July 31, 2008

Black Moshannon
Philipsburg, Pennsylvania

Yesterday I decided to take my dog Sophie to a local lake to see if the water lilies were blooming so I could take some photographs to add to my ever growing nature photo collection. We were both in luck as I found a nice secluded spot near the bank of the lake where I could easily view the lilies and my dog could swim to her hearts content.

Water lilies, if I'm not mistaken are also called lotus which has become a very popular symbol of late. The lotus flower grows in muddy waters and rises above the surface to bloom. At night the flowers will close and sink below the surface, rising again in the early hours of the following day.

On this lake in the woods of central Pennsylvania I saw two types of water lilies-white and pink. The pinks were further out in the lake requiring a boat to get to them. While sitting ashore I could hear frogs jumping off lily pads, the noise the crackling of other aquatic plant leaves and the constant buzzing of dragonflies.

It is on days such as this that I realize how lucky I am to be an artist. Part of my work day consisted of sitting on a carved bench observing nature.

Peace always

Sharon

July 30, 2008

Meanwhile Back in the Congo
2005
acrylic on canvas
22" x 22"

Today I was contacted by a gallery in Pittsburgh to do a two person show during the month of September. It seems there was a last minute cancellation and my name came up as a possible replacement. As this is one of my first gallery shows I expect to learn a bit about the process of doing these types of shows. Until now the majority of shows I have participated in were group juried shows which have their own expenses and procedures.

For this show I am required to bring to Pittsburgh 20-25 pieces of art. Immediately I searched through my works and did a body count and found around 22 pieces I consider show worthy. I then remembered having a "The Wall" in storage which is quite large and will easily equal three or more pieces.

I have three pieces that I have just framed for a local show and I am considering using one or two of these pieces for the Pittsburgh show. I generally do not to pull accepted pieces from a show however the visibility in Pittsburgh is larger than that of Altoona. However the art supporters in Altoona have been very supportive of me and my work so I will carefully consider which pieces I will pull from the show.

A quick trip this afternoon to the frame shop was needed to drop off three more pieces to be framed, "Meanwhile Back at the Congo", "Summer '07" and "Jackson's Trip to Heaven".

For the next few weeks I will be dusting off paintings. picking up framed pieces, transferring the audio track of the "Menstruation Theatre" to cd, transferring the video of "The Wall" to DVD, procuring the equipment needed to play these things, making arrangements for a truck rental and assistant to load and unload artwork, collecting publicity materials and looking for the appropriate opening outfit to wear.

Over the following few weeks I will add to my daily blog any information concerning preparing for the show.

Peace always

Sharon

July 29, 2008

Years ago I worked as an art director for a low budget feature called "Drawing Down the Moon". As with most low budget features you get a mix of people who know and don't know how to do their assigned job(s). Although I had never worked as an art director in a film before I have been around many films and I think on my feet. By the end of the film I was making less and less errors and things began working out for me.

On low budget movies an art director can actually carry the load of several titles. I was to work with the hair and makeup people, special effects (we had to kill a few people and needed to figure out how to make exit bullet wounds and bleeding), costumes, set design and props. As you may have guess the budget was minimal and I spent many of my days beg, borrowing and stealing things that were needed for the set.


Working on this film gave me a greater appreciation for the amount of work and the number of people that go into making a film. Even though on camera there may be only one or two people. Surrounding them are many: on the streets taking care of business, at the office making arrangements and "fixing" things that go awry, as well as the camera person, camera assistant, director, assistant director, make up artist, art director, continuity person, sound engineer, boom holder,grip, gaffer, script person, etc is an entire community

July 27, 2008

In my never ending search to bring in more income, I decided a few weeks ago that I would attempt selling at a few arts festivals. Every time I hit the woods I tote along my camera and take pictures of things that catch my eye. My focus is color-the purple thistle, pink poppies and the kaleidoscope of colors of the mushroom.

Pennsylvania is a fabulous place for mushrooms. The ecology of the area I live in is like a mini rain forest and has a phenomenal number of mushrooms. I am continually amazed by the variety of colors.

July 26, 2008

Today while I was painting some little pieces of furniture for my daughter who will be moving into her first apartment shortly I realized two things about my style of painting. First I'm a messy painter which is not very conducive to using oils and second I'm a messy painter which is not very conducive to smooth drip free surfaces.

