Whidbey Island Open Studio Tour 2012 Saturday

Posted on October 6, 2012 by Tom Trimbath

Let the Open Studio Tour commence! Just like last year, I’m an artist on the Whidbey Island Open Studio Tour – a Tour where art enthusiasts can visit artists in their studios and ask more questions about how and why their art is made. (I wrote about it earlier. I Am Number 1) For the artists it is a way to deal directly with patrons and compatriots and sell without another fee except for the application. I use the Tour as a way to show all of my art, its progression, and how it all interrelates – and to tell my work. I am a nature photographer. My tools are my camera, my laptop, and a ski pole I use as a mono-pod. My studio is the world. Being on the Tour means turning my living room into a gallery / demo space so a hundred or so people can walk through. Being on the Tour also means a change in my regular Saturday blogging. Welcome to two days in the life of an artist, because I’ll blog about it tomorrow too.

Blogging chronicle style

7am
Start with breakfast and Car Talk because I don’t want to be thinking solely of the Tour today, and as I woke it was trying to be that way. I woke at 7:00am without an alarm. Before I sat up, my mind was already running through the details of the day. I’ve done this before. Make sure there is nibble food for me because lunch may not happen. Say oops because I didn’t buy nibble food for the visitors. I was in the grocery and couldn’t decide what to get that wouldn’t smudge, require plates or cups, or wouldn’t kick off allergies. I’m glad I put the signs up last night. There are a few more things but get up and get breakfast and listen to something completely different.

While making breakfast and a thermos of tea, make sure to take some Oriental meds that bolster the immune system. Make sure to have sanitizer out for folks that want it. There’s a nasty flu going around and I don’t want it and don’t want to encourage it either.

8am
Check email. Yay! I already had a sale – well, at the gallery last night. Cool. Thanks Raven Rocks.

Go out, grab the newspaper, and talk to an early morning walker who asked about the Tour. Doh! I forgot to tell her that it’s free.
Wonder if I’ll have to give any house tours. The house is for sale too. (Home For Sale Alas) Buy the art. Buy the house. Buy it all. One stop shopping.

The photos and books are all displayed. Spend some time arranging the cards and specialty prints.

Crunch some lavender to make the place smell a little bit less like a bachelor’s place.

9am
Slow car drove by. The Tour doesn’t start until 10am, but I’d let them in. They are inspiration to go to the bathroom now.
Collect wrapping materials.
Cue the music, and turn the tv into a slideshow instead of a dead black box. Glad Roku streams my online slideshows.
What else do I have to do that I can’t or won’t do during open hours? Oh yeah, breath and stretching exercises.
Decide to simmer some herbs from the garden for aroma and for an eventual soup.

10am
It’s 10:01 and no one’s dropped by yet. Oh woe. Patience. Chill out watching some YouTube. Thank you Hannah Hart of My Drunk Kitchen.
One last look around – and ah ha! I found a better way to display the prices.

Being on the tour is part of that artist’s exercise in humility where we put ourselves out there with no assurance that anyone will show up. It is always good to have something constructive to do in the meantime. As a writer I’ve been on book signings when no one dropped by and I spent my time helping customers navigate the store. So today I am going to settle into some photo work. I don’t enhance my nature photos because I prefer nature be seen naturally, but I’ve decided to create what I call facebook posters. (Check my earlier post “Trends In Images” for the why of it.) I’m incorporating my photos with my words to create downloads, posters, coffee mugs, t-shirts, whatever people want because they want art in their world, but sometimes they want it somewhere besides the living room wall.
Prepare for every eventuality, including the null set.

Take a good idea from someone else on the Tour. He took a picture of the studio and posted it on facebook as an invitation. I shall do the same. Thanks Denis.
Moments later a car actually pulls up. Glad to see it work that well.
Traffic begins. I like the woman from the north end who came to the south end to prove it could be done.
1 from Coupeville She’s a compatriot who wanted to compare notes. She particularly liked the translucent satins that work as window hangings.

11am
A friend called to check in. That’s appreciated.
My first visitor had to shift some of the photos to see them. I think I’ll temporarily cull the inventory.

2 friends dropped by. They help organize the Mr. South Whidbey, and think I should be on it. I’m honored. Maybe next year, if I’m living on South Whidbey. But the house is for sale, I don’t know if or where or when I’ll get a job, and there are Too Many Ifs.
1 neighbor friend even brings food, and agrees that I should run for Mr. South Whidbey. Okay, that takes some explaining. Mr. South Whidbey is a fundraising event for Friends of Friends, a medical support fund. The man who wins Mr. South Whidbey is the man who raises the most money for the charity. Maybe I’ll dance for my donations. Stay tuned. The cause is definitely worthwhile, and appropriate for a place with a mix of the wealthy and the necessarily struggling. Have you heard the term, “Starving Artist”?

Sale! One matted and sleeved print. He can mail me the money later. Thanks, John.
A Double Bluff print sold. It reminded him of everyday beauty.

Noon
Quick, a bathroom break.
Glad I ate a bit of chicken earlier. Those almonds were appreciated too.

2 nice women dropped by and chatted for over thirty minutes. They loved the satins. One is probably going to take my class in Modern Self-Publishing too. (I’ve got my books out and the subject came up.) The other one may start following my blog as I write about small houses. She’s a fan and an advocate and developing a neighborhood based on the idea.

1 supportive neighbor came in as he always does.
1 friend, Joe Menth, who prints my prints subsequently stayed for an hour answering questions for the next guests.
2 folks that own a hand-built country estate filled with the best of everything they need to have fun; including excellent camera equipment. They had lots of interesting questions. He’s led an Interesting Life, but the book is not for sale even though he finished it last year.

2pm
I was so busy that there’s wasn’t a 1pm report.
Eat bits of chicken and slices of cheese.
Meditate during a gap. Relax my facial muscles and my jaw.

