I haven't always been the most motivated person in the world. Sometimes it's just like pulling teeth to get me moving, even if it's something that enjoyable to me. Because of this I find that deadlines are absolutely essential for me. In school there were always deadlines. A paper due, a critique to make work for, a BFA show to prepare for. Now that I am not in school I have to make my own deadlines. I spend a lot of time looking here and there to find a project, a show to enter...any excuse to keep me busy in the studio. 

Right now I am preparing for a big IF. I am entering a show at a gallery in Cincinnati.  IF I get accepted then I am going to need cells, and potentially lots of them. This wouldn't be a problem other than the fact that I am hanging some cells at Christ Church Cathedral on Monday which will take up a good portion of my current supply. That show stays up until February of next year, I need to deliver the goods to Cincinnati by December 8. So yeah, I might need more work. 

If I don't get into the show the cells will go in the Etsy shop and I might be able to snag a few sales for the holiday season. I will slowly start building my inventory for when (I'm trying to be positive here) I get into any art fairs next year. So whether or not I get into the show it's a win, win situation. 

I really, really want to get in though! 

I made my first Etsy sale last Friday! As soon as I got the email I was literally doing a happy dance around the room. The sale was for three items! Three items about a month after the opening of my shop? I guess that's pretty good? I was so excited that I was ready to run to the studio to pick up the cells and then run right to the post office to ship them right off to their new home in New York City!

I'd like to add more cells to the shop but I have a couple of things coming up that make me hesitate to do so. I'm part of a show that will be installing November 5 and up through the end of the year called For the Delight of Children at the Christ Church Cathedral in Lexington. Kids seem to love the cells (and I love hearing what they think they are) so I am excited to be able to participate (the show will feature both adult artist and child art). I believe that the opening reception coincides with Gallery Hop on November 16th so if you're hoppin' stop on by to che

 There are also a couple more events where my studio is located that I want to have at least some inventory for. Thankfully if I need to I think I can crank out another batch of cells before the last event on December 2nd. I made 5 new molds this past Friday. I haven't made a mold since Fall of '09 but apparently it's like riding a bike, I remembered all the steps and even though the molds are a little jacked on the bottom they'll do the trick. 

I was actually looking forward to cranking some cells out yesterday in the studio but the molds were not completely dry yet so the clay wasn't drying at a decent pace. I'm hoping by the time I go in tomorrow they'll be ready to go. I am anxious to get crackin'! 

I am also looking into getting a kiln hooked up. As much as I like supporting local business like Kentucky Mudworks, it is more fiscally beneficial for me to get my own hooked up. It's only been sitting in my garage since May '10 collecting dust! 

This past Friday I participated in the Lexington Art League's pARTy, art for everyone. We set up underneath the big pavilion downtown during Gallery Hop, kind of a pop-up art display. There were several other artists that participated, The Mojo Tones, March Madness Marching Band fun, belly dancing, a  bar, and a U-haul got a makeover by local street artist, part of PRHBTN. In other words-lots of awesome stuff.

It was the first time that I've ever set my work up outside and I didn't realize how nervous I would be about it until I started hanging them. (did you know it feels like it takes forever to screw in 63 screws??)  I kept picturing them shattering into a  million pieces as they fell to the ground. Thankfully, there was none of that. Even when the wind picked up right before the event started they barely moved. Phew! 

I had a great time talking with people about my work. My favorite thing is that people see so many different things in them. One girl saw a turtle, another a teapot. A high schooler even asked me some questions for a report she had to do for school on Gallery Hop. I thought that was extra sweet. It's really nice to see that people really enjoy my work!

Picture taking was a little sporadic since I was talking with people about my work and being social but here are a few I was able to grab: 

Yesterday we went to Frankfort, KY to attend the Fall Festival at Josephine Sculpture Park. Even though the park has been open since about 2009 I have never been out there. (I am constantly coming across new artsy places around Lexington, it's great!)  I learned that Jospehine was founded by artists who had been part of the residency program at Franconia Sculpture Park, an amazing park just a few miles from my parent's house in Minnesota. 

I think Ruby enjoyed herself (It may have been too close to nap time) she liked to feel the sculptures and said, "hot", a lot. She also got to see her first butterflies and hugely fat bumblebees. 

