Thrifty is Nifty
We are financially frugal nest egg nurturers, the poster children of saving for a rainy day (or fancy toy), paying full price is not in our DNA. Before purchasing costly work-related tools and materials we will research extensively and monitor closely looking for price drops. Bargains await for those who wait and last year’s model is just as good (and at times better).
The upside to frugality and patient consumption is over the years we have acquired many tools, and have perfected cannibalizing projects for materials and parts to complete our work. The downside is we have difficulty spending money. Upon receiving the check from Creative Pinellas it took us awhile to grant permission to our inner child to buy lots of nifty things – still at bargain prices, mind you – we are not drunken sailors!
The visual artwork we produce is mixed media incorporating fine art and technical disciplines – metal, wood, polymers, sculpture, painting, mold making, casting, costuming, machining, electronics, photography, video and digital output. Our shopping list does resemble that of a traditional artist, so what do we do with this windfall?
Oh My! What to Buy?
Lists were made and weighed: big ticket item or needed supplies? Fix the old or buy a new (blank)? How about a machine tool to save time and physical demands of hand work? We can shop online for vintage trims and embellishments! Restock materials and have enough on hand to complete the task without scrounging for pieces to complete the project? Or experiment without concern of depleting valuable supplies!
The ‘Want It/Need It’ list is getting longer and items have been moved to ‘Got It’! We now have variable scroll saw, upgraded video editing program, collection of servos (various sizes), soon will have a new laptop to run the latest servo programs. We can now explore new materials, the latest electronics and new technologies, experiment with robotics and motion control boards that will make programming the servo-controlled automata less complex. There are advances in servos so they are now small enough to fit inside a figure and maintain integrity.
We could get used to this spending thing…