Years ago, with encouragement from my departed painter friend Scott, I attempted to paint with oils. I bought small tubes of basic colors, new brushes and a few small canvases to try my oil painting skills. What a muddy brown mess! Because I tend to paint thick and fast the paint did not dry enough to prevent one color from mixing with another. With acrylics, which I use, the paint dries rather quickly. In fact unless the humidity is extremely high I can completely cover a canvas, throw in a load of laundry, hang up the previous load, return to my easel and the paint is completely dry and ready to be worked. This works for me best as I like to add layers of paint until the correct color appears which is only obtained by working the canvas. For example I may start an area with a cool red then proceed to paint orange, green, yellow, blue, etc on top then finding the original cool red color over all those other layers of paint now works. I feel the many layers of paint give the painting dimension which I often mourn the loss of when a piece of mine is photographed and the paint(ing) flattens out.

July 25, 2008

Cleveland Clinic
acrylic on wood
2002

In 2002 my daughter had surgery to repair a hole (atrial septum defect) in her heart. This was a particularly frightening time filled with doctor visits (4 doctors were interviewed before one was settled on. Because I am an overly protective mom I never left her side and spent the night in various states of awakeners watching oxygen and heart monitors, asking patient nurses what everything meant and offering my left arm as a pillow to my sleeping daughter.

The painting Cleveland Clinic was painted a few weeks after her surgery.

July 24, 2008

Tonight while me and my dog were in the woods on the way to our huckleberry patch we were accosted by a ground nest of angry wasps. This diversion from our original intention grabbed my attention fully. I had become so accustomed to traveling the same path that it took a few minutes to get my bearings and decide how to go around the nest without being stung. While I was bushwhacking the thigh high ferns I considered the fact that change is inevitable and wondered how I would be affected by a slight detour in my route.

Every once in a while it's good to get things stirred up. All change, no matter good or bad has an impact on perspective (at least mine) and forever alters the way things are perceived. For instance every time I go to a museum my art work changes though that change might seem insignificant.

In February when I saw the Frida Kahlo show at the Philadelphia Museum of Art I was affected by her colors. This actually was surprising to me as I have seen many of her paintings before in published form. My expectation before the show was that I would be affected by her technique and/or subject matter and all though those things did make an impact it was a room full of her paintings that demonstrated her color palette most of which is easily lost in printed materials.

Likewise when I first began really looking at modern art and the skill of the masters who created them, I began to understand the brush strokes and choices of color. When I saw Matisse's Thousand and One Nights I was struck that his pencil marks were still visible. This was again a surprise that I enjoyed finding and I keep it in mind when I fight not to overwork my paintings and leave some of its original intention on the canvas.

July 23, 2008

Pulled In All Directions
1999
acrylic on Belgium linen
24" x 36"

In 1977 I attended Pratt Institute in New York City for three years of intensive art-only training. Upon completion of this curriculum, I felt not yet ready to tackle the corporate art directors world and decided to continue studying this time at Penn State, University Park, PA. A major in art with a specialization in graphic design upon portfolio approved by the head of the graphic design department. It was a highly competitive major to be accepted in and I was quite surprised when I was given a nod and accepted in.

I will forgo describing what several years of the tutelage of Mr. Sommese. It was better documented in a fictional book Cheese Monkeys by Chip Kidd which is based on the experiences a former Penn State Graphic Design major had while a student at P.S.U.

Lanny Sommese would only refer to me as "Pratt Reject". He would ask impossible tasks to be done in impossible times and nary a word of approval. I can only think of him as a childhood bully with tenure. Eventually I figured Life was too short to put up with such nonsense, my stomach was getting the better of me and I opted out of school altogether.

So even though I failed to turn and face you today when you burst upon a private meeting I was having with one of your colloquies I knew who you were and found it charming that you are one of the first people I run into when returning to Penn State

July 22, 2008

Summer '07
2007
acrylic on hemp and organic cotton
32" x 32 "

Is it me or is it impossible to be creative in the heat of the summer. It's outside all morning, cool down for lunch and indoor house chores, back outside for a bit, rest in front of fan for a bit and long hikes into the berry laden woods. When is there time to paint???

I got my new canvas stretched-The size is 36" 36". The canvas is made from organic cotton & hemp which I got on-line from Nearsea Naturals. Tomorrow I will gesso 2 coats if it's not too humid. Have no idea what the subject of this painting is to be. Had a couple of ideas a while ago but their feeling of importance has faded a bit.

Will keep you posted.