This past week, Lexington received a visit from Herakut, the internationally known street artist duo from Germany (admittedly though, I  had never heard of them before I received the Facebook event invite). I attended the artist talk this past Tuesday which gave me greater insight into the work. Not only do they do murals all over the world but they've made work on canvas, sculptures, and even collaborated with a performance art dance troupe in L.A. to do a stage production. (you can check out the video here)

That would have been so amazing to see. Listening to them talk about different projects they've done and hear about all the different places they've traveled a) makes me incredibly envious and b) really, really makes me want to succeed at making art.  What is my definition of success? Well, we'll talk about this a year from  now, but right now I would settle for selling something from my Etsy shop and getting settled into my new studio space! 

650: Dollars to make and fire the 70 cells for the fair, cost of food, gas, booth fees, and hotel. This does not include gas to get to and from the studio to make the cells. 

210: cells I would need to fill the entire space myself, which is about 3x the number that I brought.

14 hour day: It was a long day but thankfully it didn't seem that long. We were either busy setting up/taking down, interacting with patrons, or chatting with other artists. Plus it turned out to be a beautiful day.

13: Cost of my BBQ dinner from Old Hickory where I sampled mutton for the first time. Several people highly recommended this place but I guess I am just not a fan of western Kentucky bbq.

5: Cells sold. I didn't have any particular number in mind going into the day. I would have been hella disappointed if I hadn't sold anything but thankfully one patron bought 5. It was my only sale of the day but I was thrilled! People seemed to genuinely like them (especially kids) and I got a lot of positive comments on them, people just didn't buy. Could have been that this just wasn't my target market or it could have been that people saw them as “just decoration”, which was a comment I got several times. (more thoughts on that later)

3.5: Hours to drive, one way, from Lexington to Owensboro. 

2: illegal U-turns: There were some issues with navigation. I blame it on the exit that wasn't where it was supposed to be.   

1.5:hours it took to take down booth and tent at the end of the day. Staci said that was a record. It was a good thing that it didn't take us longer, it seemed to get dark immediately after the fair ended. By the end of it we were working by the headlights of my car. Booth set-up and take-down was something that I had basically no experience with before yesterday. The long and short of it is that it is definitely a team effort, especially with the tent. Everything looked fantastic though..one of the best looking booth in the fair, if I do say so myself! 

Even though it wasn't the best day as far as sales, I had a great time. I met a lot of new people, made some connections, and learned a lot. I think I'll definitely look into applying to a couple of fairs next year. 

Yay! My new site is up and running. What do you think? 

This weekend is the East Bridge Art and Music Festival. My first art fair! 

I had all of my work laid out in the studio and took inventory. I had 70 cells. 70. But it looked like nothing! For a moment I panicked, thinking that I hadn't made enough for the fair and ohmygod what the hell am I going to do it's 5 days before the fair! But then I calmed myself by reminding myself that for my BFA show I was using a space about 4x the size I'll be using at the fair and I had fewer cells, only 59 (yes, 59...one got lost on the way to the gallery). So space should not be an issue. In general, I am feeling pretty good about this weekend! 

One thing that I am attempting to complete before the fair is my Etsy shop. My main issue with finishing it is that I cannot, for the life of me, figure out a shop name. I suck-a-saurus at branding anything, let alone myself. I've got a rough idea for a banner...but beyond that...nothing. I've got things listed to sell, i just need to figure those last two (albeit very important) details. 

Besides Etsy stuff, tomorrow I'll be packing the car so that we can leave for Owensboro immediately after I get off of work on Friday. I think I've got everything I need ready to go and I've gotten the scoop on the places to eat. I am looking forward to a kick-ass BBQ dinner when my friend, and amazing artist Staci McKnight Maney, arrives in town shortly after us. 

I will now take this time to give some mad props to Staci, as she is the reason this whole weekend is happening. She graciously offered to share her booth with me for the fair and has been so encouraging (sometimes giving me the huge shove gentle nudge that I need to get my butt moving on the whole art thing). If you are so inclined check out her work! 


I'm not sure how much time I will have to blog this weekend but you can bet that I'll be posting pics and updates on my Facebook page! Have a great one!