The Studio Ledger. Or How Not to Sell Art to France.

Social media is great for pretending everything in the studio is a seamless success story. The reality of my last few days? A masterclass in how to fail in a perfect 3, 2, 1 countdown.

First, three full days of work vanished. I spent twenty hours painting, only to realize the panels were completely wrong. The fix? A thick, humbling coat of white gesso. Back to zero.

Then came the inbox double-whammy: two consecutive rejections from Open Calls I actually cared about. Classic.

But the crowning achievement was "The Frenchman." A highly sophisticated collector inquiring about my work with impeccable manners. I was halfway through calculating shipping to Paris before my internal radar went off. A phishing scammer. No art was sold, but plenty of time was stolen.

It’s easy to blog about the successes.  But sometimes the studio is just a loop of erasing mistakes, dodging internet pirates, and getting rejected by committees.

Tomorrow, the gesso will be dry. I’m mixing fresh paint anyway.