As much as I love the Mid-Hudson Valley of New York, my home; it is time for my art to move out of the area. I have been showing at galleries in salon shows, juried competitions and invitational shows within a 25 mile radius, as well as an annual studio tour, but that is just not enough anymore. The clamor from the various framed pieces stacked up along the walls of my studio had become annoying so the other day I shipped 10 of them down to Poughkeepsie for an invitational show at the Barrett Clay Works gallery and 1 lucky piece got to go down to North Carolina (the piece in the image above:"A Child's Garden of Entropy: Evidence of Entropy Mounts," bricolage, 2007.) I hope most of them don't return and that they go, with my blessings, to good homes.
The first time I sold a piece it was a wrench. I know, I know; I'm trying to earn a living with this work so that means I must sell. A conundrum all artists face. When I do illustration work, I am only licensing the reproduction rights to the work; and with scanners and digital cameras the original art never has to leave my studio- it just goes *poof* into the ether and arrives at the client's in mere seconds.
Not so with my gallery art. The original must go. Sometimes it is a piece I have barely had time to appreciate. Oh, let me be honest- it is a piece I have not spent enough time admiring, preening in that mirror of my abilities. Show me an artist whose work is not such a mirror... Anyway, sometimes I barely get the piece finished before it must be submitted. If and when it is returned to me after the run of the exhibit, it is almost as if I am seeing it for the first time- "I did this? hmmm..." And it joins its siblings in the stack. Sometimes it is a piece I secretly hope will not be sold but needs must, I cannot live on beauty. Those are the heart-wrenchers, the best work, the most authentic work.
So, fare thee well my art, my heart's work- just send the check right away...
(to see some art that is really ready to move on: visit Etsy and search "sellers" for "pmlaw" Thanks.)
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