Chromatic Explorations

When my friend, Dave offered up his space at The Miller Haus as exhibition space, I jumped on it because that is what I do--I leap before I look.  But I thought to myself it is a small space and I should be able to do it if I grab Maryanne, another friend who is an accomplished artist.

I had months to plan for this thing and in my head, I really was planning.  I knew the dates that announcements needed to begin, we had even measured out the space, but every time I went down to the cave to work it was like I ran up against an invisible wall and as the day to set up came closer, that wall got harder! I had tons of partially started projects and a bunch of ones in my head just aching to jump out, but I couldn't do a thing and I really needed to have at least 25 pieces to fill my part of the room.

I am not a perfectionist by any means, but it was self-doubt that was rearing its ugly head and beating me.  When I started this creating journey not so very long ago, it was purely for me.  The thrill of attempting to learn a technique and the results making me smile was quite enough, but then I started offering my creations up for sale I started stressing.  Believe me, I know that my stuff is not for everyone, and sales will be slower than typical, but shoot!  What if I throw a party and no one comes?!  Well, I am not a quitter (a whiner maybe, but not a quitter) so I muscled through.  The week before setup, I was pulling all nighters, but I finally finished up enough artwork to put up on the walls.  And you know what?  When we combined our works together, it looks great and we are getting positive feedback from the people who stroll through the room!

I still worry about what I am creating, but a neighbor came to my house the other night to pick up eggs and I showed her the table that I am working on (knowing full well that it isn't her style but she would tell me what she thinks).  She walked up to it and looked at it and touched it and looked some more.  It made my heart sing.  That is exactly what I want people to do with my work...see it, feel it and let it touch your soul.