Creative inspiration from Amy Poehler

I recently read Amy Poehler's book, Yes Please. It was great - funny and moving in all the right ways. 

She wrote a little about creativity and being an artist. 

Here are a couple of things that I jotted down to refer to later:

"You have to care about your work but not about the result. You have to care about how good you are and how good you feel but not about how good people think you are."

"Most people I know struggle with that complicated soup of feeling slighted on one hand and like a total fraud on the other."

Interview with Jessica Hische

Nice video of designer Jessica Hische:

I love her work, especially the Drop Caps series for Penguin Books. I really want the A!

Oh, hello there.

I can't believe it's been over 3 years since I last posted.

I was just telling someone today that I had been neglecting my blog, so I decided to go ahead and just start posting some things again.

I like to show this video to students. It's Ira Glass from This American Life. He's talking specifically about radio production, but I think it applies to all creative endeavors:

And here's a nice, concise kinetic type version of the pertinent advice:

You should watch the whole interview. It's good.

Checking In - Well, Whining, Really...

Is anybody still out there? I've been so sporadic with this blog for a long time. Unmotivated. Uninspired.

Just thought I'd post something - anything - to get the wheels turning.

I guess I feel like I'm in a stagnant phase right now. My artwork is progressing and I'm happy with what I've been doing lately. I'm getting some shows here and there, some sales, etc. All as a result of a lot of hard work from the past few years. But it's not enough to support me. I know that I need to do another push and keep working, but for some reason I'm blocked. Or lazy. Or scared.

So maybe it's just the economy and it'll pick up soon.

On a positive note, I have work in the lobby of the Murchison Performance Hall on the campus of the University of North Texas in Denton, Texas. If you're in the Denton area and would like to see it, check the schedule.

And Waxy Buildup, the exhibit I collaborated on with Trayc Claybrook, will be on exhibit at Gallery One in Ellensburg, Washington in January of 2011.

So there are some things going on and I have things to look forward to.

My next major goal is to get my work into a gallery in Dallas and at least one other major city in the US next year.

OK, it's out there, so now I have to do it.

Funny Rejection Letter

I hate to focus on rejection, but unfortunately it's just part of the process of being an exhibiting artist.

Here's a great example of a rejection letter that uses humor, from the wonderful Letters of Note blog:

Click to see a bigger version. You can read the transcript on Letters of Note.

Encaustic Conference - Best Foot Forward part 1

This year at the conference, the conferees were invited to bring one piece that measured 12" x 12" or less to hang in the hallway gallery. The Montserrat staff spent a long time applying tape to the wall to form a grid for the pieces to hang within.

I got there early, when there were only a few pieces installed, so it was fun to see the wall fill up with artwork. There were also a few 3-dimensional pieces that sat on pedestals in front of the wall.

Here are some photos of the hallway in various stages of the installation:

During the opening reception

Here are some shots of some of the pieces that I liked. I don't remember a lot of the artist information, but I included it where I knew it or could read the tag in the photo:

Margaret Berry

David A. Clark

Donna Zarbin-Byrne

Pamala Crabb Burnham

Pamala Crabb Burnham (detail)

Paula Streeter

Elise Mankes

Nancy Lowe

Nancy Lowe (detail)

Binnie Birstein

Nancy Natale

Karen Nielsen-Fried

Julie Shaw Lutts

Joanne Mattera

Alexandre Massino

Barbara Walton

Brenda Mallory

Congratulations to Karen Freedman! Her piece above was chosen by Joanne Mattera for the Director's Prize. For the first time, the prize was chosen from the work of the conferees.

I really enjoyed being able to see so much work in person. It was fun to meet someone and then ask them about their piece in the hallway and be able to have a conversation about it. It was also a great showcase of the variety of ways that artists use this versatile medium. I'm really looking forward to the "Everybody Into the Pool" show that Joanne is already talking about for next year!

There's a list of other conferees who are blogging about the conference on the Montserrat Encaustic Conference blog. Be sure to check them out!

To be continued...

Encaustic Conference - Wax Libris II

When we got to the conference, Gwen and I went to check out the Wax Libris II show, since we both have work in the show.

The show is in the Montserrat College library. I took photos of lots of the work, but don't have all the artists and titles. I'll work on getting those...

Firecracker by Cynthia Winika.

by Catherine Nash

by Catherine Nash

by Haley Nagy

by Laura Moriarty

by Nancy Natale

by Miles Conrad

by Miles Conrad

by Miles Conrad

by Miles Conrad

by Gwendolyn Plunkett

by Jeanne Borofsky