My final show of the year 2008 has come and gone. All the excitement, anxiety and stress are over with, at least until the next show in early spring! It’s been an interesting year in the art world. With the economy struggling, it’s been difficult for many artists to make a living. But it is also an exciting time. Change is in the air! Who knows what this next year will bring?
“There’s no retirement for an artist, it’s your way of living so there’s no end to it.”
Henry Moore
This is the season for art shows and runny noses. I usually do several art shows around the Holidays and just finished the Watts Hospital-Hillandale Art Walk here in Durham, NC. The show has left me tired, a bit out of sorts and a little raw. This was the best one day show that I have ever done and yet it leaves me feeling exposed and vulnerable. I know, I know, it makes no sense.
I spend weeks sometimes months getting ready for a art show, putting so much time, effort and energy into creating work that I become emotionally attached to but end up having to sell
I am feeling the post show blues! I love my work and I love giving it or selling it to people that I know will appreciate the work that went into it. I want people to know what my encaustic work means to me. I bear my soul, my deepest feelings, its all there out in the open for everyone to see. Maybe that is what bothers me about art shows, the knowledge that I am opening up my inner thoughts to the world.
“Here I am ..Look at me, naked, flawed, and trying so hard to find my role in this world, mother, wife, lover, artist, friend, daughter and sister.”
Every artist needs to learn how to deal with criticism. I do not deal well with it. It is a flaw that I can’t really afford as an artist.
“You don’t like my work that I have poured my heart into? Well screw you…no one says you have to buy it!” The immature part of my nature rears its ugly head.
Both boys and I have a nasty cold. The two year old is having a difficult time nursing. The five year old stays home from school. So the three of us have been holed up amidst the show displays, canvases and boxes that are waiting to be unpacked, we watch the Wiggles, read books and build castles.
I finally got a chance to read the latest Motherverse and Juno Magazine that had been waiting for me. Apparently I am not the only crazy mother out there that is trying to find a creative outlet! It’s a good feeling knowing you are not alone!
Here are a few of my favorite pieces from the show.
Judith Kuegler 