Notes from a First Art Show

Notes from a first art show!!

-putting yourself out there, taking things that you have made and displaying them in front of a bunch of strangers and inviting them to judge you is hard. But-

-If you want to do a show, do it, even if you aren't ready for it. Everything is a learning experience! If you do something that doesn't work, you can change it for the next one. Life is a practice, not a perfect performance.

-Setting up is waaayy easier than breaking down!

-Having company (and help) makes it a lot more fun. Dave was with me for the entire morning, and my booth was set up next to my friend and her husband, so I was lucky there and definitely not lonely!

-Seeing people you know at the show is sooo special. Huge smiles and huge hugs make everything better. And if they came specifically to see you, then there aren't even words for how freaking special that is!

-I think there will always be at least one person with a rude, unsolicited opinion. Smiling and wishing them well is the best response, I think. (It's how I handled it, anyway!)

-heartfelt compliments from strangers are one of the best things ever and things you'll keep forever, even if they don't buy anything. A man told me - "you have such a distinctive, recognizable style and your paintings have such happy colors" and I am so treasuring that today!!

-selling a painting is so humbling and moving.

-Doing a 10 mile race the day after an all day show isn't necessarily recommended (but can be fun). 

-being married to someone who is super supportive IS recommended (and can also be fun)

Namaste

namaste ✌🏻️🙏🏻❤️

Not only am I seeing and honoring the light I see in others, but I am speaking it, too. 

Soo many of us don't know how bright we shine. I see your light and it is beautiful.

My Vision Quest

Last weekend I went on a Vision Quest with artist, teacher, mentor Whitney Freya at my local home away from home art studio Art More Place.. the entire thing was just so magical and amazing that I have been trying for a full week to come up with some words to describe it.. any words.. I just can't do it.

I finally just decided that none would be right. To meet Whitney is to fall in love with her. To paint with her is to learn to fall in love with yourself.

I do not have good words to describe any of this. But I will try to show you the steps I took on my canvas along the way..

The first layer was all water. Beautiful blues and purples and teals, around and around in a flowing circle, om symbol at the center. I joked that I could take it home as is and hang it up because I loved it, but also said that I couldn't wait to paint over it (thank you 30 day painting challenge!!)

Layer 2 started with a glaring orange sun stencil which then became yellow and orange and reds all over, continuing in the round, circular pattern I'd started on layer 1. I added black arrows as marks and wrote blood & fire in large bold black letters. This was my invocation of the fire element (and also my 90s Indigo Girls).

Of course I couldn't wait to cover all of this up again!! I next drew circles everywhere and then surrounded them in white, added some black and gray circles - this was my air layer. I then started to turn the painting into an elephant. God, I wanted an elephant so bad! It just wasn't happening, no matter how hard I tried or hoped. Then I hoped she could be a deer.. She wasn't a deer. Others suggested a fox, maybe she could be a cat? I added some more black arrows around and around while I hoped and waited for some guidance, maybe some divine inspiration. Finally walked away and quickly looked back at my canvas and realized she was an aardvark. FINE, she can be an aardvark. This was the end of Day 2, and we left the studio for dinner, and I left an aardvark on my canvas.

Day 3 - I woke up down, headachy, sad, not really sure where to go with my painting or if I'd even want to, which was so unlike the energy I'd had and felt the day before. I moped around a bit, and Dave even said "Isn't this the opposite of how you're supposed to feel? Aren't you missing the entire point of the workshop?"

I finally decided to just get in the shower. While in there, I rememered the Rainbow Warrior card I'd drawn the day before - Active Wisdom - which mentioned that I need to calm my reactive energies. I had wanted an ellie SO BADLY that my reaction to that want was to be down about what DID show up. As I washed my hair I thought about what an aardvark means as a totem or spirit animal - the answers lie beneath, right? Keep digging, right? Thinking about it I realized that I hadn't invoked any element of earth at all. I'd forgotten the original flow and energy of my round, circular pattern. Realized I'd used almost no green. I'd forgotten all of those arrows I'd drawn around and around.

Suddenly I had an idea of where to go .. serenity. 

Calm the lotus mind. 

Round and round.

Like a drishti.

A yantra.

Hooray for Elephants!

Day 29 of my 30 day painting challenge- painting on the same canvas every day for 30 days- and an elephant appeared for me!! 🐘

I had an elephant right around day 7 or so and it was so hard to let her go, but I trusted the process and let her go.. and good thing I did because it made room for this one to show up!!