Fast Forward to February

Whew!  January is Outta Here!!

The 30 in 30 Challenge really helped those dull, dark January days fly by fast, and I'm so glad!  Thanks once again to all who participated with me, it was really fun. xx

Speaking of flying... 

This week I'll be heading out to teach glass workshops in Houston, TX, Portland, OR, and St. Louis, MO.  

I'm so excited!  We'll be designing some colorful fused glass cities in Houston and Portland, and whipping up some fused glass powder sgraffito drawings in St. Louis!  

I'll share what's going on during class with all of you next week so you can enjoy the colorful messes we make in creating our masterpieces!

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To begin February,  I've spent a few hours working on the 'dreadful stack' of 2015 juried art show applications... Every show artist looks forward to this process every year.  NOT.

For those of you who aren't familiar with how it all works, here's the scoop:

Life as a show artist is a crapshoot, it's risky!  There are so many variables that have to crash together in just the right way to be successful. 

Definitely not the path to choose if you want to the 'glamorous life'.

Being an artist pays better in job satisfaction than most glamorous life occupations. That's good enough for me!

Here is how the attack of the 'dreadful stack' works.

First, you have to look for shows where you think your work will sell well.  

How do you know which shows those are?  You work hard and do a lot of them.  

Keep the good ones and mark the not so good ones off the list.

Next, you take awesome photos of your best work, set up your entire display in the driveway, and proceed to take awesome photos of that with your awesome work inside. 

Thank goodness for digital, I don't miss the days of taking slides at all!

After this, you fill in your application and try to explain your entire process in 100 characters or less. Yes, spaces count, lol.   

Now it's time to choose 3-5 photos of your best work, which I find to be most difficult.  They have to look like they go together, and they also have to represent your full body of work for sale.  I work in a few different styles so naturally, this trips me up every year.

Once you've finished all the 'guessing games' and are ready to send your application in, you rush over to your PayPal account and hope there is enough there to pay for the jury fees.

Usually they're $25-$50 per show, and everyone who applies has to pay to have their work juried.  If you're not accepted you don't get your $ back.  If you are accepted, you rush back to that PayPal account and say magic words before you look to see if there is enough to pay the booth fees. :)  Most weekend shows I've done cost between $200 and $800 for the booth space.  

My breathing is labored just from typing this.

Thank goodness I'm almost finished filling it all out and the 'waiting part' is near.

Full Speed Ahead

Wow, it's already June... how can this be??

It's been a great start to these busy summer months~ the nice weather has brought large, happy, non-sweaty crowds to shows in Cincinnati and Indianapolis.  I have met some very lovely people, and some of my favorite pieces have gone home to live with their new caretakers.

This week begins an exciting time for glass artists, the International Glass Art Society's convention is coming to Toledo to celebrate the roots of studio glass in America.  I am very anxious to go, it is practically in my back yard and it will be my first time to be able to attend.  It is hard to sit still in anticipation of seeing in person the works of so many very talented artists I admire from all over the world.  I traded working time for a reduced admission fee to the convention, and I will be assisting on the tour busses.  That sounds like a great place to meet new 'glass friends' to me.  I'll be sure to post LOTS of details from the week, and heaven forbid I should have my camera with me... Ha.

Tomorrow and Sunday I will be at home in my studio (my favorite place in all the world) with a new class of sgraffito folks.  I am really looking forward to sharing the technique and seeing what they will come up with.  I truly love teaching, and I never tire of witnessing the A-ha moments when creativity is happening right before my eyes.  

Next weekend I will be taking off on Friday night from the GAS Conference and heading to Worthington, OH for an art show with my glass and jewelry work.  Last year it poured rain and hail the entire weekend and still the crowds came... with really cool artsy umbrellas!

I should probably be going to bed sometime in the near future.  Until tomorrow....

Broad Ripple Art Fair, A new season begins!

Well, here I am in Indianapolis, IN for the first art show of the 2012 season. Already? And as usual, I have a small slew of things to work on at the hotel. Somehow I can never be finished with things before it's time to go, and I usually forget something...this time I forgot my headphones (a tragedy!) medication, double rats....come tomorrow, I will have a nice list of " I forgot..." I have never been to Indianapolis, except for a Jane's Addiction concert in the 90's which doesn't really count. Broad Ripple is a beautiful place to have a show. I have to admit that it is scary to be showing only work that is truly dear to my heart. It is much easier for me to sell jewelry; people buy it for different reasons. The work I brought to this show will likely not sell as quickly, and because it is dear to me, every comment is seared into my soul. I chose the subjects for my work without caring what colors are 'in', and the connection I feel to these pieces far outweighs the feelings I have for making glass jewelry. Nijinsky's Grave, children playing on a playground in Cleveland, a little boy reading...I shaped their faces and paid attention to the wrinkles in their clothes. I made sure the twinkle in their eyes showed life... It is much harder to stand there waiting for 'the person' who will love them to come in and connect with them than it is to pack up a pair of earrings. Tomorrow is a new day. God watches over me. I am going to sleep:)

Standing Naked

I did my first real art show in 1998, in my hometown of Findlay, Ohio.  Terrified, I sat in the back of my booth waiting impatiently for someone to walk in and look through the things I had made.  I remember the feeling was like being on the verge of having a heart attack.  What if they look and say nothing? What if they don't like my work?  I don't know what to say....I can't even look them in the eye.


The things I make really matter to me.  The stress of putting these things I made with my hands and my heart before the eyes of the public was hard.  Even harder was to stand there and worry about how they would be received. I truly felt as if I were standing naked before the world, waiting for them to pick out my fears, my faults, my imperfections....  


That show ended well, in spite of the fact that an unexpected storm picked up my tent and blew it a good block and a half down the street.  Wet assembly directions in hand, I left the show with pieces of a tent I took apart upside down, but with a smile in my heart.  


I have been successful at 'being an artist', but now I am once again 'standing naked'.  Never did I think I would write a blog or have a website to sell from, I love meeting the people who buy my art in person.  I am hoping that I can connect now in a different way, one that would allow me to spend more time MAKING art and less time in a hot tent.... Also, I think it's time to share what I have learned a bit.  :)