This is the first year I’ve been the only person in the neighborhood on the show. The next nearest stop on the Tour is miles away. This is a lot less traffic than previous years. Maybe that’s why.
Besides the artist lesson in humility, being on the Tour is also a business decision. Are the benefits greater than the cost? As in most businesses, the costs may be obvious and upfront. The benefits come later. I paid to be on the Tour, devoted a lot of time and energy to it. Now I wait to see if I’ve done enough. Will people drive this far? The total numbers may not be as important because while I may get fewer visitors, the ones that are coming this far have demonstrated some level of commitment. A greater percentage of them may be willing to buy. In previous years, the majority of the sales came from very few individuals. There’s no way to except to try. Ah, but “No. Try not. Do… or do not. There is no try.” – Yoda, Star Wars: Episode V – The Empire Strikes Back So, I guess the brand name response is:  “Just Do It” – Nike, Inc.

3pm
Time for a cookie (homemade, gluten-free, oatmeal coconut) as someone comes up.
2 women, one from the opposite peninsula, one from Federal Way each buy a book. (Twelve Months at Double Bluff and Twelve Months at Cultus Bay) They were color-coordinated and didn’t know it, but they’ve known each other since grade school. They were determined. They couldn’t find a brochure so they printed out all of the thumbnails, and accidentally left them at home.
3 more from Seattle. They’ve been here since 10am and I was their last stop. Thanks for stopping.

1 client dropped by. She wanted to see the art, but her main purpose was to drop off a copy of her first book that I helped her publish. Sweet. Sorry folks, it is for private distribution only, but I got a copy.

4pm
The sun is finally reaching past the eaves to make the satins look there best. Now’s the time for visitors to become buyers.
In the meantime I’ve been working on the poster. I uploaded but there’s a glitch that I can’t correct. Hmm. There’s also a regatta passing by with spinnakers flying. Maybe I’ll concentrate on them instead.

The sound of gravel crunching and a car door closing, footsteps.
2 people, one agent and her client were looking at houses and saw the signs. Sure, look at art. Look at the house. Buy either or both. I think they decided on neither, but they were very polite about it.

The poster worked! It only looks like the glitch is real. Life isn’t WYSISWG.

A neighbor called to hear how things were going. She’d seem some traffic but hadn’t kept track. Well, it might be a bit odd if she did.

4:58pm Two more minutes and I suspect a neighbor is about to come in. I’ll stay open.

4:59pm But I might start mixing a drink soon.

5pm The whistle has blown so I’m going to wet or whet my whistle.
But first I shall summarize and conclude.
In attaching the tags for this post I realized that I’ve covered almost all of my usual tags because of the various conversations I’d just had. It is a diverse day. Every topic came up, including frugality and stock investing because they wanted to know why the house is for sale. This isn’t boring. My life is public. I think I’m going to go sit quietly for a while. But there’s a bathroom break that needs to be taken. Doing this alone has its issues.

Total for the day: 17 people, 3 sales that almost covered the registration fee.
Hopes for tomorrow: I always hope for tomorrow.

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Geographically Desirable Or Not

Posted on October 3, 2012 by Tom Trimbath

I live near the southern tip of an island. Sounds romantic, doesn’t it? Actually, it can be. It is a sweet place and a magnificent place, and the only place that has felt like home. Traveling has taught me that every place is just right for some people and just wrong for others. There are people who would run away from Shangri-La. Real estate is about location, location, location. Life is about dreams, emotions, and reality. Nomads can blend those two by moving from this location to that location to the location over there. The rest of us tend to settle for longer and the choice of where we live influences how we live. I live on an island. It affects most of my life. Some of that is desirable, and some is not.

Deciding to live on an island can be dramatic. There are islands in Puget Sound and the Salish Sea (the new eco-region that includes the Sound and extends into British Columbia) that are only accessible by boat. A little over seven years ago I considered them and decided they were a bit too remote. Within the Sound are compromises. Some of the islands are reached by boat, which sounds remote, but the boats are enormous and run on “regular” schedules (depending on winds, tides, and breakdowns). A few islands are even connected to the mainland by bridges. Whidbey is one of those, and it is the largest. I didn’t want you to think I was stranded on a nubbin of rock. Whidbey is called “The Rock” but The Rock is mostly gravel and takes over an hour to drive from tip to tip. Deciding to live on Whidbey was also deciding to be readily connected to the land and within a reasonable commute to downtown Seattle. (Watch the Rural Character’s take on “a reasonable commute.”)

My choice has been brought up in several conversations lately.

One friend pointed out that my job hunt has probably been stymied by my address. They had a similar issue and didn’t get an offer until they used a mainland address. Sure enough, their employer said it was an issue, but let them keep the job despite the revelation. Some addresses are geographically undesirable. From my side, my job hunt is done in rings where each ring is marked by the commute. Island jobs are the most desirable because they are closest and therefore have the cheapest commute. Mainland jobs along bus lines that meet the ferry are next. Any job that involves taking the car onto the ferry every day adds thousands of dollars to the cost of keeping the job. That’s one reason why I’ve tried to build a business from home. Jobs much farther away necessitate selling my home or making so much that I can afford two places. The more I have to make, the fewer options I have.

Social life has its pluses and minuses. I love the community here, partly because there is community here. Life in suburbia diluted the expectation that people living near each other could care about each other, though maybe that was from a poor choice of neighborhoods. In suburbia I had friends who were next door neighbors, but I might not know the person two doors down. On Whidbey I live in overlapping communities of varied interests peopled by interesting people who are also interested in me. (Second Saturday Dance!) The degrees of separation are at most two. Good news travels fast. Gossip travels faster. Support in crises arrives in unexpected and heartfelt ways. People care about each other because we are all our mutual support network. I am generalizing, but the reality is that the majority of the time the support is impressive. But the community is limited so many single folks decide to only date mainlanders to avoid the gossip, and in some cases have actually moved off the island to find a new social scene. I met one woman who made the opposite trip to my place from mainland. We stood on the deck looking at the view. She loved it, paid me a few compliments, and eventually told me that I lived too far away.

The Open Studio Tour has brought geography to mind every time I blog, tweet, post, or email about it. I’m Number 1! I’m number 1 because no artist lives farther south than me. Go the map, check out #1, and notice that I’m so far south that I’m closer to Edmonds than I am to Langley. I’m closer to an artsy town on the mainland than I am an artsy town on the island. Being number 1 is good news, for the folks who start tours at #1; but, this is an art tour and art people aren’t necessarily that methodical. Nice to get the exposure. Hope I get the visitors. Come on by and visit me and my art.

