Okay, in an earlier post I was going off about how as creative people we need to be adaptable. So, just how adaptable do we need to be? I'm totally willing to look at revising and tweaking style to fit a changing market - but just how far does going out on a limb for your art's sake go?

I'm throwing the glove down right here.

I will wear a bee beard for 500.00.

And here's the thing, I'm terrified of bees - yellow jackets, really. This one day, a hot day several summers ago, a friend and I are walking our dogs in a fairly rural county park. Her corgi and my mini dachshund get busy at the end of their retractable leashes sniffing at the base of a tree. And then I hear a yelp.

A cloud of yellow jackets rises up into the air and I leave my friend AND MY BELOVED LITTLE DOG to beat cheeks as fast I can. "Bee! Bee!" I scream and before long I feel like I've been hit in the back with a shotgun load of rock salt.

My friend, strangely not hating me for leaving her in my panic, yells at me to stop running. Well, shuh. My back is covered in hornets. I stop, drop and roll and then through my fear frenzy I decide it's a good idea to tear off my overalls and tee-shirt because the yellow jackets are attached to them. Good thinking, huh?

It worked. But there was one problem. I wasn't wearing anything under the overalls and tee shirt. It was hot remember? So that left one naked me, giggling uncontrollably because I'm so freaked out, one friend desperately trying to get me re-clothed and one open-mouthed family watching the whole scene.

Sure, Van Gogh cut off his ear. A LOT of artists have sacrificed things for their art. But can you honestly tell me you've ever heard of an artist willing to wear a bee beard - especially one with bee issues?

Bee beard. 500 bucks.