I mentioned "Bill" in day 1. Jane knows Bill...Bill knows Janet...Janet owns Creative Framing in Louisville and Lafayette. Creative Framing not only frames beautifully (and I highly recommend Janet as her talent is exceptional at putting the right frame with the right piece of art) but also has a gallery for purchasing art from many local, talented artists. Anyway, Bill insisted on taking a few smaller pieces that I brought in for Jane's critique. According to Janet, he would not leave her alone until she took a look at my art. To make a very long story shorter, Janet offered to include my work in an art show on December 10. This was in November - I had 2 paintings and 3 weeks to come up with at least 12 more paintings. I pulled off the paintings but was soooooo nervous about the art show.
I don't do people well and everyone was giving advice about how artists need to talk about themselves at these shows - tell their story. Well, I'm thinking to myself, "I have no story!". I have no "artist statement". I certainly have no formal training and therefore am unable to throw out artist terminology or tell about experiences studying abroad, etc.. I have nothing to talk about - I just paint! I worried myself into a knot about "my story". Everytime I went into the gallery, Bill would introduce me to people and start telling them what he knew about me. He kept commenting "I love her story" and I'm thinking "What in the hell is he talking about? I haven't come up with a story yet!". So one day, I paid close attention to what he was telling people about me and realized that my story was pretty simple - the fact that I didn't have a lifetime of art experiences, awards, notoriety was apparently what was most interesting to him. So, I went with it - it was truthful, sincere and I didn't have to remember any exaggerated details.
Now on to the bigger hurdle - my antisocial behavior meets a room full of strangers. Lots of people, lots of wine, lots of food, laughter, chatter everywhere, people really having a good time! Me? Here's what's going on with me - anxiety, claustrophobia, self doubt, hot flashes, stockings won't stay up, I'm in a dress and heels (UGH!!!), I'm dodging a newspaper reporter, it's even past my bedtime. Well, my dearest friend, Debbie Terrell, knows me so well and predicts all of this weirdness that I'm feeling so she simply gathers my other friends and family and form this nice circle around me. I'm grateful for the break, have a few more glasses of wine and all becomes comfortable in my bubble...
After it was all over with, I thought to myself - "Okay, I can do that again." And I am working on the overall problem - my fear of people expecting me to be more than I am and being disappointed.
A picture of Debbie "studying" my art made the newspaper and I sold 15 or 16 paintings at the gallery in the following 2 months and several requests for commissioned work. I'm actually looking forward to more shows!