I made this house my home because of its location. The house is small. The view is impressive. I bought the view. Location was important. I paid under $300,000 and have a view of almost the entire Olympic Mountain range, with a few houses cropping into the frame. A better location would have an unobstructed view, and a much higher price tag. I bought an impressive view and walk to magnificent views. Such is a simple, frugal choice. I consider this geographically desirable, and am confident that the house will sell because others that value views will think so too.

When I rode across America on a bicycle (Just Keep Pedaling) and when I walked across Scotland (which I hope to publish by Christmas) I learned that every place is desirable and not. I live in America, though the mainstream is held back by a moat called the Sound. There are things I love about this country; especially, our system of government and our acceptance of immigrants and innovators. There are things that make me wonder about other possibilities; especially health care and social responsibility. My life is in such flux from stock portfolios, my business, job applications, and possibly moving that I keep in mind that I could end up anywhere on the planet. Fortunately, I like this planet; though there are places I wouldn’t buy a house. A South Pacific island sounds sweet, but waterfront there may soon be underwater in a very wet sense as the oceans rise. Maybe I’ll become a nomad and explore.

As I wrote this a fellow island photographer called. John Pendleton knows that I need shipping tubes for the translucent satins I sell. Everything on the island tends to cost more than usual because it has to be shipped here. Someone shipped too many shipping tubes and he found a stash that’s 80% off. Unfortunately, the tubes and I are geographically undesirable. We are separated by forty miles and an hour’s drive. The gas would cost $18 and I’d spend two hours of my time to save, well, just about $18 considering how many tubes I need. The more valuable thing was the call. By the end, he’d agreed to help spread the word about the Tour, and I’d spread the word about the tubes. Whether these are big or small things, they are definitely desirable.

Sure, there are things about living on an island that are undesirable, but you know how I’m going to end this post. Of course, I think it is desirable. The ready reminders of nature and passionate people without a lot of distractions provides a perspective that is healthy and reassuring. I couldn’t find that in the light, noise, and density that is suburbia. Maybe now that I recognize it I could, but if I can I’ll stay here where it is open, available, and free. Now, if only I could find a way to pay the bills too. That would be highly desirable. Let me check my lottery ticket.

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My Jobs Report Month 13

Posted on September 29, 2012 by Tom Trimbath

Really? Month 13? Welcome back to my job search. For those late to the series step back to last month’s report. This is getting ridiculous. No. It isn’t getting ridiculous. It is ridiculous. For more than a year I’ve been looking for work. No, someone said. I should say I am looking for a job. No, someone said. I should say I am looking for money. I’ve got more than enough work, and I have more than enough jobs; what I don’t have is enough money. But the work and jobs I have are self-created. They may eventually create enough money, but until they or some other source does, I’ll apply for jobs so paychecks can take pay my bills and debts, and maybe restore a financial cushion. Something good is going to happen, but I don’t know what it is.

Something good almost happened. Last month’s interview for a sweet job went well. I heard lots of encouraging words before, during, and after. And then I heard that I didn’t get the job. In the job market, second place is the same as last. That was my most encouraging lead and it was for a half time job. So far I’ve only had one interview for a full time job, and that was partly because he wanted to meet the guy with the incredible resume. But, I lacked two skills they required, so he thanked me for my time.

A few other good things are in various stages of progress. Most of them are not full time either, but maybe enough of them will add up to enough. A suite of jobs is a occupational version of the diversity I champion in investing.

I’ve finally found at least a couple of sources for contract engineering work. One speculation has been that, despite my resume, no company wants to hire someone in their mid-fifties because they probably won’t be there for more than a decade. Company plans assume such stability even if they rarely experience it. But contract engineers fill the gaps, take the jobs no one else wants, and live with the expectation of a temporary situation. That’s one reason they also get paid better. That works for me. The problem has been finding the right firm. Feel free to add to my list. There are some jobs that make full time engineers moan. Wind tunnel tests are remote sites can mean working long shifts for weeks or months far away from home. Travel? Wind tunnel testing? Watching the reality of data contradict the expectations of theory? Sign me up!

A few of my earlier contacts have also re-affirmed that they are keeping me in mind for other part-time or non-engineering contract work. Diversity, even career diversity, produces many paths. Diversity is valuable because it means more doors can open. Here I stand, waiting for those that have the keys.

Yet, I don’t stand and only wait on others. I make my own keys, doors, and paths. If I can act and move, I do. My art has kept me busy, and even made some money. Twelve Months at Double Bluff is finishing its premiere exhibition at Raven Rocks Gallery in Greenbank. Next week is the Whidbey Island Open Studio Tour (#WOST2012), so whatever doesn’t sell at the gallery comes home to join the previous years’ work. The Tour will be the first, and possibly only, time all five years of photographs will be on exhibit in the same place at the same time. Yesterday the first copy of the book for Twelve Months at Double Bluff was delivered. (The quickest, cheapest, and easiest way to get a copy is to buy online.)  That makes 11 books produced since I self-published my first, Just Keep Pedaling, in 2002. Last month I held my first Social Media class. Next month I may teach my last Modern Self-Publishing class, at least for a while. Amidst all of that I had my best and most enjoyable month for consulting. People and ideas are my passion – and it’s because they are fun! And because it is so much fun to help. (Are you a person? Do you have ideas? I’ll be happy to help. Check my rates.)

There’s other good news too. I know very few people who are unemployed with no source of income. I continue to encourage people to interview for my Find A Friend A Job (#FAFAJ) part of this blog, and am not finding many takers. People are getting jobs. Well, not everyone.

I spend a lot less time watching the stock market. I continue to prefer the strategy I described in the book behind this blog, Dream. Invest. Live. Long Term Buy and Hold (LTBH), worked for many years, and continues to work for others. I feel that my situation is partly produced by extraordinary bad luck. My lack of interest in the market is based on my lack of funds in the market. Each day that goes by without a source of income means dozens of shares have to be sold. I partly attribute my portfolio’s poor performance on the psychology of fear within the market. In such an environment, small companies suffer. Big companies are sitting on over $1,000,000,000,000 in cash and liquid assets. That’s enough to boost GDP, hire millions, upgrade, innovate, and expand. They eventually will, but unless I find a source of money soon, it will all be moot to me.