Peace always

Sharon

July 21, 2008

The Toothache
2002
acrylic on wood cutting board 24" x 18"

Sorry that I have been negligent in my daily post but a reaction to a bug bite has kept me down and out. Several years ago I had a similar malady with a tooth gone bad thus prompting the painting "The Toothache". I'm not sure if this will warrant a painting but promise to be back to speed tomorrow with a more insightful post


Peace Always

Sharon

July 19, 2008

I have been going to a shrink fro many years now with great success. She is a new-age gal though to meet her you would think otherwise. She has a Educated English accent, quite pleasant to look at, a small diminutive and is quite un intruding. She listens, she talks, I listen, I talk.

One of the things I had been unable to grasp was a concept she used of "asking for what you want/need?" and the universe will provide. It took me a while but eventually I have time and time again tried it. It's been my limited experience that this philosophy is absolutely true. That being said however delivery is never via the means you thought it was to be.

For example. I have been having a physical summer with lots and lots of gardening, hiking and yoga. The house was being cleaned from the inside and out, laundry caught up, the garden bursting with food to carry me through the fall.

But I though for one week it would be nice to do nothing.


I pictured staying in a cabin with no electricity in the woods alone with my dog.

or an private beach reserve that I could just take photos of shore creatures all day

Knitting on a porch at Cape May, New Jersey (maybe a nighttime beach walk)

Well as I knew I got that week via an allergic reaction to most likely an insect. First my neck swelled and hurt, then the sides of my head, then forehead and now my eye are so puffy that it's hard to see when I go outside and squint in the sun.

I have spent the week, napping, reading, watching tv and videos, nighttime sitting outside. I managed to continue laundry and dishes but other than that little else. My canvas is wrapped on the kitchen table waiting to be stretched when this vacation is over.

Peace Always

Sharon

July 18, 2008

Big Gulp aka Soft Machine
2008
acrylic on organic cotton and hemp
38" x 38"

The Big Gulp

was created after a conversation with my daughter about her first term College English class. She was studying Science Fiction and was attempted to read William Burroughs' Soft Machine. I have read many of the beat authors and their books but I had as of yet not read this one. When I asked her to explain the book to me she said it's a book about nonsense-nothing in it makes sense.

Even though I feel there may be more to it than that, after this conversation I thought I would make a painting that had no real pre-conceived direction. The goat on the top right is an "homage to Picasso" and also a greeting to a friend of mine who told me a story of his youth. He had a goat who broke his leg and he begged his parents to fix the broken limb and not put the goat down.

On the bottom left is a "beetle" which was also a "howdoyoudo" to another friend who made me a stained glass piece with four beetles to honor my love of John, George, Paul and Ringo. The female body on the top right I painted after discovering the multitude of variations of a woman's hoo haw via movies.

On the bottom right is a "woman" being eaten by piranhas, which to me represented life eating away at one.

The two dogs are Bella and Sophie. Bella is the upside down dog (she lives next door to me and is my dog's best friend). The blue and white dog is my dog Sophie a Border Collie mix.

With some of the leaves on the bottom I tried to capture the muti-coloredness of leaves.

The chicken is from my daughter youth. Her name is Belinda and she was my daughter's best friend for a short time when my daughter was young.

July 16, 2008

Blah,Blah, Blah
2007
acrylic on hemp and organic cotton
38" x 38 "

I painted Blah, Blah, Blah when I first became a vegan and was excited to share all the information I was learning about the way foods are being processed and animals mistreated. The woman a the top is visually based on my daughter which represents those who don't listen but look away. In her case it is assumed that she is reacting by an outside source looking at her. The person to her right (our left) is visually based on my neighbor (a friend). This figure represent those who can absorb information but notable to process it correctly and implode. In this figure's case we just see the beginning with a crack throughout his head and his facial expression of pain.

The books in the protagonist's (me) arms are Vegan Freak by Bob and Jenna Torres and Animal Rights, which is a made up book based on Podcasts by Gary Francione, Eric Markus and Collen Patrick-Goudreau

I had seen a barred owl in the woods during the time I way creating Blah, Blah, Blah, felt it was a special few minutes and wanted to mark the occasion in this painting.

The symbol that the owl is siting on is "Om" which seems to have many meanings, I've seen it used in several different cultures. In sanskrit I believe it represents original (first) sound but most recently here in the U.S. is known to represent yoga.

