09/02/2004: "A Tough Decision"

Today the Friendly Planet let me know that I was officially listed to have an exhibit in their Loft Gallery for the month of April. Now, somehow I've ended up with two solos: December at KTOO gallery (the low tide paintings for Gallery Walk...big deal here in Juneau) as well as April at the Loft Gallery (figurative with bluegrass instruments during month of AK Folk Fest).

I'm conflicted because I have never had to cancel out of a show before, ever. Not even as a student. I may procrastinate like hell and then not sleep for months on end but I've always been able to pull it off in the end. The show before last was created that way (last minute) but I don't think it was my best work either. This past show took 6 months and I think the extra time made a difference in the quality of the work.

I'm afraid if I do both shows, neither will end up being very strong...I'm afraid no one will like the tide paintings, that I'm flooding the local market by producing too much work and having too many shows...

But I'm also afraid that if I cancel out on the KTOO show, the guy who offered me the exhibit (who's a very cool guy) will be left in the lurch with a venue to fill in a very short amount of time. I'm also afraid that if I don't do this low tide series now, it may never get done, and I've already put a lot of work into the thumbnails etc....On the other hand, I find myself really wanting to start the figurative show with the bluegrass theme.

I guess the very basic decision I need to make is whether to try and haul ass and do both solo exhibits (roughly 22 new paintings) in the next 7 months...or drop the KTOO show and start working exclusively on the paintings for the April show at The Loft?

AHHH, I'm going to lose sleep over this, I just know it.

(oh, and then there's the little issue of my 40+ hour a week job teaching lib and info science at the university, having to attend 3 conferences, and finish up 2 huge web design projects by myself).