Let’s not forget about my collaborations. Maybe it is because of the uncertain economy, or because people no longer trust regular corporate employment, but my list of collaborations continues and progresses. People are becoming more entrepreneurial. Unmet needs are creating opportunities and people are pursuing them as second jobs or backup plans. I’ve been building my backup plans for years, and I’m glad I did even if they haven’t gained sufficient traction yet. Imagine the situation I’d be in if I hadn’t produced a book a year, started a five year photo essay when I didn’t need to, or started teaching classes because it was fun and I wanted to help other creatives. All of that work has led to greater exposure, an impressive network (which may find me a job independently), larger workshops, and an expanding consulting business. If two or three of those collaborations succeed I’ll have found jobs by creating them. Considering the list, some of them could succeed so well that they’d create hundreds of jobs. As usual, funding is the key. (As I gaze longingly at the $1,000,000,000,000 described above . . . )

I don’t know where this is all heading. Does anyone know exactly how their life will play out? Each day a path is before me. I follow along as best I can.

If you have a map, feel free to pass it along. If you’re up around the next corner, holler back so I know you’re there. If you think you’re the only walking through the wild places, come join me. We’ll get there, where ever there is.

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I Am Number 1

Posted on September 26, 2012 by Tom Trimbath

I am number 1! Yes! That hasn’t been the case lately. Lately I’ve been #2 at best, and in job searches coming in second is the same as coming in last. But this year, just like last year, I am number 1 on the map for the Whidbey Island Open Studio Tour. Geography helps. I live near the southern tip of Whidbey and the Tour organizers had to start somewhere. They started with me. Excellent. The Tour exists so art enthusiasts can visit artists in their studios, and so artists can interact with the enthusiasts where the art can be described, exhibited, explained, and demonstrated. Oh yeah, and sold. The Tour is also an opportunity to see the wide range of lifestyles, types of success, and challenges that keep artists from being easily stereotyped. The Tour is populated by fascinating people and can’t be dull. But it is free! (October 6th & 7th See link for details – in case you didn’t plan to read the rest of this post.)

The world is becoming more artistic. People are expressing themselves more. Part of the reason for the wealth of expression is the ease with which people can create things now. The growth is easiest to see in publishing words, pictures and music as the digital revolution sweeps through books, movies, and music. Fill a computer with lots of bits, spend a lot of time (though maybe not much money) rearranging them, and then reformat them for paperbacks, e-books, YouTube, or iTunes. I’m glad to watch it happen as I teach classes in self-publishing, or consult with creatives who are producing stories in a variety of formats. I think the Tour has become more engaging because the art enthusiasts are more engaged, and more appreciative of other artists now they’ve created something of their own. Oil painters, sculptors, weavers, ceramicists, et al have not been replaced with reordered electrons. Their creations, efforts, and perspectives are necessarily unique and interesting, and why I enjoyed taking the Tour when I could.

My story, and my stop on the Tour, are unique too. My studio is really just my living room reconfigured to accommodate 100 to 200 visitors over the weekend. My real studio is the waterline along Whidbey Island. For five years I’ve photographed the overlooked nature, as one person put it, “the everyday beauty that the locals see through the rest of the year.” I’ve produced twelve month photo essays at five places that encompass the island: Cultus Bay at the southern tip, Deception Pass at the northern tip, and three places inbetween: Double Bluff, Admiralty Head, and Penn Cove.  That is a lot of work and no gallery has the space to show all of it, but for two days people can see all of it. The Tour is one of the best chances to see my work as a complete story. Maybe someday I’ll rent a space like the Whidbey Institute and produce a very large exhibit with shows and music, but I’ll have to sell a lot of photos before I can afford a venue that nice.

Money wasn’t the main motivation when I started the series. I suspect that is true of most artists. Money was enough of a motivation that I wouldn’t have proceeded without it, but at that time I thought my stocks would suffice and that I could produce something no one else had produced: a large, organized body of work devoted to Whidbey Island. I had just completed something similar for the Washington Cascades (Twelve Months at Barclay Lake, Lake Valhalla, and Merritt Lake) though that was primarily narrative – and the inspiration to pursue my photography.  In both cases I saw that I could chronicle more than a sunny Saturday in August and show from one perspective one of Nature’s cycles across a variety of environments. No one else had done that in the Cascades or on Whidbey. I thought Nature deserved a broader voice. I could use mine, so I did. Then the economic turmoil hit, my net worth crashed, and the money motivation rose.

Despite my need for money (yep, it’s getting tight here folks) I didn’t abandon the effort. I continued taking the pictures, paying to have them processed and printed, and publishing the gift books – oh yeah, and paying for my space on the Open Studio Tour. Any scrimping happened after the story was collected in camera. I’m not printing as much or as large. Like I said above, I’m not renting a space for a grand gala (though the premiere of Twelve Months at Double Bluff was nicely hosted by the folks at Raven Rocks Gallery, where the exhibit is up until October 3rd.) I’ve even had to hold back on the main goal, which was to produce a book of Whidbey photos, printed on Whidbey, and handbuilt on Whidbey by Whidbey book artists (a few are on the tour).

The other artists’ stories are as unique and varied. Some have international acclaim. Some seek only to express themself or a message and are on the Tour to show others how to unleash expression too. I’ve seen studios that are larger than my house, and small spaces shared by trios that must work in shifts. Each has different motivations, histories, and goals.

One reason I write is because much of the public discourse uses stereotypes and generalizations. That’s true about Nature and it’s true about people. Debates – Oops that’s the wrong word. True debates don’t happen anymore. Commentaries and conclusions are based on abstractions. Are all artists starving? Of course, not; though I know some whose life savings are the dollars in their wallets. Are all artists eccentric? No more than the rest of the population, though many in more corporate environments cover eccentricity with facade. Artist is a word and therefore has a definition, or at least suggests a distinction. It seems to me that artists are just like anyone except they are more willing to compromise the conventional aspects of an expected life to express something they think needs to be expressed. The expression and the need usually aren’t monetary, and frequently aren’t narcissistic. Many artists feel they are expressing something undefinable that wants to be expressed, and the artist feels humbled and honored to be part of the process.