The mountain, ferns and trees are all inspired by the area I live in. The animal at my feet is my departed dog Jackson (he was blind when I painted this as you can tell from the color of his eyes)

July 15, 2008

7 Rays
2006
acrylic on canvas
38" x 30"

7 Rays
1. Freedom
2. Unity
3. Understanding
4. Harmony
5. Truth
6. Goodness
7. Beauty

The Seven Rays is a song written and performed by Todd Rundgren. For actual (not abridged lyrics click here)

The painting "7 Rays" is a simple a vignette of me and my daughter in bed at night-she sleeping and me trying to figure out the lyrics to 7 Rays. The cat to the left is my cat Malicia and the dog on the blanket is my dog Jackson who has passed on. Not sure the intention of the American flag on the right. To me the layers and layers of paint indicate that there was the beginning of an alternative painting underneath this one.

July 14, 2008

Photo by Sharon Lee
Old Main Frame Shop

Last week I found out that three pieces of mine (Big Gulp, 7 Rays and Blah, Blah, Blah) were accepted into the Artists in Our Midsts show at the Southern Alleghenies Art Museum in Altoona, PA. This is nice regional show to do as the museum, though small, is a good space that is climate controlled and has good lighting. Of the three pieces, two needed to be framed so today amidst the reconstruction of downtown State College after an event that brought 125, 000 into a town that houses only 40,000 I headed to "my" frame show.

Old Main Frame Shop is in downtown State College. The retail part of the business is a rather tiny affair-generally only one or two people are working "out-front". The walls are lined with fat strips of velcro to which corners of frames are attached. The frames are about 1 foot in length from the corner to each side.

Today we had three people (a clerk, the gallery manager and myself) working on choosing the correct frame for my paintings. It is a delicate balance of texture and color-some frames work only if they're smooth and some need texture to duplicate the indication of texture in a painting. Depending on the depth of the stretchers, only certain frames visually work. One of the paintings took us over an hour to figure out because we were looking at black frames and the color that worked was gold with red hues and black scratches.

I like going to get my work framed. It visually brings the painting into the fore front. It can add or take away emphasis. It make the painting feel complete.

July 13, 2008

Photos by Sharon Lee
Beaver Chewed Tree
Pink Poppy
Pink and White Flowers
Two Brown Mushrooms

I've been thinking lately of additional ways to earn income and still keep the free-lance flexibility that I would like to hold onto so I can create art when my creativity is highest not necessarily when the clock has been punched out. For the past six months or so I've been taking nature photographs in the woods as well as in my garden. Each day I attempt to get one or two successful photos taken. This does not mean I only take 1 or 2 photos but perhaps 20 or more. Right now I have about 30 fairly successful photos and I hope to take 20 more before I start scaling down the photos to the absolute best and start the printing, matting, framing process in hopes of selling these photos in several art fairs.

I am often intimidated by the quality of my photographs. A few weeks ago I was watching a documentary on Cindy Sherman and fell in love with the way that she set up photos to tell a story. Some people are brilliant at capturing interesting light, some photographers travel to exotic places and take interesting photos of other cultures and some are remarkable technicians. I feel honestly I have not mastered any of these skills. Then one day I realized that color is my thing as well as nature and I could find my photographic voices through these two things.

July 12, 2008

"I Met Andy Warhola"
1998
acrylic on linen
30" x 36"
Occasionally I get an idea for a painting from a non-important observation of human nature or something I find silly. Several years ago I had a conversation with an acquaintance, trading stories of career and family. I was very excited about having one of my paintings hung at the Warhol Museum in Pittsburgh and shared this information with her. She then told me a happenstance she had with Andy Warhol in New York on an icy night many years ago. Both Andy and my acquaintance were walking with their heads down somewhere on Fifth avenue. They smashed into each other and both landed on their asses. "You're Andy Warhol!" my acquaintance exclaimed. "And you're a bitch" Mr. Warhol retorted.

July 11, 2008

My stretchers arrived and today's the day I begin a new painting except......not enough canvas! The two pieces of hemp/organic cotton canvas I have are too narrow so I order on-line a couple of yards from Near Sea Naturals thus delaying things a few days. Actually this gave me time to think about the painting to be. Would I pick subject A or subject B? Subject A was to be a scene from the Darfur Genocide. The image that comes to my mind when I think of the issues Darfur is facing id a dusty road strew with dead men, women and children and a jeep filled with armed militia driving past the bodies.

