making of

before leaving the factory

… I took today’s picture. A quick shot of what I left behind, from the middle of one room where I pack things in my two room factory. You know: Two rooms are actually not enough anymore, but I try to keep my overhead and every day running costs down. This is important. I work the same way in my private life. No debt, no big every month costs. Basically, I want to be able to “survive” for a while even if nothing comes in. You can only do that if your monthly obligations are low: Hence no bank credits for tauer perfumes, nothing is ordered that I cannot pay for right away, even if the world would collapse tomorrow.

This brings a lot of freedom. The freedom to walk away every day, just like that. But of course, it comes with the handicap that you grow slowly, only with the means that you earn in your daily business.

Anyhow, this is the picture of what I left and where I go back to this afternoon in the factory. A lot of boxes, three shipments are ready. Here, in the (office) house of tauer I will have to prepare the commercial invoices and shipment papers once I am done with this post. What you also see are two glasses with colored water. I use these in the factory to paint. I try to do so before leaving, more or less every day. Quick sketches as there is always work waiting at home.

I do not give myself a lot of time for these sketches. My watercolor teacher told me that I tend to “do too much” with my pictures. Hence, forcing myself to finish them within a couple of  minutes, like 10 minutes or 30 minutes max helps. A little bit it is my private rewarding program, too. For the best (the only) employee of the day….The packing is done, and the goodie is a watercolor distraction.

Ursula (thank you!) mentioned in her comment yesterday that I should change, hire folks, to have more time for creative ventures. An interesting thought: I wonder whether I would be more creatively productive if I had more time. Working under restrictions helps. Sometimes.

Rose flash, for instance, was born in June, as a distraction, after work, without much time to “do too much”. Not that it is minimalistic as fragrance, though.