Ah, such noble goals, but we all live in a reality as well, and in this society within this reality money is important. So is food and so are bills, and even the fanciest studio may not have had many sales these last few troubled years. Don’t forget to bring your checkbook. Most of us can’t afford credit card machines, or at least don’t have them in our living rooms or spare rooms.

I enjoy the Tour. Check out my posts from last year when I chronicled both days (Saturday, Sunday), a much easier task than producing Twelve Month essays. (Can you believe it? I’ve done these for eight years in a row!) Of course I enjoy sales. My mortgage company appreciates them more. But my passion is neither photography nor writing. My passions are for people and ideas. For two days I play host to dozens or hundreds of people who drop by to share ideas. As they ask me about me and my art, I ask them about them and their lives. I may be number 1 on the map, but that’s true for each of us, and I enjoy finding that map within each person. While you enjoy meeting my art, I enjoy meeting you. Come on by.

Oh yes, and returning visitors know to look for other large piece of art. I painted my deck again.

And don’t forget, there’s a piece of art with a large price tag out front. My home is for sale. Buy that piece of art and I can make a lot more art, or at least pay a lot of bills.

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Query Can Anyone Be President

Posted on September 22, 2012 by Tom Trimbath

Hello folks, and welcome to new category within my blog: Queries – the place where I ask questions and ask for answers. I wanted a forum that was more open than facebook, Google+, LinkedIn, or Twitter; so, at a friend’s suggestion I will post them here.

Today’s earlier blog (The poor are Undercapitalized) inspired a train of thought that is headed along some rails that have an unknown destination. Civic and social matters interest me more than politics and they all meet at core principles. So, join me as I ask for answers.

Request for answers (data preferred): What can one person do? Not one person representing an organization, but what can one person do? Can anyone become President?

What is the minimum amount of money and time required for an individual to meet the minimum requirements to run for President of the United States? Is it possible for one person to get on enough ballots to win the Electoral College considering time constraints and logistical hurdles like flying to each state to acquire signatures? Are there fees involved, and if so what do they total? We say that any citizen born in the US can become President. But I suspect that is only true if they are part of a organization and have access to significant resources. Did we therefore sometime deviate from the core principle that “anyone can become President” and replace it with “anyone can become President if they are rich and well-connected” or have we maintained our principles? Pointing back to my earlier post, “Can a poor person become President?”

Data would be appreciated.

My blog inspired my thoughts. Life can be circular, but I hope this leads somewhere.

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The poor Are Undercapitalized

Posted on September 22, 2012 by Tom Trimbath

I hate to admit it but a politician (Mitt Romney) got me thinking.

But first, mentioning the name of politician amidst today’s inclimate discourses requires disclosures. No. I don’t follow politics. But there’s no way to avoid hearing about it until after the election. Yes. I vote. “We the People” doesn’t have any meaning otherwise. And. No. I am not an R or a D. I am an extreme moderate I. I am certain (extreme) that the practical solutions require compromise (moderate) and that none of the parties represent my philosophy (independent).

OK, back to my necessarily interrupted first paragraph. Mitt Romney got me thinking about the 47% which for me reinforced the anniversary of the 1% & the 99%. Romney and Occupy made me think about the delineations we have within our society. We are proud to be a democracy, though really we are a republic, and we’re frequently labeled as capitalistic. If the delineations are based on money, then maybe we are emphasizing the last of those labels instead of the ones that started the country. Which got me thinking. If we are becoming primarily capitalistic and yet operating from our Constitution (Happy Anniversary there too), is there a way to use that to help “We the People“? Conventional Wisdom declares that one of the ways businesses succeed is to begin by being adequately capitalized. That suggests that the secret to our nation’s success could be adequate capitalization. The poor are undercapitalized. There are solutions for that, aren’t there?

The American Dream includes the concept of the self-made success. Someone with nothing can try to become whatever they want. That continues, but at stockholders meetings, in the news, and even in some personal contacts I see evidence that we are attaining a stratification similar to what we tried to escape when we revolted against England. If the rich were rich all of their life they don’t understand the poor. If the poor have never been rich they can’t understand the rich. My favorite insular wealth anecdote is the suit at the stockholders meeting that was complaining about his water bill. It was far too high. Of course it was for one of his vacation homes, the one where he had the landscapers install a rich, green lawn  in the desert. He was required to attend the meeting but he just stood in the back socializing. His level of passion appeared far out of proportion to the plight of people outside the building. I also know folks that have never had much and who can’t understand why people with money could have any problems.

I started near the bottom, having to sell my textbooks to pay the graduation fees; then prudently saved and invested and becomed a millionaire (DINKs have potential); and now am in the midst of a wild slide to a near-zero net worth as a consequence of a confluence of bad luck. (If you want more details, buy my book Dream. Invest. Live. and then read more of my blog.) If nothing else, my experiences have provided me with many personal perspectives and introduced me to people all along the delineations.

A steady income that pays a bit more than the bills is a wonderful thing. Someone with zero net worth can live a long and healthy life if their basic needs and a few luxuries are affordable. “Enough” liquid assets is a wonderful thing. “Enough” being a large enough asset portfolio to either draw down or to use to produce a sufficient and steady enough income. I’ve seen why the first million is the toughest, and how compound interest can take over magnificently. Combine a steady income and a large enough portfolio and ease is possible – but not assured. Money and emotions can be tied together, but good emotions don’t make money and money can’t buy truly good emotions. Money is external. Emotions are internal.

The American Dream provided for the possibility of the self-made success by allowing anyone to own their own business and live their own life. A successful citizenry would create a successful country. One of the tenets of business is that sufficient capitalization makes success much more likely. If the poor are poor, maybe it is because in general they are under-capitalized. If the American Dream is based on self-made success, and success is enabled by sufficient capitalization, then perhaps it follows that providing sufficient capitalization to those who don’t have enough would be an effective way of improving the monetary and emotional wealth of our nation.

