top of page
Writer's pictureAuthor Bruce Shields

Baby, It's Cold Outside


Firstly, this is the view I would love to have from my home office window, but it is not. Secondly, I do love the view I do have of Northern Michigan, but it is mostly wooded where I live. Today, January 10th, 2021, is very cold. We are going to have a high of 13º F today (it is 7º F right now) and a low of -1º F. That is pretty darn cold. with the wind chill factored in it feels like -8º F right now.


My plans for today have changed since I scheduled my time a few days ago. I no longer want to spend the day working in the mall moving things around. The antique mall my wife and I own are closed for the next few days because of winter hours, and I usually take advantage of this time to clean and re-arrange products to make the shop look great. However, this weather will make it miserable unless I kick the heat up, which I really hate to heat the entire mall just so I can work in there.


I have decided to wait until tomorrow when it will be at least 10º F warmer, and I won't have to turn the heat up as much. We open on Wednesday, so I will have to do it tomorrow. You cannot clean and re-arrange while you are open.


So today I will get some much-needed "chores" done. My wife has an appointment, and then work, so I will have the house today, which means blasting music, cleaning, and tearing apart the dryer. Not sure what is wrong with it, but it is making a strange noise which makes me think it needs bearings or something. Hopefully, I can fix it.


In other news, I have finished creating the templates for selling my artwork on our website, and look forward to adding my youngest daughter to the site soon. She is an accomplished artist and has sold many pieces over the last few years. She literally has thousands of sketches she has done, as well as paintings, and has more recently spent the last few years in digital art. Because she is talented, to begin with, the drawing tablet she uses magnifies her abilities and makes for some amazing art.


Last year I sold a few of her paintings at our mall, and the customers were so excited to buy them, they were shocked when I told them my daughter was only sixteen when she painted them.

One of my favorite paintings of hers is from "The Nelsons" series, which features a family of Opossums, which frequent our home. She has named them, and painted them for the last few years, and continues to add to her collection. We are also looking at turning the series into collectible NFTs as well! This one is called "Mona Nelson" and will be one of the "rare" NFTs once they are available.


We are also working with a local printer to create prints of most of our artwork. Sometimes the original sells and we get many requests for another, so prints are the logical next step.


With all that in mind, and my web work done for the day, it's time to get to work on that dryer! Worst-case scenario, I can't fix it, so I tear it all apart and use it for my next sculpture. Everything is win-win in the world of an artist, and nothing goes to waste.

Comments


bottom of page