Some Thoughts About Making Art

I guess I really should get out more; I learn things.  I just returned from seeing Fiber: 2010, an exhibit sponsored by Missouri Fiber Arts (MoFA) and the Foundry Art Center in St. Charles, MO.  The exhibit consisted of all kinds of fiber work, tapestries, woven  pine needle items, felted items, some quilts, and other types of fiber pieces.  As I began to walk through the show from the first part of it, my first reaction was this:  How did I ever get in this show?  The tapestries were exquisite…the work was wonderful.  I hadn’t even gotten to my piece while I was thinking this.

I expressed this sentiment on FB and a friend commented back that my work was wonderful and almost seemed to wonder why I was thinking what I was thinking.  This year is the first year that I have juried into a couple of regional shows.  These are out of the mainstream of what I mostly jury into.  I have  only entered the Arts Council shows, where there is hardly any fiber work.  It is mostly paintings and some mixed media.  So comparison is difficult…like comparing apples and oranges.  Essentially, there is no comparison.

Although I was in awe that I did get a piece into the 2010 Form, Not Function exhibit, I still didn’t have the same reaction.  Form Not Function was  mostly all layered and stitched work, like I do myself, so my piece was hanging with “my own” type of work.  Perhaps it was because Fiber: 2010 was at the “Foundry Center”, this really huge,  awesome gallery space.  That may have had something to do with it…but it was also seeing the quality of the other work that was displayed.  There was a lot of variety.  And my work was hanging in the same exhibit as all of this other wonderful work….that must mean….my work must be pretty good too!  Wow.

Now I do know that jurying is subjective and it’s all about what the juror likes.  But I gotta tell ya’…it made me feel pretty darn good that this juror who is big in the arts (and fiber in particular) thought my work  was good enough to be in this show.

I make my art to please myself and not so much about pleasing anyone else.  It’s just fantastic icing on the cake to find out someone else likes it too.

Back Home…

It’s always busy when I get back home…there’s the usual going over the sales, credit slips, checks, banking, over-sales, where I need to order stuff to ship out because I ran out, etc.  And that’s not even including unloading the van…which can take several days just because I don’t get in a hurry!  Going out on the road is tiring work.

My poor neglected blog…well, on Friday I did do some dye painting/screening on the start of a new piece in the series “…But Words Will Never Hurt Me”. I don’t know if it goes beyond this one or not…perhaps. Tomorrow I will put the finishing touches on #2 that will be shipped out this week for the Fiber 2010 show in St. Charles, MO. I just need to put my label with all the artist info on the back, cut the pool noodle the right length for shipping and it will be ready to go.

This is the week I must finish boring taxes. I am working on getting all of my business information together…that is the biggest job. Then I just drop it off to the cpa. Oh but how I hate paperwork…

I’m toying around with the idea of creating some ACEO’s for art fairs. And they may not be fiber either. I have been perusing ebay to see what people are doing and selling…I’m also doing some buying. :=) There is some interesting talent on there. I find myself drawn to bright colors and funky drawings of objects and even some realism, although I still don’t want to do that myself. Wonder why I would like the bright playful colors?

Ok, I’ll share one picture of some drawings I’m playing with.

Well, I didn’t say it was good….I’m just playing around!  I added the “stitches” to see if I would like the interest they might add and explore the possibility of them becoming a trademark.