I really didn’t know what to expect of self employment. Deep inside I wondered if I might be hitting the pavement looking for a job before spring. But to my delight, I am extremely busy and keeping my head above water. It’s not solely the art, lecturing or the hosting of trips, but literally all aspects of the business are kicking in.
I knew there was plenty of artwork to be done before the first of the year. Even before the end of my career at the fly shop, I planned to restock the Wyoming Gallery of Jackson Hole. A gallery attached to the Jack Dennis Fly Shop, they have represented my watercolors for several years. It had been awhile since I last delivered new work. I also took on a daunting art project with a website soon to be released. They purchased licensing rights to nearly all fish species that I display on my website. Soon after providing them, they requested another 29 species that I have never painted in my life. And you can bet on it, I took the order and have been plugging 
away at it every chance I get. In fact, watch the art section of my website as these many new species get posted.
With all this going on came the chaos of Christmas. I always get a few commission orders this time of year. I already had several orders on the books. Just as I got these orders done and a mere two weeks before the gift giving holiday, some last minute orders rolled in. I thought that after retiring from the fly shop, which consumed my time, I’d never need to do an all-nighter again, but boy was I wrong. From December 10 – 24 I was pleasantly surprised to be painting all hours of the day. Selling more art than expected was the best Christmas present I could ever have! 
Amongst all this, I was organizing and filling slots on a trip I’m hosting to the Amazon in March. You can’t imagine how much emailing it takes to organize such a trip for eight people and then in turn actually book the people. Fortunately, I got it together and as of last week filled the final two spots. If you have never fished in Brazil for peacock bass, I highly recommend you contact me to reserve a spot for 2011. In addition to this, expect to see an opportunity to join me in Egypt, India and or a few surprise destinations between now and 2011.
Today I am heading east to speak and promote my art at the Fly Fishing Shows at both Marlborough, Massachusetts and Somerset, New Jersey. In fact, this is the beginning of an eight week tour of travelling from show to show that doesn’t end until the end of February. It should be great fun and give me the opportunity to meet up with old friends and make plenty of new ones. To see exactly where I will be going the next two months, visit the schedule on my website to see if you can catch up with me.
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