pangs of envy

Wednesday, May 23, 2012










































flowering crab / tulips / creeping phlox - a few things blooming in the terracotta gardens here at 29 Black Street

Envy aims very high

Ovid

It happens often, those pangs of envy. As I stumble, too frequently I suppose, around the wonderful maze of blogs & web sites of such amazing & talented creatives and there are so many of them. The competition is oh so stiff out there. It's design week in NYC and everyone who's anyone is there at Surtex & the Stationery Show. I'm having NYC & Surtex envy - it's a show I've been to (Spring 2001) and I've wanted to show at since I started my own business in Fall 2001 (wow 10 years ago!). The other day I was stung by some particularly sharp pangs of envy, extremely impressed by the young, tres talented illustrator Sarah Watts - not only by her talent & ability, but by her togetherness & her incredibly well thought out & beautifully made marketing & promotional materials. It's a tough field I'm playing in. It's the best time ever to be a creative person & it's the toughest time ... in that there's such a stunningly vast array of extremely talented work happening out there. When stung this day by the big envy bug I did something I rarely think to do. I stopped and asked myself what exactly I was envious of ... what specifically was causing the sting ?? Smart questions, I thought because it was difficult to pin point exactly what I was envious of. I am pretty content at the moment with this year's progress & I'm still figuring out what exactly I want to do & where I want to go with my creative/work life and that's OK. Thankfully May & June are chock full of projects heading me in the right direction + I'm making some money & paying some bills doing what I love while I sort out in my ever active head ;-) what comes next.

Nothing sharpens sight like envy

Thomas Fuller

7 comments:

  1. Hey there;

    I can't believe the saturation of colours you're getting with your new camera! Are you running them thru a P'shop filter or anything, or are they straight RAW images from your camera? Inquiring minds want to know...
    xo - n

    ps: working on re-typing up the manuscript(s). will get it to you asap, i promise. faster than it took me to get the spices to you, hopefully!

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  2. Hey n. - that's just the camera - it's amazing & I LOVE it !! looking forward to manuscript

    (n. wrote a children's book & I'm going to take a stab at illustrating it - hooray for collaboration !)

    hey n. how's that blog coming ?!? would be so great if you had an online presence ...

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  3. Envy...oh such a good topic. Something I am trying to learn to deal with and figure out. I get it really badly some days.

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  4. Hi Leigh ! I think it's helpful to try and uncover more specifically what the "envy" feelings are all about. When I really began asking myself those questions I was surprised to find I wasn't nearly as envious as I first felt. I think envy is like many of those dark emotions - that can suddenly rush in & flood you with feeling. Much like anger, sadness, worry or fear often those feelings take over your body before your brain has a chance to say "wait a minute - do I really feel this way ? & if so. How come ?"

    Feelings are not facts ! Uh ! Huh !! a tres stunning revelation to me still xo S + Gang

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  5. I don't think you have anything to be envious of dear talented lady.

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  6. many thanks & much love sweet Yoli xo S + Gang

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  7. Nice job figuring out how to shelve the pangs of envy. I really loved this post, it is so relevant to what artists go through consistently, but, as is is said: "comparison is the thief of joy"(I think that is the quote!) Take care.

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