The Occupy Movement voiced discontent, disillusion, and even disgust with the current system. They defined the distinction between the 1% and the 99%. It is catchy, but I think it has the same problem as any generalization. There are billionaires who live humbly and give generously. (Hey Steve, where’s that link on your blog about the frugal billionaire?) There are people in the 99% that are unethically taking advantage of the system, but it isn’t 47%. Some of the Occupiers want to eliminate the current system. I know many folks that would love to find an alternative economy that wasn’t based on currency. As in any movement, many of the Occupiers would probably be satisfied with keeping the existing system, but changing it. Our Constitution even acknowledges the need for regular change. My current situation would change dramatically if currencies vanished, and that is true for everyone except those that never had currency. Merely reinstating certain financial regulations would greatly restore my confidence in the stock market, though I can’t begin to reinvest until I find a steady enough income or a large enough asset portfolio.

My business, with its many ventures, is undercapitalized. Mostly that is because for years it was secondary to my main source of financing, which was my portfolio. When my portfolio grew enough I looked forward to funding my business better, but at the time the returns from my portfolio had much greater potential than the returns from my business. I put the money where it could return the greater investment. Oh well, welcome to the risk part of risk and reward. Many of the ideas I have are stymied by lack of funds. It takes money to make money and much of my money vanished as almost every stock in my somewhat diversified portfolio dropped by more than half. (My Semi-Annual Exercise) Things are beginning to turn around, partly because I’ve finished my five year project of photographing Whidbey (shop online or at Raven Rocks (until 10/3) or at the Open Studio Tour (10/6-10/7));  and partly because the word is getting out about my consulting business. (Two recent quotes: “That was amazing!” and “It’s all Tom Trimbath’s fault.“) As for those other ventures, well, they may succeed too, if I can find sufficient funds. (And yes, I am checking out Kickstarter, etc.)

I suspect my subconscious has been considering this ever since the poverty numbers came out for Washington State. I was surprised by the following data (which I subsequently posted in facebook.)
“In Washington state, the estimated poverty rate increased from 11.5 percent (774,000 residents) to 12.5 percent (854,000 residents) between 2010 and 2011.”
From Wikipedia: Population of Seattle = 620,778
In Washington State more people are living in poverty than are living in Seattle. Picture it. We could empty Seattle and Tacoma, fill it with those living in poverty and still have to find room for 20,000 more people.

Seattle is a powerful city. Imagine the potential impact of adding another Seattle to Washington State. Imagine the impact across the country if the idea spread. We invested hundreds of billions to help out industries and institutions. Why not do that for undercapitalized people? We wouldn’t be worrying about the poor. We’d be celebrating the We Aren’t Poor Anymore.

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Free Fridge

Posted on September 19, 2012 by Tom Trimbath

A second piece of good luck came my way. The first was a free iPad back in July. The second was a free fridge last week. Tangible good luck. I needed that. In the last couple of years there have been very few offers that sounded too good to be true. There have been too many events that turned out to be too bad to be true, yet they were. Ah, but good news begins to filter through. It is hard to believe, but believe I will, that good times will return. I have a big, white, daily reminder sitting in my kitchen.

This small house is the best home I’ve known. A couple of years ago it looked like I’d soon be able to give it the treatment its 45 year old self deserved. DNDN was bouncing along at $40 as if it wanted to pop another $20, as soon as earnings were announced. AMSC was massively successful in China because of the wind power industry, and AMSC’s main division was about to enter the marketplace. MicroVision finally launched a product and the updated and profitable version was due out within months. If all of those succeeded I could hire prime architects and customize this home to me. If two of them succeeded I could afford major upgrades with a wonderful level of comfort. If one of them succeeded, or if any of my other stocks succeeded I’d be able to pay the bills and launch into a series of DIY projects. The roof and updating the fireplace would have to wait. Regular readers know that none of them succeeded. What were the odds of that? What were the odds that they would all succeed? I hadn’t expected that either. But I had dreamed, visualized, imagined that possible future.

My home is for sale because the financial litany continues outside my portfolio. I’d like to fix up the house to make it easier to sell, and as a courtesy to the next owners. I’ll do some painting. Sorry folks, but that’s what I’ve got. And then I got a facebook message from a friend. She’d just received a free fridge. The topic sounded like something that should have been caught by the spam filter, but it was legit. I did nothing. Then she posted her story on her facebook wall. I did nothing. My kitchen is so old that it is so small that I can’t find appliances to fit. That’s why the renovation would be so expensive. Walls would have to be moved. Surely they couldn’t find a replacement for my fridge. Then I won an iPad and thought maybe good things can happen again. I called. (Appliance Recycling Center of America 1-877-341-2314, which seems to be operating the program for Puget Sound Energy)

It is an interesting program. Old refrigerators are inefficient. That’s no surprise. The power drain on one household may not be much, but there are so many in the area that the local power company realized the old fridges required their own power plant. Replacing every old (more than 20 years old) fridge for free was cheaper than building a new power plant, and was a lot simpler too. Site selection, environmental impacts, community engagement, and the risks inherent in construction were much more complicated than giving things away for free. Okay. Sign me up. The light switch was broken years ago. (I strung LEDs on the inside with a battery pack on the outside.) And it’s been making weird noises for a while.

They sent out an inspector. That makes sense. He had a two hour drive, got stuck in the ferry line for over an hour, was led astray by his electronic navigator (that didn’t know the bridge was out) to finally find my address. He walked in, said hello, opened the refrigerator door, said “Yep, its old enough.”, handed me a piece of paper, pleasantly said good bye, and left for his two hour drive home. His time and gas alone probably added up to a few hundred dollars.

A few weeks and a few missed phone calls later, two delivery guys arrive on time, measured a few things, took out the old fridge (bye!), rolled the new one into place, and happily headed home for what I guessed was more like a three hour drive through Seattle’s rush hour. How much more did that cost? The business side of me continued to calculate and ponder.

Before they left we learned one thing. The fridge fit in so many ways, except for opening the door. The aisle is too small. But, hey, that’s a small price to pay for free. Imperfection gladly accepted.

