Swan Diving Into the Wrong Pool

Life has a funny, funny way of helping you out

  -Alanis Morissette

A while back I told you that I was applying for a residency and had my fingers crossed for good news. Well, the good news is that I didn’t get it. Yep, that seems like the wrong answer, but I mean it. I am so very happy that I didn’t get accepted.

If I had, I’d be packing up and leaving right now for the 2 month stint working on a new body of work. Instead, I am home (very important to a home body such as myself), working diligently in my studio on the pieces that I already have in my head and need to get out.

Also, if I had, I wouldn’t be able to watch Summer slowly fade into Fall from my small house on the farm. My favorite time of year in one of my favorite places on earth.

I got excited by an idea, and instead of working through it in my sketchbook, (which is sometimes all I need to do to work through an idea and then be done with it) I had a momentary lapse in objective thinking that made me swan dive into the pool, the wrong pool.

And the universe jumped in to save me from my own mistake. Thankfully.

Did it smart a bit? Maybe a touch. But I am so HAPPY that it worked out this way.

And, rejection helps toughen the skin. Who doesn’t need that from time to time?

Life indeed has a funny way of helping us out.

May your day bring you wonderful surprises!

Show and Tell Sunday- Serendipity Strikes Again

Life is so interesting, don’t you think? One never knows what seemingly insignificant stuff can turn into big and exciting news. A little over a year ago, my friend and fellow blogger, Martha, at An Artist's Journal, blogged about using Citra-Solve (spelling varies greatly, BTW) in her art work and mentioned reading about it in the magazine, Cloth Paper Scissors. I was intrigued by the sound of it, went to my local bookseller, and bought the magazine.

Also in that issue was a Call to Artists for their inaugural Artisan Search 2011. Hmmm, I thought, maybe I should check into this. Which I did and decided to apply for. Lo and behold I won in my category. All because I read a blog post. Wonderful stuff, this serendipitous path called life.

The winners in each category received a wonderful prize package and were interviewed to appear in the magazine throughout the year. I was slated for the July/August issue, so I jokingly called myself  Miss July/August. Made me want to walk down the red carpet with flowers and a crown. (Yes, in clothes, just in case bunny ears came to mind.)

And then the crowning jewel of this serendipitous path was reveled this past Friday when I received the actual magazine and was surprised to see my work on the cover. I am honored. And I promise to not take stuff like this for granted.

In lieu of scanning the cover, which I can’t do as I am traveling, here is the link to the magazine with the cover and info about the issue.

Until the next time, may your day be filled with surprises!

A Kiss for Luck and It's On Its Way

The other day I shared with you that I was considering applying for a 2 month residency and that I was afraid. One of the reasons for my fear is that I have taken workshops and done residencies in the past, and they haven’t always lived up to what I had hoped for.

Silly me. Worrying that something won’t work out exactly as I planned. But then I remembered that nothing in life ever works out exactly as we think they will, right? Does that mean the experience isn’t worth it? Or worth trying something similar in the future? A definitive no. It might take months or even years to realize the benefit, but it’s there, it’s always there. There are always benefits to every experience. Sometimes we just have to look a little harder to see them.

All of that to say, I shoved aside my fears, with some force, mind you, and did it. Application completed and submitted. Now I just hope for the best, knowing full well that whatever the outcome, it is as it should be.

On that happy note, I bid your farewell. May your day be a creative one!

More Targets to Shoot At. More Bullets to Fire.

Deadlines, deadlines, deadlines. There have been many deadlines as of late. More targets to shoot at. More bullets to fire.

Which is good, as they keep me moving forward. Most are easy-breezy applications. Fill in the blanks and send in your money. But, I am also applying for a residency. Minimum of 2 months. Which has this homebody a bit nervous.

Well, actually, I am afraid.

And yes, it is easy to say “face your fears,” but it is much harder to do so.

So, I have had some sleepless nights. And heart wrenching conversations.

Is this right for me?
Should I do it?
What if I am not selected?
What if I am selected?
Do I really want to do it?
Will it really be good for me?
And on and on.

In the end, the pros outweigh the cons. So I gotta do it.

Scary, indeed, but I’m just gonna ride it out and see where it takes me.

I’ll keep you posted on how it goes.

Show and Tell Sunday- She’s Come Undone

As we have talked about before, deadlines can be a very good thing. I could do without the last minute, drama and stress induced kind, but on the whole, I think deadlines help keep us on track.

I recently completed an application for a show, to the point of putting it in the envelope and sealing it up, only to get a notice that the deadline was extended for 2 weeks. Bummer, I first thought. But, no, wait. I need to think about this some more. This means I can keep on working and see if I like any of the new works better for the submission.

Life throwing me another chance to do something better. I like it when than happens. And I almost overlooked it.

Below is the piece I have been working on as a possible addition to my application. It's still in the very early stages, but there is more to come.  A little something extra on this piece.  I'll hope to have it posted before next Show and Tell Sunday.  Time will tell on that front.  But you will be the first to know.

Until next time, may you have a great one!

She's Come Undone

57 x 30"

 Kim Radatz

She's Come Undone, detail
Kim Radatz

How Rejection Made Me A Better Artist

As I prepare my proposal packet to send off next week I keep wondering, “How can I make my proposal shine over all of the other proposals that the gallery receives?” And it made me realize that although acceptance letters are the ones that make me feel good inside, it is the rejection letters that have made me grow, and that in turn has made me a better artist.

