly for hours then this is the place for you. There is a lot of hiking to be done and I did my fair share to get to painting sites. The easy trails are not for the weak ……. I did manage to tumble down 15 or 20′ on a trail… and didn’t break anything.. wow someone loves me up there. After hiking, painting & falling I felt like I was on survivor….. the path seemed to never end… but I’m here to type about it so it’s all good. I am a bit sore….. I think the entire island is uphill. Bring a walking stick.
Most everyone was friendly and I had some nice conversations with total strangers. I will say that, like most of Maine, this island is mighty white. I did see a few people of color but not many. There were probably more folks over 50 than under as well. although there were a lot of younger folks hiking and probably working there for the summer. I’m not making any judgement about the ages or color of the folks; just observations which I felt might be useful for those planning to visit. There were families with young children and I overheard one little girl tell her dad she wants to live on the island.
I also got to stop by and visit an old customer Black Duck Emporium and hope to have my work offered there soon again! It was great to see them after many years and actually get to shop in their store. It’s lovely and offers a wide selection of goods from soap to dishes to t shirts.
Like much of Maine, the island is suffering from a drought. I asked a local woman who runs a farm stand about how they water their gardens as she had many. I gathered she has a well which helps, she also has a water catchment system and prioritizes what gets water and what doesn’t. They had beautiful white and orange pumpkins growing in the fields… it was impressive.
Winter can’t be easy there and I think they have about 45 year round residents. One has to prepare for winter and stock up because there is no where to get food or supplies when the weather is bad and no ferry runs.
All in all it was a wonderful experience and I hope to return next year with our own boat, which we can sleep on. Greg can fish during the day and I can paint. Then we can enjoy the local food & wine as the sun sets. Oh, I had some fantastic fish tacos at the Fish House. A painting of the Fish House will be forthcoming. Life is short, get the tacos & a t shirt.
Pictures of the trip will be added here soon…… I highly recommend a visit!
~Nan
The continuing saga of Google Jail
Well apparently one of my ads for GlassOrchids.com has been released from Google Jail and has made it through the gauntlet of Google ad approval. I have no idea why it’s different than the ones that have been denied. I’ll let you know if/when I figure it out. This one seems to be targeting mostly mobile devices. I guess any new traffic is good but it sure isn’t transparent on how Google Ad approval actually works.
Anyway, I’m thinking about what to do next to get more traffic to this site given my striped pajamas. I’ve got two solutions that I’m going to try:
- Adding a few pages to my other site NancyDaviesTang.com , and pointing them to this site and then submitting the new pages to get crawled might work.
- Creating a mirror site (already registered a name GlassOrchidz.com.. the Z for zombie version… raised from the dead and all that) and pointing it to this site too.
The second takes much longer to implement so I’ll work on the first one first. I have been known as being stubborn, and I’m not giving up. If nothing else, my saga should serve as a warning and education to others…..
~Nan