As I dutifully filed away the warranty and paperwork I came across the price tag. They’d given me a $720 fridge. That about two years of electric bills. I guess years of payments had merely been an appliance replacement savings plan. (I wonder what else I’ve been paying into all these decades.)

Situations like that are fodder for pundits. It would be easy to highlight the imperfections and argue that the program doesn’t make sense, but it does.

There are so many people and houses that any program has to choose between occasional inefficiencies or pervasive micro-management. Accepting imperfections can be far cheaper than guaranteeing that every action is financially reasonable. The bureaucracies that we complain about exist because someone complained about imperfections. We attempt to impose perfect order on an imperfect world. Perfect public systems sound like good ideas until we’re sent back to the beginning of the line, or back to menu #1, or put on interminable hold because we didn’t fill out every box exactly correct.

I’m glad and surprised to see such wisdom come out of the local utility. Thank you Puget Sound Energy.

What are the odds that such a program would exist? What are the odds that my string of bad luck has finally turned? I don’t know, but I do know that on certain days, like last week when GERN went down 50%, or when I heard that I didn’t get the nice job in downtown Langley, it is nice to have a tangible piece or two of good luck. The tangible good luck reminds me of the intangible good luck that pervades the rest of my life: community, health, friends, family, and experience.

So, I asked the universe and powers that be for something tangible, and it was delivered. I was thinking in terms of cash, you know, so I could pay all of my bills. After the fridge was delivered I realized that almost all money now is electronic. Does that mean that money isn’t tangible, and that wealth isn’t tangible? Okay universe, either in cash or in the appropriate intangible, I need enough to maintain, sustain, and eventually thrive in my life. That’s called living.

Life continues to surprise. As the delivery guys moved out the old fridge, a piece of art was found. Now, I am curious. Who was Kelly O’Shea and does she want her art back? Help find Kelly O’Shea. Maybe she needs a tangible bit of good news. (#findkellyoshea)

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Social Media For Artists In Action

Posted on September 15, 2012 by Tom Trimbath

Yes, I mean “in action”, not “inaction”. Here we sit, my class and me producing a set of example posts proving that we’ve learned how to post, link, share, and have fun. Say hello to Hope Ryder and Kristiana Nielsen. Ok, time for me to jump back into instructor mode.

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Mumbling Through

Posted on September 14, 2012 by Tom Trimbath

Watch the old Popeye cartoons. Skip the regular dialogue and try to follow what he says between the lines. There’s a lot of mumbling going on. A friend is amidst dark and empty times and described moment-by-moment existence as “mumbling things through”. In the darkest times what else is there to say? All we can do is mumble through. I know the feeling. It was late. We were chatting on facebook. I went to bed; and the wordsmith in my head turned on and played with the rest of the alphabet. Evidently these are ‘umbling times. (Insert your favorite ‘umble letter: f, m, h, t, r, j, b)

My story goes back to fumbling wealth by trying to be prudent, trying to reach consensus, then getting a divorce, then buying a home at the wrong time (financially), then trusting to institutions, rationality, networking, and hard work. What I need and could use is more good luck; like those fumbles in football that result in touchdowns.

I am living a very humbling experience that challenges conventional wisdom and pithy sayings. I watch the political parties from the periphery because their platitudes sound hollow and false. Great credentials can be a hindrance. The courage to engage in passionate and adventurous ways of life can feel silly if they don’t work. Successes spawned by passions are great stories, but the term “starving artist” exists because there are so many examples of passions pursued that end in struggle. Parents advice about day jobs is based on experience. Listening to the litany of “I told you so”s or “What you should’ve done”s is half of a moot conversation that is frequently endured.

A course of inauspicious events tumbles a person. Where there was an expectation of a solid step, there was instead a slippery board. Reach to a structure for support, and the arm finds a door or a window instead of a beam. String those together for months and the video is slapstick and a pratfall that will be funny from a distance or in retrospect.

Stress builds and rumbles are audible. Some people think I am hungry, but usually when they hear my stomach it is not from lack of food but from lack of relief. Disappointment, regret, and worry must be sounded out sometime and somehow. If it isn’t through voice, at least for me it is through my gut.

Attempts at a variety of solutions leaves my head with a jumble of thoughts. Would’ve’s, Could’ve’s, Should’ve’s, swirl amongst themselves and through Will’s, Can’s, and Should’s. Failed plans and missed opportunities compete for attention with more plans and possibilities.  There are no probabilities because the success rate in the past has been zero, or not enough; and the success rate in the future is academic. There’s no way to know what bit of hard work, networking, innovation, serendipity, or good luck will finally win through. The possibility of never seeing success again is demoralizing, and makes it difficult to find confidence in any plan.

Bumbling happens, and is one way that people meet serendipity. Traveling without a plan, bumping into whatever appears, may be all that is left. If planning in the past hasn’t succeeded, maybe not planning is the thing to try. If doing the right thing is unsuccessful, maybe doing the wrong thing (in the right way) will succeed (so I’ve been advised.) Pick a general direction and intent, trust the universe, and see what happens along that path. A toe may get stubbed, or an elbow bumped, but a little less grace may allow much freer progress.

This is word play, but it is also a view into the shadowed aspects of many lives. People who just smile and say little because the answer to “How’s it going?” doesn’t fit into polite conversation. I do either depending on the day. Today’s not one of the better days. I missed out on a job that made me eager to say Yes. Many people assured me that I’d get it. Who else would have better qualifications? Evidently, someone.

This post is inspired by my stoic and dismayed friend, but my news for today brings these issues to mind with emotion instead of abstraction. As writers know, writing from the heart is different than writing from the head; so, I let it happen.

Coincidently, the entry level version of my old job at Boeing popped up in today’s job search. I applied. It also popped up last fall, and I applied, and I didn’t get it; but, maybe yet.

Tomorrow is my Social Media For Artists class. (Which is one reason I post this on Friday instead of Saturday.) The class was inspired by the Whidbey Island Open Studio Tour and even requested by a number of the artists on the Tour, but the only people who have signed up are writers from off-island. Drop-ins are welcome. Maybe a dozen people will show up at the last minute. If they do, I’ll try not to fumble the intro. Or mumble. And I’ll humbly thank them for attending. And deliver a hopefully coherent tumble of words, ideas, concepts, and stories. And we’ll see if my stomach rumbles. And we’ll try to keep the cords from becoming a jumble. And somehow we’ll bumble through. Evidently, it is what I do.

