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Busmanā€™s holiday

What does a gallerist do on a snow-day? Hang my show, of course.
Dancing Santa, by Carol L. Douglas
Maine Gallery Guide ran this feature about my upcoming studio Open House yesterday. If you like the Maine scene (especially if you live away), you really should subscribe to their newsletter. Itā€™s the single best resource for our stateā€™s art scene. Hereā€™s a link to the sign-up page.
Meanwhile, my husband is fretting about the boxes and bags of stuff littering our house. ā€œYouā€™ve bought at least three times what you need,ā€ he frets. Parties are where my inner Italian, usually tamped firmly down, comes into play. Whatā€™s worth doing, is worth doing to excess, I tell myselfā€”and I buy more.
Part of the mess in my dining room.
No shindig is complete without the last-minute household disaster, and ours came in the form of a cracked chimney tile. This created the opportunity to move our woodstove from the kitchen to the dining room, where it has some chance of actually heating the house. We got the bad news two weeks ago and worked fast. Our mason opened the dining room wall last Monday, only to find a copper water line. All work stopped while we looked for a heating specialist to move the pipe.
Luckily, a young friend is coming to do the job on Sunday. Meanwhile, we have a hole in the dining room wall, and the rest of the room is a shambles. Whatever you do, donā€™t use our back stairs. The contents of our china cabinet are lined up on its treads. That staircaseā€™s primary function is as a laundry chute, so weā€™re on pins and needles. If we forget, weā€™ll shatter a lifetime of useless collecting in a single moment.
And more mess. I bought the wine totally for its name.
Yesterday the storm thatā€™s plagued the northeast this week finally showed up in mid-coast Maine. With so few people out, Sandy Quang left work early and stopped here to collect her mail. The poor young gallerist was about to enjoy a busmanā€™s holiday. She spent the afternoon and evening helping me hang my work. Sheā€™s much better at it than me, and she has the additional advantage of a fresh eye. By the time we finished, the snow had stopped. It was a beautiful night, the moon shining dimly through the clearing clouds.
Even though the studio is a mess, I took a video of it for Bobbi Heath. ā€œAre you posting that on Instagram?ā€ she asked. No; itā€™s a mess, and Iā€™m not very good at video. ā€œPeople love to see the sausage being made,ā€ she countered. Sheā€™s right; the two small videos I posted are being watched. Hereā€™s a link and a link if you are also an avid sausage viewer.
Happy New Year! by Carol L. Douglas

Which brings me to my two resolutions for the new year. First, Iā€™m going to learn to take a decent video. Second, Iā€™m going to master my email list. But Iā€™m always conflicted about email.

Yesterday I timed how many emails I was deleting. It was about 15 an hour, all asking me to donate money or to shop. That didnā€™t include the ones that ended up in my spam folder, which I watch carefullyā€”Bruce McMillanā€™s very fine Postcard of the Daywas landing there for a while.
You can meet the original of my 4-H Christmas Angel on Saturday. She’s presiding over my tree, as she does every year.
That overload makes me hate the medium. But itā€™s a necessary evil, Iā€™m afraid, at least until something better comes along.
Meanwhile, I hope to see youā€”in personā€”at my studio on Saturday. Here are the details, as if you could possibly forget them:
Carol L. Douglas Studio Open House
Saturday, December 7, 2019
Noon to Five
394 Commercial Street, Rockport

Welcome, you Bright Young Things!

Iā€™m having a studio party on December 7, but thereā€™s a hidden surprise.

Before I moved to Maine, I did studio open houses annually. The house was already cleaned for Thanksgiving and Iā€™d recruit my reluctant kids to help schlep paintings. Iā€™ve since moved from a county with a million people to one with under 40,000. If I throw a party, will anyone come?
Iā€™m sure the answer is a resounding yes, so Iā€™m opening my studio for a good old Jazz Age shindig on December 7 from noon to five. There will be cocktails and hors d’oeuvres, and because itā€™s the holiday season, sweets. And youā€”my faithful reader and friendā€”are invited.
Here are the details:
Carol L. Douglas Studio Open House
Saturday, December 7, 2019
Noon to Five
394 Commercial Street, Rockport
If youā€™re from away, you can get excellent rates at local motels this time of year. (I’d have you all stay over, but my house isn’t that big.) Maine is beautiful every day, so why not experience it on a winter weekend?
Midnight Sail from Camden Harbor, 24X30, oil on canvas, by Carol L. Douglas.

Now, for the secret. 

Have you wanted to get someone (or yourself) one of my paintings but never quite been able to afford one?  Iā€™m offering a few paintings starting this week at steep discounts. These are on a hidden page, which only my readers have access to.

Hereā€™s the link: Hidden Holiday Sale
I’ll be adding discounted paintings four per day from November 8 to November 15 (28 in all). These are discounted 30, 40, 50, even 60% off their list prices. Not only that, but postage to the US and Canada is included.
Hillside farm (The Logging Truck), oil on linen, 16X20, by Carol L. Douglas
Stop back daily, because I’ll be updating them every morning. I won’t start marketing them generally until after November 15. If you want to see them up close, send me an emailand Iā€™ll send you a full-size version of the image.
Why am I doing this? Thatā€™s going to be another surprise announcement, but hereā€™s a hint: big changes are in store for 2020 and I need the space. šŸ˜‰