Friday, August 27, 2010

stuff, stuff, and more stuff

I got an email yesterday from Harriet at Five Rivers Arts Alliance asking if I would be interested in doing a collage workshop at the Brunswick Family Arts Festival. I am flattered that Five Rivers thought of me, and even though I've never done anything like this, I'm excited to try it! Thankfully, it's not supposed to be a lesson per se, but more of a hands-on, drop-in experience for anyone who wants to participate. That sounds fairly low-key to me, which is a very good thing! The Family Arts Festival will be held on Saturday, September 25th, from 10 am to 4 pm on the mall in Brunswick (rain location: Brunswick Junior High School gymnasium). Fingers crossed for good weather!

Tonight I had the pleasure of attending the opening reception for "Two Visions", a two woman show featuring the work of Susan Mills and Natasha Kempers-Cullen. This show was just amazing! There is something very powerful and primal in Susan Mills' artwork (I love her "Elementals" and her "Shields"), and I really enjoyed the color and feeling in Natasha Kempers-Cullen's tapestries ("Vortex" and "The Tower" were among my favorites). Their work goes so well together and the show is very cohesive. If you have a chance, stop by the Chocolate Church Arts Center in Bath sometime before October 3rd and check it out before it's gone.

Tomorrow is the drop off day for the Arts Are Elementary 10" x 10" show, and I am very excited to be participating. The deadline to sign up for this show was quite a while ago, and I remember the drop-off date seemed so far away. The show is October 1st and I'm sure that date will be here before I realize it as well! Time flies...

Tuesday, August 17, 2010

i can now exhale

Last night was Pecha Kucha Brunswick Volume 4, and I'm happy to say it was a very positive experience for me! Five ladies from the Brunswick Art Collaborative showed up to give me moral support and Terry was there for me as well, so I had a lot of friendly faces in the crowd. I was slated to be the second presenter, which I was very excited about...I was hoping to go early so I could just relax and enjoy the rest of the evening, and the second slot was perfect for that. The emcee managed to pronounce my name correctly (which is no easy feat) and I was able to get through my presentation without really stuttering or stammering.  It was another sold-out event, and the crowd was attentive and responsive. Honestly, I was surprised at how quickly time seemed to go by while I was up there, and I was happy to experience a sense of excitement rather than nervousness during my time on stage. Thankfully I managed to get in a fair amount of practice during the two weeks between finding out I had been accepted and the event itself, and I think that helped my confidence level a lot. I started working on my statement the day after I found out I was in, and I'm really glad I got right on it.

I'm extremely grateful to my friend Jen Moscone (http://www.interactivetarot.net/) and her dad, Jim. Jen helped me with my statement to get accepted into this Pecha Kucha event, and she was a wonderful sounding board when I was working on my presentation. Jen also sized down my photos to meet the Pecha Kucha requirements (which I am clueless about), and Jim took a bunch of new pictures for me in a very short amount of time. Thank you both (once again) for helping me out! I couldn't have done it without you. I'm also thankful for everyone who came to the event (the ladies of the Brunswick Art Collaborative never cease to amaze me), and for all my friends and family who sent me well-wishes and support through the ether. Thank you all!

Friday, August 6, 2010

big doings

Okay, I've been slacking...I haven't blogged in a while, but it's only because a lot has been going on. I've been meaning to write about how great it was to go to Vermont a couple of weekends ago to see the fun and inspirational Bread and Puppet theater (http://www.breadandpuppet.org/). I've also been meaning to write about Freeport Creative Arts asking me to write a short bio (including some pictures of my work and one of myself) and send them 12 copies for inclusion in binders around town for people to see (as well as a digital version for their website)...I also meant to write about FCA using one of my images in an email they sent out to members advertising the group show that opened last weekend. I also wanted to mention that I recently spent some time with the wonderful artist Kat Logan (http://www.mygreatfullheart.com/) that I won't soon forget. Yes, all that has been on my mind, but the biggest thing that has been on my mind can be summed up in two words: Pecha Kucha.

I was accepted to participate in the next Pecha Kucha Brunswick event (at Frontier Gallery on Monday, August 16) and I am so excited. I have been scrambling to figure out what pieces to show, what to say about them, and what to say about myself, but it feels really good. For those of you who don't know what Pecha Kucha is, you can check out the Five Rivers Arts Alliance page (http://www.fiveriversartsalliance.org/) for more information. In a nutshell, 10 presenters speak; each person shows twenty slides and they have twenty seconds per slide to speak. It's fast-paced and lots of fun, and I'm thrilled to be a part of it. Reservations are recommended, so if you want to be there, contact Five Rivers to save your spot. Wish me luck!