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04/09/2007: "The joys of being artsy fartsy"
Last night I finally finished one of the paintings I was commissioned to do months and months ago! I worked on it off and on all weekend and it felt great to be painting again. I put an ungodly amount of time into it though but I'm really happy with how it turned out...hopefully the guy who commissioned it will be equally pleased.
I also sold 2 more prints on Friday so that’s extremely encouraging.
I’m getting more into the artist mindset in general lately…I went to Tuesday night’s life drawing session at the Ruby Room and to the First Friday art openings this past weekend. I talked to the gallery manager at the Canvas Gallery and there’s a chance I could show there someday (but currently they’re booked up for the next year straight).
Anyway, I went and saw an exhibit of hand made glass beads and jewelry created by friends of Aaron at Basement Studios and he bought me a gorgeous necklace! (isn’t he the sweetest!???).
What else? Oh yes, Sat. night we went to the launch of the UAS literary and art journal Tidal Echoes that my good friend Emily Wall worked her ass off putting together as the faculty advisor (it turned out absolutely GORGEOUS!). She also received hard copies of her own book “Freshly Rooted” just back from the publishers which is very exciting. Back when I first met Emily and she had the manuscript but no takers for getting it published…we agreed to both keep working on our goals until they became reality…she even put a thank you to me in the intro…very cool. I’m still working on my goals but I’m very very proud of her!
Let's see...Sat. night I also went to the wedding reception of one of Aaron’s friends visiting from Australia, and then on Easter Sunday we went to a big dinner held by his adoptive Tlingit family. Such great people, it was a lot of fun! It’s amazing how quickly the weekend passes…
Oh yah, one last thing...there’s a chance that I may get to have a show at my favorite (living) art gallery in Juneau for this September. That would be amazing. In one way, I’d panic a as September is only 4 and a half months away and I’d be starting from scratch…on the other hand, I’ve been thinking of paintings non-stop ever since the possibility presented itself, which is a good thing. It’s not a done deal, the gallery manager likes my work but she still has to clear it with the owner. Even if I don’t end up getting the show, it has really helped kick start my muse (who I have to admit has been a bit of a lazy ass free-loader lately).
Oh, and I just remembered some advice author John Straley gave to young writers at the Tidal Echoes launch party...he told them to have your very best work ready for when your good luck opportunity comes along. I think that's good advice for visual artists as well. Even if you don't have a show coming up, it's a great idea to have a show's worth of your best work ready to go. Sometimes an artist will cancel for whatever reason and a gallery will need someone to fill in at the last minute and you can get a show if you're ready to go. I've had that happen to me a few times now. So, I'm going to move forward with a new show's worth of work as though I have a show for certain and even if I don't get the one I want, I'll be ready the next time opportunity knocks.
What about the rest of you? Have you ever been able to jump into some great opprotunity because you had the goods ready and waiting?