Sunday, January 22, 2012

Laying the groundwork...

There is no scarcity of opportunity to make a living at what you love; there's only scarcity of resolve to make it happen.
-Wayne Dyer
 The above quote was posted on the Facebook page of a business i follow this morning... I thought it was quite timely as I've been struggling for a while with the motivation and resolve to do just that - spend time on the 'business' end of things, and give credence to my art as a viable business option.  It's only just this week that I've been able to actually spend a chunk of time working on things like revamping the website by adding tons of photos and creating a Facebook 'page' for myself as an artist.  I also finally got up the nerve to start making some calls and emails and inquiries this week to try to start teaching art again.  I have really missed it these past many months, and despite some logistic snags (the biggest of which being the teachers are on Job Action and it makes a lot of extracurricular stuff difficult), I'm going in now with the attitude that I'm going to be able to do this.  Just gather the information together and put myself out there.
 It took me a long time to muster up the courage to quit what I was doing and go to art school, and then when i graduated, I spent a long time looking for the confidence to get myself 'out there'.  The above quote rings so true for me right now, i continuously teeter on the brink of giving up and going back to my 'other' job full-time.  Recently i had a conversation with an artist friend of mine who has been practicing in her studio for over a year.  I was inspired by her to do the same, even though it took me a while to get going.  And she started wondering out loud about giving up, asking how long she should keep doing this and saying that she felt "lost'.  I surprised myself when my response came.  "When you are lost in the woods, what do you do?"  And the answer is one that we all know.  Stay where you are, and someone will find you.
Keep it up, don't lose hope and continue to love what you do.
 

Saturday, January 14, 2012

Updated Pages!

I've updated my pages along the right side of this page, and added some Exhibitions photos.

More updates to come as I work on adding more work to the Gallery.

Press Coverage and Show Opening

The Seymour Art Gallery was packed to the brim on January 10th for the opening of "Water", the 2012 Discovery show.  It was wonderful to see so many people come out to the show, including some wonderful friends.  The show got some coverage in the North Shore Outlook, online and in print.

Here I am with my piece, Solitude, which is kind of a love letter to the ocean, reflecting human resilience and the feelings elicited by being near water.