I decided to wait on painting this subject until I do a bit of research and form my own vision.

When I was in Washington DC several years ago, my daughter and I visited the Holocaust Museum. There are many memorable visuals in the Museum but the one that struck a cord with me was the pile of shoes. I don't know what it was about this pile of shoes that affected me so deeply. Maybe it's because I can relate to shoes. A majority of the people in the concentration camps did not share ethnic background, religion, generation or nationality yet we all wore/wear shoes. Tonight when I was making my nightly trek through the woods to the berry patch I looked down at my bruised and battered black shoes I thought how similar they looked to the shoes I saw in the pile.

July 10, 2008

I spent much of today perusing the artist booths at the Central Pennsylvania Festival of the Arts. Thursday (The festival runs Wednesday (kids day) to Sunday evening) is generally the day locals come out. The "Arts Festival also has several musical performances occurring simultaneously and I got to catch the tail end of a duo that was a joy to listen to.

The visual artists themselves cover a wide gamut of styles and mediums. There were booths and booths of jewelry (I went with my 19 year old daughter who loves jewelry), photographs from around the world, the requisite Amish photographs of this area, collage clocks, glass, wood items such as bowls and kitchen utensils, marbled paper (I bought a box of note-cards), dulcimers, bird houses and more.

It is always inspiring to see lots of creativity in my neighborhood as well as getting a chance to talk to others who make art whether through dance, visual arts, music or performance. Because I live in a fairly rural place opportunities for artist dialog is somewhat limited. I'll probably stay clear of town until Saturday night because of my aversion to large crowds. The annual AIDS fundraiser casino night and drag show is held then and looks to be a blast. Until then it'll be stretching a new canvas, gardening, picking huckleberries and the required hike in the woods.

July 9, 2008

Detail photo of painted dresser by Sharon Lee

For the next five days our region is saturated with the arts. The Central Pennsylvania Festival of the Arts begins today with kids day and continues Thursday through Sunday with the "Official" part of the Arts Festival. Because I am an artist it is always assumed that I participate with this festival. In years past I have as a demonstrator (spinning wool) but generally I join the masses as an observer.

There is a difference in the art that appears in this type of show and the art that I produce. Production art is made with the audience in mind while mine generally is not. Still and all there is plenty of visual stimulus from the hundreds of artist who peddle their wares here. Occasionally I'll run into an artist whose name is familiar from fine art shows.

Of course a festival of this size includes many genres of art. There's theatrical performances, dances, music, fine art shows, chalk drawings on the street both done as part of the official Arts Festival as well as local groups that want to take advantage of the influx of thousands of people into our community which is rather sleepy and slow in the summer without the mass of Penn State students.

Thursday is traditionally the day most local people go to look over and discuss (criticize) the Arts Festival and its sister fair 4 miles away-the People's Choice Festival. I see acquaintances that I haven't seen since last year, buy some kettle corn and duck into one of the bars for an afternoon beer.

July 8, 2008

About nine years ago, due to a rodent infestation I gutted my entire house. I couldn't stand the idea of dead rodents rotting in the walls and felt the need to strip the house to it's bare foundation. Because I had no skills in home remodeling, I wasn't sure how to approach the re-construction. One day while sitting on the porch of a next door neighbor, Mrs next-door asked if I was interested in hiring Mr. next-door to work part-time rebuilding the insides of my house. Seizing the opportunity I instead paid Mr. next-door to teach me how to do home remodeling, thus the beginning of learning new skills and a friendship that still exists today.

We fell in a pattern of working every weekend. Because we both had young families at times we were interrupted by our families whose needs did not slow down and we would often stop work to drive someone or another here or there. When I waited for my friend's return I began to paint the progress of the reconstruction on a wall in the room that was at the time my painting studio. When I learn wiring I painted scenes with exposed wires and electrical tools. There were scenes of my frustration in learning new skills. At one point I ran out of wall and considered the piece finished.

I was entering my first annual show for Associated Artists of Pittsburgh and decided that I should remove the wall and enter the wall and the mural that was painted on it. We filmed the process which took up the better part of the day. Highlights of the day include using a chain-saw to cut out the wall as the sawsall that we were using broke down and was unusable.

I never got into the Pittsburgh show but was able to show this piece at the Southern Allegheny Biennial. Currently the "Wall" resides packed away in a pole barn about seven miles from my home.

