Create a PDF Exhibit Catalogue for yourself

Ariadne Weaver has a terrific idea on Sacred Webs and Spirals. She offers a portable art portfolio, in PDF format, that interested buyers, or anyone else, can download. It is set up beautifully, with titles and chosen quotes. All the pieces have a simple black frame to set them off. The last four pages offer such essentials as an artist statement, a curriculum vitae, contact details, and a price list. The key word that comes to mind is “elegant.”

An added bonus? Weaver’s work commands second and third looks: it is provocative, the colors sparkle, and the text provides a spiritual and hopeful underpinning to the work.

This idea has clear potential for promoting your work, and is definitely worth emulating.

We Make Art to Set It Free: Be Brave, Submit!

I haven’t always thought this way. At one time, I recited a constant monologue about not needing to sell, where I insisted that selling isn’t everything, I’m not in it for the money, it’s not about commercialism.

Somewhere along the way, those feelings changed.

Now, I want to sell my work. I liken it to a mother whose children have grown, so they need to go out and be part of the world, interact with it, contribute to it. I am thrilled to think of my work having something to say, as it graces someone’s wall, dialoguing with them and others who come into their lives.

So I’ve been looking around for places to send my work, both to display and sell. Being Canadian, I’m especially interested in Canadian venues. But really good American ones are a definite option as well.

Art Craft Design Culture offers fiber art calls, and I think that GoodEgg Industries has an intriguing mission:

Our mission is to support the Canadian independent craft community by bringing attention to the work of exciting, emerging craft artists and designers. We are thrilled to have this opportunity to share all of the creativity happening in Canada with the rest of the world!

Artists in Canada has a whole page of calls for entry resource links. I’m sorry I missed the “Wild Thing” call for entry by the Focus on Fibre Art Association, in Edmonton, Alberta:

Take your “wild side” for a walk and send us your result. In a short artist’s statement, tell us how this piece represents your inner “wild thing.”

Now that would have been FUN! I’ll keep an eye on this association! And I like the sample artist statement that illustrates the format they are looking for.

Artipedia lists a whole range of calls for entry as well.

AWOL gallery in Toronto has an annual group exhibition of hundreds of local, national and international artists in all media, The Square Foot Show. Why, the “sqaure foot” show? Because every piece of artwork must be exactly 12” x 12” inches.

Getting even smaller, if you want to make some Artist Trading Cards to display, check out the Richmond Art Gallery’s 3RD ANNUAL ARTIST TRADING CARD EXHIBITION.

The American ArtShow has an International section of calls for entries.

Cyndi Lavin, who has her fingers in everything creative, has a calls for entries section in her Layers Upon Layers blog.

It’s exciting that the American Craft Council is now open to full-time residents of the U.S. or Canada producing original, handmade work in the following media: ceramics, glass, metal, stone, wood, fiber, jewelry, leather, mixed media, furniture, basketry, clothing, lighting, paper, toys & puzzles, musical instruments.

That’s enough for now. I’ll be revisiting these from time to time, and honing the list for my own use.

Be brave: SUBMIT!

What Would Take My Art to “The Next Level”?

I read something that Susie Monday, from El Cielo Studio, wrote on May 1, that has had me pondering for some days now:

What would take me to the next level in my work, without just being a “technique of the moment.” I suspect it might take me deeper into the world of precision, or sewing, or traditional quilting. I’d like something demanding and stretching, something that challenges but contributes validly to my path and work.

“Technique of the moment” is an excellent way of describing those techniques that may suit someone else, but just don’t work for you. The trick is deciphering the difference between not working, and needing time to master. Some things aren’t worth spending time on. Others deserve a lot of practice and dedication because they will, ultimately, be so worth it!

I have come to certain conclusions about this question of how to take my work to a “higher” level. It is vital to constantly hone the techniques that I have come to learn, through practice, are effective vehicles for me. But they are only vehicles–they are the means for putting my ideas, impressions, and insights into my work. So it is important that I nurture my mind and spirit. I endeavor to be clear about my intent, to practice methods that allow me to be as aware, awake, and receptive as I can. I purposefully read. I enjoy passionate dialogue. I look for the symbolic meaning in what is happening around me–in my dreams, in my encounters with others, in the world at large. And I work at trusting that what I am receiving, generating, thinking, is worthy of revealing to the world. In other words, I seek to make a habit of loving and respecting my self.

These are the kinds of steps that I believe are needed to ascend to that esteemed “next level,” or that place of greater depth, clarity, and mastery that we, as artists, yearn for our work to reflect.

What unused art materials are hiding in YOUR closet?

I used to buy a lot of polymer clay books, including Nan Roche’s The New Clay. I bought a few videos, too. I still have a box (a BIG box) full of polymer clay supplies: I purchased the pasta machine, the cutters, extruders, the whole nine yards. But I never actually made anything I was wild about. And I didn’t like the process. Sound familiar? What supplies do you hide away in a closet or shelf that you invested a wad of cash and attention on, but never got around to using? I have this new rule for my studio: if I haven’t used something in a year or two, I should donate it to an artist or toss it. If only we could all organize a big SWAP–your trash is my treasure and all that jazz.

I am a believer, however, in collecting eye candy from every art form in the universe. Everything is “grist to the mill,” though I must say grist does not sound very attractive (gryst, even less so). Every working artist has tips, tricks, and philosophies to share that can also be invaluable when applied to one’s own work.

Take Kathleen Dustin, for instance, whose stunning PC (see, I know the lingo, though PVC would be more technically correct) purses and bags take these functional items to artistically elevated heights. As Dustin’s website so succintly puts it: “Her exquisite evening bags have been celebrated for their emotional images of women, translucent depth of surface, and vibrant colors. ” That is absolutely true, and I have admired her work for years. But her words are also inspiring, such as a recent rallying call to all artists in her blog:

You as artists and craftsmen MUST be open, sharing, and eager to help other artists/craftsmen. Believe it or not, it hurts YOU and the whole community when you are secretive about what you do . . . It’s OK to give things away to the artistic competition because it actually keeps you on your toes and doesn’t allow you to become too complacent about your work, doing the same old formulas over and over again.

This is why I teach everything I do, at least eventually. I may not teach a class on a new and exciting technique I only recently discovered and am still developing, but I will at some point. Because my work is so personal, no one else can or should want to do what I do specifically, so I do not feel threatened by teaching the techniques surrounding it. After all, wise King Solomon said in the book of Ecclesiastes in the Bible, “There is nothing new under the sun,” so who am I to think that the techniques I use cannot be discovered independently by someone else, or be done even better by someone else?

It is also OK to “borrow” or get ideas from another’s work, as long as you push it and move it enough to make it your own. It is also courteous to give credit to that artist when it is appropriate. But, the art we make should come from inside us — inside our brains, inside our experience, inside our guts — so we don’t have to depend on someone else’s ideas or techniques to make art.

Thanks, Kathleen. Generosity is contagious.