Fishing for bites and working cycles...

It is totally apparent to me that I don't blog nearly as much as I used to but let me assure you STUFF has been join on. Or STUFF is maybe going to happen. I feel like I go around in these working cycles. Sometimes you are heavy on the "making cycle" (which is my favourite cycle. It's the one where I work myself to the bone, I'm usually tired, dirty and smokey smelling and I sleep good at night.) Sometimes you are heavy on the "computery cycle". This one is sometimes my not so favourite cycle. It means lots of trawling the net, lots of emailing, lots of on line applications, lots of resizing images (sorry b train). All in all the computer cycle makes me feel like I am not really achieving anything and not much of a glass blower but at the end of the day I know it is a necessary cycle for success as it leads me to the next cycle; "the all lines in the water waiting for a bite cycle" which leads me to our present.

The "all lines in the water waiting for a bite" cycle can be a tricky one. It's where you have some awesome opportunities come your way but nothing is a solid. No contracts have been drawn, no deposit paid. The horrible part is that these opportunities still have the potential to not even eventuate. (Major soul crushing blow) They all kind of drift around, just out of your reach, and its tough because at the end of the day it's out of your hands and theres nothing more you can do. I think what makes it real hard is how excited you get. Lately I've had some really interesting emails come my way from what I like to think of as "Big Fish". Problem is I get way too excited as these really are just "nibbles" and what I need is a "bite". A big meaty, latched on, swallow the bait bite and real them in bite. Thats what I'm talking about.

And these nibbles they are not even induced by me throwing any burly out!! Thats what really cheeses me! THEY emailed ME! Yet somehow it takes them maybe two months to solidify something!! But you know what?, this is teaching me some valuable lessons when dealing with "Big Fish". When dealing with Big Fish you are not even a little fish yet! You are perhaps at best some potentially tasty seaweed that might be floating around on the sea bed of life. I guess unlike me where these things are a big deal, in reality for a big company this is just a minor glitch. But, that being said all is not lost. I think persistence is the key AND having many lines in the water at once. Don't rely on having just one thing on the go have many!! And this may backfire, you may have to give something up to do something else but at the end of the day, choice is a luxury. I very recently had to give up a residency. It was one of the hardest decisions I have ever made and I still don't know if it was the right decision but I feel that for the longevity of my practice it was the right thing to do. I have decided to pour all my efforts into the trade fair Life Instyle which runs at the end of July in the hopes that it will set my practice up for the following year. Oh yeah, forward thinking baby.

So as I sit here on Facebook, instagram and all other internetty things watching friends and colleagues doing all fun glassy things (Pilchuck, residencies, overseas classes) I feel a little sad but then I remind myself of all the nibbles I have been getting lately and something in me thinks that the time is now for me to be here in Melbourne working my little heart out, growing my business. (As much as I would love to be sculpting glass, drinking beers and generally having a good time at Pilchuck)

So lets hope that all my nibbles turn into bites and that brings us into the beloved sweet spot that is the "Making Cycle".