cricket & sparrow show

cricket & sparrow show, Kishwaukee College Gallery, originally uploaded by pejnolan.

After all the hard work and all the worry, the cricket and sparrow show is up and running. Gallery director, Michelle Erickson-Goettel and her assistant, Ronna did a fantastic job setting up the show. The lighting and placement of the pieces was just right.

As always there are things I will do differently next time around. I am so very glad to have had this opportunity to learn more about marketing and the display of artwork in a gallery setting.

That is one of the most difficult parts about being an artist. I'm not just creating art, I am a business person, accountant, advertiser, marketer, promoter, etc. All that other stuff takes me away from the artwork itself. I have to be extremely focused and targeted about what it is I'm trying to achieve because I only have a limited amount of time with which to do it.

Many years ago when I was a student, I naively thought that it would be easier to be an artist because that is all I would do. Instead you have even more work with tighter deadlines and more of the un-art activities to accomplish. That is just talking about the art side of my life. My husband does A LOT of housework, he spends A LOT of time alone and home-cooked meals are disappearing fast. I regret parts of this new set-up. Luckily he understands how important this is to me.

That is a good thing in the long run. Every time I push myself to do something new, I am learning and building the groundwork that will lift me to the next level. I have been very blessed.

I'll continue to do the best I personally can; hopefully growing as a person and an artist along the way. Years ago it was all about balance: juggling family, home, art, day-job. I'm thinking now that if I want something, I have to go after it.

I no longer subscribe to the idea that balance is possible. Balance to me equals not being particularly good at anything, just so-so at a myriad of things. I've done that and felt like a failure because I could not do EVERYTHING well. God gave me a mind and a talent and I want to use them. If that idea is selfish, so be it.

I have lived 40 years, I may have 40 left. I have to ask myself if I want to spend the next half of my life the same as the first. No. No I don't. So, I have to at least try. If I fail, then ok. I will at least have the knowledge that I didn't go down quietly. It's the trying that counts.