I am one (of a bazillion) of the folks who receive a bi-weekly e-mail from artist Robert Genn. Some of the letters are gems, and I really liked this one, so asked and received permission to share it here. I guess I liked it because what he suggests is similar to how I approach things. Here’s the letter:

Personal coach

September 28, 2007

Dear Sarah,

My friend Ralph, who doesn’t mind me talking about this, is way
out of shape. His personal coach, Alberto, is a ladder-chested
ex-lightweight boxer with blinding white teeth and lots of
hair. Alberto comes over to Ralph’s twice a week. Sometimes
they work out on Ralph’s expensive equipment. At other times
Alberto drives him in his beemer to an upscale gym. Personally,
I’d say Ralph’s still the same. Maybe not. Maybe he’s bigger.

“Tennis players got ’em, why not you?” Ralph says. He’d like me
to book Alberto, but Alberto’s booked solid, just one of many
solidly-booked Albertos around here.

It’s no surprise when people ask me to be their personal coach.
It happened again only yesterday. The lady was talking art, not
abs. Come to think of it, a lot of us buffs are in demand. So I
was thinking of all the inefficiency and disappointment that
must ride on Ralph and Alberto’s contract. And while I sort of
like the idea of tailored guidance, I rather wanted to offer a
more general workout. A sort of “Jenny Craig Success Course of
the Arts.” Mine’s free. Here it is:

Find a sanctuary where you can comfortably work.
Dedicate at least two hours a day to your art.
Have more than enough equipment and supplies.
Set short- and long-term goals and keep track of progress.
Think of your work as exercise, not championship play.
Explore series development and exhaust personal themes.
Work alone with the benefit of books and perhaps tapes.
Replace passive consumption with creative production.
Use your own intuition and master your technology.
Feel the joy of personal, self-generated sweat.
Fall in love with your own working processes.
Be forever on the lookout for the advent of style.
Try to be your own person and claim your rights.
Don’t bother setting yourself up for rejection.
Don’t swing too wildly and damage the well-being of others.
Don’t jump into the ring until you’re feeling fit.

If you can stick with this regimen for a couple of months, I
can pretty well guarantee your progress. If not, then at least
the exercise will let you know the job’s not for you. We all
have the potential to be slim, barrel-chested, rich, satisfied
or evolved.

Best regards,

Robert

PS: “……Yes, please go ahead and forward this letter to a friend.

If you think a friend or fellow artist may find value in this
material, please feel free to forward it. This does not mean
that they will automatically be subscribed to the Twice-Weekly
Letter. They have to do it voluntarily and can find out about
it by going to http://www.painterskeys.com

Well, if the President as head of the executive branch can give a State of the Union address, and since as quilters we are ALWAYS a bit curious (OK, almost voyeuristic) about other quilters’ studios, I thought I’d let you see what I’ve been up to this past week.

I have done a TON of paperwork on the book, writing to get permissions to use quotes, and so on, so seriously needed some creative time. Plus, Jan and Dwight P. (Jan is a friend and quilter, Dwight is her hubby and photographer) and I are having a small show at Zoot, the cool coffee house in town. That means I figured I needed to make some pieces for there that are not expensive (as in might actually sell and generate some much-needed income). When I finish one thing I tend to need to have a tidy attack and clear the surfaces so I can function. Then stuff piles up as I work. I guess I’ve been working. Here is the work table:

Here is the overflow (Gramma’s toaster table, immortalized in my Flying Toast quilt):

Here is the sewing machine cabinet:

And the doorknob:

Yes, busy. I have one more 6×6 piece to fuse up and quilt, then I need to paint all the canvases, mount all the pieces, add hanging sleeves to the ones that will not be mounted, add hanging apparatus, label them, take photos, re-size the photos for use on the website, price them (duh!), and be ready to sell them! I’ll blog them here and on my website galleries (think I’ll make a “small works” gallery for most of the ones mounted on canvas which I can then delete once the pieces have mostly sold). Even though they will be for sale at the coffee house, I’m definitely open to purchases that require shipping [grin!].

Woooohoooo! It’s official, and I can finally say so in public as I’ve just sent off the signed contract:

I’ll be teaching at the big AQS show in Paducah, Kentucky, this coming April! I still can hardly believe my luck. I won’t bore you with all the details, but in a nutshell Bonnie Browning happened upon my website on a Sunday, asked if I had submitted an application to teach for AQS, and if I hadn’t would I–by the next morning (!!!!), since they were going to select teachers for the 2008 shows (Paducah, Nashville and Des Moines) that coming week! Even better, she hadn’t put it together that the Sarah Smith of the classes was the Sarah Smith of the to-be-book for AQS! WELL, you know the results–and the class listing is below the photo!

I have a question for all of you (at the end of the post) about this picture and my new class:

Here’s what I’ll be teaching and when (tentative schedule…dates and times could change, but will be final when the catalog comes out). With the exception of Intro to Machine Quilting, which is my most popular class. Paducah REALLY likes 3-hour classes, which I don’t usually do, so I divided up some of my day-long classes into parts (for example, the two classes on Wednesday are the majority of my intro applique class).

Wednesday, April 23

AM- Looks Like Hand Applique (But Isn’t)

PM- I’m gonna see the show!

