Emerge-detail (Cymothoe Sangaris butterfly wings)
After a LONG dry spell I am finally beginning the process of reviving my atrophied creative muscles and deadened nerves. At the urging of a very special friend I recently responded to a "call to Arizona artists" and submitted a piece that I created specifically for this juried invitational. This is a surely a victory for me as I've strayed from my creative path. I've let much of my time here in the desert disappoint me but I feel ready to move forward.
This is a huge step towards regaining my goal of becoming a working artist. I haven't fully figured out why but I'll admit that I've been stalling/keeping my voice silent for some time now. It would be wonderful to have the piece chosen by the gallery. It wouldn't hurt to add another notch on the resume (and possibly have an opportunity to get my more personal work out there) but, more important is that this exercise has let loose a flood of ideas and the desire to experiment with my materials once again.
The process of formally submitting work to a gallery is not difficult but through this experience I've felt a sense of reawakening complete with awkwardness and growing pains. I haven't shown in a professional gallery setting since I left the Bay Area several years ago. Photographic slides were the norm for submitting artwork to galleries the last time I showed! I lost my momentum when I left Oakland and it feels really good to reach out to a gallery again. I do feel that there is a certain amount of ridiculousness surrounding the showing and selling of Art. (another post for another day!!) It can be really difficult to keep free of the tangle of hypocrisy and politics in the scene but, I need to recognize the importance of getting my work out into the world. More than simply giving a sense of validation to my creative work a gallery showing can be a platform to use my voice.
I've tinkered creatively over the past couple of years but haven't had the energy to significantly push through the nonsense that daily life can bring and really engage in my heart's work. This has left me feeling incomplete. Time certainly does have a way of slipping by quickly as a series of trips to grocery store, gas station, Petco and the back and forth between home and the day job. It is SO easy to become disengaged from one's sources of fuel and inspiration! Why? How? Discipline is such an important factor in the success of a working artist but without a connection to one's passion it means nothing. Why is it so easy for me to stop making art when my very existence relies on it? The struggle...(the madness?)
Stop. Breathe. Create.
