This is looming fast and denial of the whole business of merchandising is no longer a viable option. If stuff is going to be sold, then stuff is going need costing and pricing, particularly as a friend has offered to come and help out and obviously needs to have an idea of what’s going for what price. Cue flat-out panic with only one resolution – a spreadsheet.

Luckily, I quite like fiddling with spreadsheets so I already have one with entries for everything bought, made up (frames, mounts and the like), and re-purposed as items such as snow globes and fridge magnets. Makes life much easier thereafter, and also brings home the reality of the cost of art work, even when it excludes the actual making of it.

Two hours later and everything in the various boxes has a price on its head (not literally, that will be later in the week with those little sticky dot things). There’s even a printout of the list and individual selling prices. We can’t possibly go wrong, can we? [Yes, yes we can. I don’t know how but yes. It’s terrifying.]

Also terrifying is the realisation I know so little about the history of artistic enterprise that I consider Art History for Dummies a good purchase. It should be here tomorrow then with any luck I’ll know my Matisse from my Matalan in sufficient time to bluff my way through the submission of my first drawing assignment.