Evening- Chunk and Jigsaw Fusible Applique

Thursday, April 24

All day- Introduction to Machine Quilting

Friday, April 25

AM- Machine Quilting: Dabbling with Decorative Threads

PM- If You Can Write your ABCs, You Can Draw Your Own Designs

Saturday, April 26

AM- Nearly No Mark Machine Quilting

PM- All Star Review: Decorative Threads by Machine (a short demo session)

The “ABCs” class is a new one, and is an offshoot of my postcards class. Here’s the class description: “Most of us fear drawing, and we think we just can’t do it. Well, I have a secret I’ll share: if you can write the alphabet in block letters, you can draw and I’ll show you how. Once you’ve learned my way of using the alphabet to look at the world, translating shapes into applique or quilting designs is easy! Bring several pictures as starting points for you to create your own design with help from Sarah. The pictures can be of any subject matter that appeals to you: people, places, things, if you like it, bring it!”

Apart from the fact that I’m terrified and hope I’m not in over my head, do you think picture at the top illustrates the class description? Does it work? Could I make it better somehow? Any and all suggestions are MOST welcome!

And now, for something completely different:

If you have ever wondered what it would like to be a 4-th generation Maine Lobsterman, check out Ryan Post’s website and podcasts at :

www.MaineBuggin.com

and click on the links for Episodes 1 and 2 (Just below the photo of the cameraman in a red t-shirt) which are documentary-style videos of what it is like to be a lobsterman here in the far north-eastern corner of the US.  Ryan hopes to show what life is like as a lobsterman year-round, not just hauling up the traps when they are full.  You’ll probably need not-dial-up (as in something faster) internet to view the videos.

Paul (Hubby) and Eli (number 2 son) have come to know Ryan through their Isshinriyu karate with Sensei Pete Bishop. Ryan is one of the regulars in the dojo (currently the basement of the Offshore Restaurant, on Route 1 in Rockport….or is it Rockland that far down? No…think it is still Rockport). The denizens of the dojo are all really good guys, and amazingly accepting of this pint-sized kid working out with them (everyone there is an adult, and three black-belt and several ranking belts, yet they accept Eli, age 9 1/2, as one of their own).

Joshua’s girlfriend is from an old lobstering family, too, and it is wicked hard work. It is lucrative when you can get it, but income is sporadic, and of course no one is out hauling traps in mid-winter, so you need an off season job. She isn’t a jock, yet she is so strong that she can sometimes beat Joshua (who is on the wrestling team!) at arm wrestling, thanks to working on the boat (she’s the one who brought us the king’s ransom of four lobsters this summer, which I wrote about in my blogpost Lobster Homicide).

And yes, Maine really is that beautiful! And the colors on the buoys: each lobsterman is assigned a physical location in which he/she can set their traps, and each lobsterman has a particular color of buoy so they can tell which traps are whose. Enjoy!

Someone asked off list, so I thought I’d post here that Joshua, who had the horrific accident this summer when he got hit by a car… well, more like he hit the car while on his bike (the brakes failed and he couldn’t crank around the 90 degree turn at the bottom of the hill at that speed without crossing just over the line, and slammed into the front quarter panel of a Jeep going 35 mph). Here’s the boy on Sept. 23, with freshly washed hair:

Anyway, after five surgeries, two transfusions, two fasciotomies (slices up the side of his leg to alleviate swelling and save the leg), about 10 days on morphine, two skin grafts to close up the fasciotomies, and 21 days (!!!!) in the regional trauma center up in Bangor (90 minutes away…. we took turns spending the night up there, then coming home and walking dogs, cleaning litter box, etc), he came home with a rod the length of his thigh hammered into the center of the bone and an erector set screwed into his shinbones with six long screws/rods. After 3 days he decided the walker was a pain in the tush, so switched to crutches. Here’s a photo of his lower leg, with most of the hardware still in place and one of two scars. He was getting annoyed with me (so must be feeling like himself, a 13 year old boy!) so I didn’t get a pic of the other scar on the inside, which is a bit larger and “z” shaped).

By the time school began after labor day, he was able to attend an away-camp for 8th graders (he couldn’t do the cool stuff like climbing up a tree or going in the harness on the squirrel walk…a line 50 feet up in the trees …. he tried the latter, but the harness rubbed on a bolt at the top of his thigh that holds the rod in place and it hurt too much). While there, he decided the crutches were too much of a nuisance during the cafeteria line, so he just walked! A week later, the x-rays / c heck-up showed bone growth and enough improvement that the doctor took off one of the 3 vertical rods on the erector set, and said he things Joshua will be able to have the hardware removed in mid-to-late October (a sixth surgery). At that point they’ll take the pin at the top of his hip out, too, since it hurts him when he has to walk a lot.

About 10 days ago, he quit using the crutches entirely! And, most amazing of all (I think), the orthopaedic surgeon thinks Joshua will be ready to wrestle when the season starts in February! We’re planning on keeping the hardware (I am thinking wind chimes… perhaps hung from part of the mangled bike LOL!). And, he’s now a smidge taller than I am (he actually grew while he was in the hospital I think!), and I expect by Christmas may be taller than his dad!

And oh yeah: thank heavens for insurance! Through some angel’s hand, we switched from our previous 80/20 policy in January to the slightly more expensive Blue Cross federal (Paul as a federal retiree gets health insurance). Durned good thing. All the bills aren’t in yet, and there is one more surgery, but so far–since it was an accident–of the $150,000+ in bills (EEEEEK!) we have had a total of $200 in co-payments. If we hadn’t switched, we’d be taking out a second mortgage…..