If I hadn’t been rejected down through the years I might not have taken time to evaluate my work.

• Was it the quality of the slides/images?
• Was it the quality of the work?
• Was the work appropriate for the show/venue?
• And on and on.

To help strengthen my weaknesses I have taken many workshops on career development, for both artists and business people in general. And I have listened to countless self-help CD’s while I drive and exercise.

I have continued my art education to improve my skills and learned new ones which has enabled me to try new paths. Some lessons I can use immediately while others percolate for years before I find a good use for them. Some I never use, but that does not bother me for it is the knowledge that has given me strength and assuages my fears to consider future risks more comfortably.

I have taken classes and read up on how to take better photographs, though you wouldn't always know it from my blog snapshsots (hah! :-D). I’m not computer savvy, but I am learning my way around the computer and Photoshop. This has probably been the hardest for me, but I keep pluggin’ along and I am surprised at how much I have learned. Don’t get me wrong, I probably couldn’t keep up with a 5th grader, but I look like a genius compared to my sister.

All of these subjects and many more are ongoing as education is my number one priority. Boy, do I still have lots to learn. And I hope I continue doing so until I take my last breath.

And on that happy note, I better get back to work.

I hope your day is a creative one!

Twins, Kim Radatz

Twins, detail, Kim Radatz

This piece was made while I was at Penland School of Crafts in 2006 for the Spring Concentration.  It is a mixed media piece consisting of Vandyke brown photo prints on muslin.

A Sense of Space

Do you visit a gallery before submitting a show proposal?

Sometimes that's a hard thing to do, especially if the gallery is far away. But it can be so very beneficial to do so if the opportunity presents itself.

On my “To Do” list is an entry to submit to a gallery in Wisconsin. I have been there before, so visiting isn’t necessary, right? I also have the work in mind for the space. So again, should be a no brainer, right?

Wrong for me, in this instance.

I happen to be in Minnesota prior to the proposal deadline. Not an accident on my part. Going to the gallery one more time, which isn’t far from here, felt right. I’ve got some new works in the mix and didn’t know exactly which work to submit. The new? The established work? Or a combination of both?

So this is what I did:

I set aside a day to go to the gallery. When I got there I walked in quietly and with an open mind. I had an idea of which work would fit the space, but I remained open to other possibilities.

I took my time. I moved through the space repeatedly and looked at it from different angles.

And softly, slowly, the show emerged. I knew what work to use and where to put it.

This, I must tell you, was different from what I had originally planned.

I am so glad I went. The show proposal will be stronger for that visit.

So my advice, if you are at all able to do so, is to take a walk through the gallery you have in mind and see what emerges. I think you’ll be happy you did.

And let me know how it goes, okay?

In the meantime, may your day be a creative one!

Sandwich as Muse

What is your muse?
 
Hmmm, for me it’s hard to narrow it down to one as I am inspired by many things.
 
As I mentioned in an earlier blog, I started out life as a potter, so rusty, crusty, earthy textures make my heart race. And old, decaying things too.
 
Text of any kind does the same. Which is why it can be found on almost all of my work. That could stem from graffiti, or billboards, or t-shirts which have turned us into walking billboards. Or maybe it is just the simple beauty of the line a letter or word makes that captivates me.
 
I am not sure.
 
But a sandwich has never been among the items on my list.
 
Which is why the Cuban Sandwich Show conceived by David Audet of the Artist and Writers Group and the Festival of Moving Image, is appealing to me.
 
A formal prospectus will be out soon, but in the meantime, David sent out this brief description of the show.

"All the art, in all mediums, has to be about Tampa AND/OR Cuban Sandwiches. Thus, whether the art form is visual, film, dance, theater, music, cuisine, poetry, literature, the root subject is somehow about Tampa, past, present, future."

A Cuban Sandwich Show.  Fantastic.  I shall chew on that subject (pun intended) for many days to come.

Makes me yearn for a good Cuban sandwich too.

And makes me wonder if it is all of our experiences that become our muses?

What do you think?

Whatever form your muse takes, may she keep you moving forward on your path.

Have a great one!

Forging Ahead, Even in Doubt

As I have mentioned before, juried shows are a crap shoot. And I’ve also already mentioned why I don’t take it personally if I don’t get in the show. There are too many great things going on in my world to worry about rejection.

But on top of actually making the art work and then deciding to submit work we artists are faced with the fairly new digital application process. Can any of you out there say “technically challenged”? I can.

I’m still learning my way around Photoshop, though I have learned much by just practicing and using it. The problem is I am usually “practicing” when I am actually submitting the work. Makes the submission process all the more stressful.

This past summer I made some smaller works to submit to the Artisan Search 2011 in the Cloth Paper Scissors magazine. Challenged, I was. With the application, not so much the work. It was so FRUSTRATING. So I almost didn’t complete the process.

Thanks to the kind people at the magazine I learned what I was doing wrong, corrected my mistakes and submitted my application, just in the nick of time.

On my birthday, September 27th, I learned I was one of five finalists in my category of mixed-media stitch. Such a nice birthday gift!  One month later I learned I was the winner in my category. And I almost didn’t enter the show!

I’m glad I forged ahead, even when I doubted myself.

May your day be stress free and creative!

The current issue of Cloth Paper Scissors