A Year of ... Sharks?!

An unexpected year of sharks reinforced the idea that there is no path, you make the path as you go. But, it's also gotten me thinking. Yes, sometimes it's a good idea to ride the wave when it's coming in. But, maybe other times it's wiser to go against the flow. In order to make progress on my art, I may need to be more mindful to stay on task this year.
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I started last year with intentions of spending a whole lot of time exploring my new love: wall art. I got through the winter and the spring creating new works and exploring new ideas. It was thrilling!

I made my first sale of wall art at the American Craft Show in April, where I was also awarded the Award of Excellence in Booth Design. Things were looking good! Then,  my handbag line got picked up by the prestigious Walker Art Center's gift shop, as well as the UptownMN shop in the MSP Airport. I was so happy!

And then came mid-summer. Unexpectedly, the year turned into (cue the Jaws theme music: dun dunnnnnn, dun dun dunnnnnnn... ) The Year of the Shark. 

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​The Year of the Shark

​At the end of July, with a single day's warning, Etsy chose to feature my 'Out to Sea' Shark Bite Pouch on their front page. ​

This launched a tidal wave of orders!

Only a few weeks into the feature, I was booked with 12 weeks worth of work! At that point, I removed all Shark Bite pouches from my Etsy shop to stem the tide of incoming orders. ​

Etsy's front page July 25 - August 31, 2017

Of course I was beyond thrilled with the orders, the feature, and the attention. However, after weeks and weeks of shark-making, I started to feel disappointed that I didn't have time to work on new pieces of textile art -- or anything else, such as handbags, bug purses, or even blog posts (note my long absence from blogging last year). 

​As Autumn rolled around, I was ready to stop making sharks and get back to my explorations of art.

​But, the Year of the Shark didn't stop there.

​My favorite retailer, Uncommon Goods, was looking to get in on the shark action! After a smattering of small orders, they suddenly placed an order for 120 sharks (!) in November. I almost told them, "No thanks, I've had enough of sharks for the year." But, I challenged myself to take the order and completed 120 sharks in just three weeks. ​

Now that was an epic finale to the unexpected Year of the Shark!

​Conclusions

How many sharks did I actually make last year, you ask? I've crunched the numbers and it turns out that I made approximately 440 Shark Bite and Baby Shark Bite pouches last year.

That comes out to about 5 months worth of working on sharks full-time! 

What got me through such an intensive amount of time creating sharks? Well, it was helpful to have a vacation to look forward to!

I ended the year with a much needed break: a family dream-vacation in Maui, Hawaii.

Although, I didn't see any sharks, I did see: humpback whales, eels, an octopus, sea turtles, manta rays, and loads of fish and coral!

​I went scuba diving, surfing, snorkeling, whale watching, and spent plenty of time swimming in the sea and exploring the island. It was wonderful.

​Now I'm back in my studio, thinking about the year ahead. I plan to make some changes. I'm ready to make this year The Year of Exploring Textile Art. And so that it doesn't get away from me again, I'll have to do things a little bit differently.

I think sharks will need to take a back burner if I want to make progress on my art.

First, however, I have an order of 30 sharks to complete...  ​

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​Happy New Year!