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Social Media For Artists

Posted on September 12, 2012 by Tom Trimbath

What do you do when someone calls you a name? Sometimes it makes sense to wear it. Someone called me a facebooker extraordinaire. Cool. What in the cyber-world is that? I doubt they gave it much thought, but I like it. My twitter following is growing slowly. No one knows what’s happening with Google+. LinkedIn has been intriguing, and has generated some interesting leads. My YouTube channel had some recent rapid success thanks to “Two Guys Walk Around Port Townsend“. My Klout score is 61, not that I really know what that means, but my score is in good company. And this blog continues to gain subscribers, generate more traffic, and extend its reach. Okay, maybe I’m not an expert but evidently I’m getting somewhere. So, thanks to the suggestions of some of the artists from last year’s Whidbey Island Open Studio Tour I’ve decided to teach a class in, “Social Media For Artists.” Hey, that makes me a teacher. That’s a familiar name.

If the social media universe appears overwhelming, then congratulate yourself on excellent perception. Check out this historic graphic, and I mean historic because it must already be out of date. If you want something more entertaining, look at xkcd’s version – and then look at the revision. The first is from 2007. The second is from 2010. They look fun, but they are actually accurate too. The areas represent the size of each community. I can’t find the Facebook patch in the 2007 version, and by 2010 MySpace has possibly vanished. I hope he maintains his three year cycle and updates it next year.

I don’t try to follow it all. I simply feed my accounts on facebook, Google+, LinkedIn, and twitter; ignore several other accounts that I was required to join for various temporary endeavours, and avoid diving into the rest until absolutely necessary.

But why do any of it? Scroll back a couple of centuries and ask, “Why go west?” One answer is, “Why not?”, but a more pragmatic answer is, “Because the frontier is inhabited by opportunity.” Americans and immigrants moved to the Western half of North America because where they were was too constrained and crowded. (By the way, about a fifth of my web traffic is international, so please pardon any unfamiliar geographic references; but, hey, everyone’s seen Westerns, right?) They looked for opportunity and freedom. They didn’t expect guarantees. They did expect hardship and hard work. Today’s frontiers are no longer geographic. Today’s frontiers are cultural and electronic.  The types of opportunities, risks, and work are different, but the impetus for artists, entrepreneurs, and businesses remains the same. People use social media to be social; but, the business models of the sites rely on commerce. Something is paying for those “free” sites. People have always mixed business with pleasure. Social gatherings are well known as places for networking and getting the word out. There is no black and white to social media, online or offline. There is a lot of opportunity available for little money and a bit of work.

Facebook, despite its fall from grace within the investment community, is still a $44,000,000,000 corporation. That’s $6 for every person on the planet. Whether I think the valuation is appropriate or not, (I prefer to invest in smaller companies, much smaller companies) FB’s price is one measure of how important social media has become. Another measure is the size of its community. There are over 900,000,000 accounts registered. Even if many of them are fictitious, the remaining ones exceed the population of the United States. One businessman was afraid that something they’d post would get out of control and be plastered across the accounts of tens of millions of strangers. Um, and in business, is that a bad thing?

Social media is appealing to me because it is appealing to a major portion of the population of the planet. For some reason, millions of people want to connect. That’s a good thing. A counselor helped me work through my divorce. I asked him if I was nuts or crazy. He chuckled and said neither. I just had a very thin support network. We all do, at least relative to a stereotypical fifty years ago. He pointed out that once upon a time stereotypically men would hang out in the local bar, or hunt, or fish to smoke, drink, and complain with each other. He pointed out that women stereotypically gathered for card games or afternoon teas and would do the same thing. Today is defined by No Smoking, and Don’t Drink and Drive, and Women in the Workplace, all of which are things to celebrate, but we haven’t replaced the support networks and connections we lost. I think I see a bit of that returning on facebook. Rants and raves are common. People find support.

Just like back in those mythical times, there are now places where we can announce small or large celebrations to friends, family, and acquaintances. Back then announcements went out to everyone within the range of a loud voice. News was limited by geography. Now, announcements may not reach the people next door, but will reach people drawn by similar interests and passions.

I use social media to talk about my art, my business, my volunteer work, my speculations, my observations, and much of my life. I don’t use social media for everything, just like I don’t walk into a crowd at a party and shout out intimate details about my life. There is an etiquette to social media because it is social.

I am glad we are getting together any way we can. Social media is particularly good for opening lines of communication without having to define those lines or pay for them. Posting something to this blog makes my contributions available to those who want them enough to visit my site. It is a pull more than a push. The people who engage are the people who want to engage. I like that a lot more than buying ad time to push a message.

Pull rather than push is why I think social media is good for artists. Artists create art that attracts attention. Artists are natural at creating pull. Social media is a natural tool for artists – if they know how to use it. Unfortunately, social media is created by technologists, not artists. The sites are created by businesses that may have different ideas about intellectual property, security, and privacy. It adds immense complexity to an overwhelming selection of possible sites. That’s why I keep it simple and that’s why I think there’s value in passing along a simple path that I think might work for many people.

Here’s the irony. I am teaching a class about Social Media for Artists and using social media to spread the word. That’s a bit like teaching telegraph operators how to use the telegraph. So, in a very social sense, I ask you to pass along the word to your friends, family, acquaintances, and compatriots who may not be electronically connected. We can enter this frontier one step at a time and follow a trail that already exists.

Here are the details.

Social Media for Artists

The seminar will describe the basics of how to get started – and how, why, and if to connect the various sites.
The workshop will be a working session so bring along your laptop. We can spend the afternoon tweaking sites and jumpstarting each other’s networks.

Social media is powerful, but it doesn’t have to be intimidating. Let’s remove a bit of the mystery.

September 15
Seminar: 9am – noon          Lunch: on your own          Workshop: 1pm – 4pm
Bell House in Freeland (contact me for directions)
Cost: $80

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