I'm so excited - not only is my new calendar now available, but I've already made my first sale! I spent the day at mermaid swim practice - on only a few hours of sleep, so I'm completely exhausted - but the adrenaline kicked back in the moment I saw the sale. I love being productive, providing help to people, making gifts. This is who I am, someone who gives back to society, and friends, someone who creates art and builds functional accessories to complement my home. I need to do this all the time. Why is it so hard? Art is not properly respected in our world and that needs to change. Artists contribute so much. There is value in everything we do. We create fantasy to indulge in, we create beauty that so many take for granted. I grew up being constantly told that being an artist, dancer, writer, really anything creative, was a waste of time and I'd never be successful. But the most successful artists are the ones who are supported, and pushed, and carried through difficult, less financially lucrative times by the people who respect what they do. Imagine doing that all alone, with no support. Many artists do.
I'm looking forward to receiving my first custom designed mermaid tail; I crafted the design myself and I'm waiting for it to be printed and sewed. If it turns out the way I want it to, I'll be offering different tail designs on my website, www.tresordelamer.shop, as well as other mermaid accessories. I have so many colour and texture ideas and if I'd had more free time lately, I would've started the design work already. Lately its truly felt like there aren't enough hours in the day. Until this evening, after I returned home from the pool, I hadn't had a single day off in about 2 weeks. Each day was either filled with work or mermaid practice, or calendar design, or errands. I'm having a cosplay costume refitted and I've been traveling to the seamstress for fittings. It's a Victorian era dress I had custom made - a replica of the red dress Winona Ryder wore in Dracula in 1992. It's a highly complicated and coveted dress, and had been a bucket list item for me for years. There's no pattern for the dress, and it isn't a traditional cut, plus there's a lot of hand sewn detailing, so the seamstresses who have made it have always constructed their own patterns based on photos from the movie. That is a big task for regular gowns; the difficulty rises considerably when you attempt to re-create a dress that was originally custom made to begin with. My seamstress who made this gown did a wonderful job but the top part wasn't quite right, and she didn't want to fix it, despite the fact that I literally offered her an additional $1,000 to redo it. Fortunately the seamstress who is working on it now was very interested in the gown and the unusual design, and agreed to take the job. So far she's doing a terrific job.
Having multiple projects to keep me busy is so fulfilling. I have to be careful not to overload myself, which I almost did this year. I have another photo shoot coming up next week with Brandon and I'm really looking forward to getting in the water and being a mermaid model again. Sure I'll be freezing and dirty but our shoot will be a bit shorter this time. We have 2 locations planned, with abbreviated time in the water at each one. This will be our last shoot of the year [frowny face!] until we shoot in Mexico in January. I'm definitely excited about my first trip out of the country, the beautiful weather, and the warmth of the cenotes in Tulum. My freediving friend I've mentioned previously is currently in a tropical climate training for a competition, and the water there is between 79 and 85 degrees [F]. I need that!!! I have to stop myself from flying down there and joining him.
Mermaid photos from my shoot on November 1st are coming soon! Brandon has been swamped with work lately but he's almost got everything ready. They'll be up on the website as art prints for sale, as well as notebooks, phone cases, furniture, and of course our Trésor de la Mer Underwater Photography Calendar is now available as well. Calendars make great gifts, they're functional and decorative, so snag one for a friend or family member if you don't need one for yourself.
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