Peace Always

Sharon

July 7, 2008

One more day of gardening and hopefully if the thunderstorms stop, a hike in the woods to pick more huckleberries. Three days in a row of gardening, hiking and picking is physically challenging. A few years ago I spent a week at Feathered Pipe in Montana for a yoga intensive and this schedule feels similar. It is nice after the necessary bath to fall into bed at the end of the day feeling that your body and mind has been fully engaged and stimulated. The colors of flowers are amazing as well as inspiring. I will take all these wonderful color combinations into the studio when I paint.

Today I was greeted by a new flowering in my succulent bed.It is a variety of the common hens and chicks that I picked up at a nursery locally that has many varieties succulents. A perfect combination of pink, red-violet, yellow and green-yellow with green foliage. Also interesting is the pattern its petals, the reproductive system and the round leaves of the faded out foliage of another plant behind the flower.

I haven't decided which will be the next painting I start but I have it narrowed down to one of two ideas. One a scene from the massacres that are happening in Darfur and the other is a scene I saw and embellished (a young boy, 10 ducklings, a pond and two dogs) which would be told in a story telling three part painting.

July 6, 2008

Photos by Sharon Lee
White Yarrow
Yellow Mushrooms
Orange Day Lilies




Today was spent much as yesterday: gardening, getting nourishment and hiking in the woods to pick huckleberries. The colors I noticed today in the woods as well as my backyard were beautiful splashes of oranges, purples, greens, whites, yellows, browns, reds and blues. I thought instead if writing a long blog I would post a few pictures that you might enjoy all taken today with the mindset of finding fabulous color balances in nature.

Peace always

Sharon

July 5, 2008

Photos by Sharon Lee
Sophie on Huckleberry Hill
Huckleberries

I finally got some money together so I could order some new stretchers and get started on a new painting. I have two ideas brewing but not sure which one I will take on first. So while I wait for the stretchers I immerse myself in the garden and the woods with it's wonderful perfect color balance. I'm not sure when I realized that nature's colors always compliment each other in a balanced way. The combination of red, yellow and orange of a poker flower is completely opposite its green leaves and stem.

After a day of toiling in the garden My dog Sophie and I made out way deep into the wood to pick huckleberries. This is the first year in many years that I am picking without my huckleberry picking friend and dog Jackson who passed on a few months ago. Picking huckleberries is much like painting in that I look for the color to come to the surface that is needed.

July 4, 2008

photograph by Rick Brandt, Tyrone, PA

Happy, restful, fun, exciting, passionate, comfortable, refreshing 4th of July.

July 3, 2008

Yesterday my household was without electricity. Most of the day I barely noticed its absence as I was driving to and from Pittsburgh and that stole most of my day. Arriving home just at dusk and searched the house in the barely visible light for working flashlights. I found one but nothing else so I was left with a flashlight to guide my nighttime entertainment. The night was spent reading, taking a series of photos(with incense, succulents in a flower box and flashlight) and wrote a haiku.

Can't sleep bedding rough
electricity cut off
cell says one o'clock


Peace always Sharon

July 1, 2008

Carnivale Cruise on the Cuyahoga by Sharon Lee
2003
acrylic on linen
34" x 26"

Today as I turned the calendar from June to July I glanced over the month's notes to see if I have any art shows I wish to enter this month. Whenever I get an application in the mail for an upcoming show that I am interested in I immediately enter a date two weeks before the submission deadline with the name of the show. I then put the paperwork in a file which I will go to when it's time (according to the calendar) to submit an application for a show. The two weeks gives me enough time to choose artwork to submit, fill out the application, procure a money order and get to the post office to send everything off to the show's committee. Sometimes these shows are months away and if it weren't for the pre-marked dates on my calendar I would forget about them.

This is not always a 100% fail proof system as I recently missed the deadline by one day when I carried an application around in my car for three days and never got to the Post Office. Some artists have a more sophisticated system of show entering including information on which pieces are being entered in which show. I would love to organize myself to this next level as I have on more than one occasion entered the same piece in two shows at the same time and got the same piece in both shows. When this happens the art goes to: first a show that has awarded me a prize and second the most prestigious show of the two.

When you fill out a show application you have every hope of getting in that show and on occasion will even imagine yourself winning a prize. Both sometimes happen, sometimes not. It's easiest to keep a tough skin around you and remember that most shows are being judged by a single person and the show is a reflection of what interests them not necessarily a reflection on the quality of your work.