Just a quick post to share the construction status of the studio. In just two weeks we’ve quickly gone from a pile of dirt to a foundation … to walls. I’m just itching to get in there and start making art!
Pouring the studio foundation:
Walls framed:
Greg in front of the house, the studio is off to the right in the backyard:
~Ginger
Posted in Personal Stories, Studio
Tagged building a studio, Ginger Burrell, studio construction, www.gingerburrell.com
I hope you had a lovely holiday season! Greg and I are fortunate to live close to both of our families so we had plenty of family events as well as some much-needed rest after working 24/7 on house and yard projects. We even took off an entire day to watch movies – we managed to fit in five – for my birthday.
But, its January 2nd and time to get back to the real world. I’ve been thinking a lot about my New Year’s resolutions and, more importantly, how to make realistic ones given that we are packing, getting a house ready to sell, and moving – only to start unpacking and decorating a new house and, even more fun – setting up a new studio. Is it realistic to do all that and create art, too?
After hemming and hawing and making ambitious lists and crossing everything out again, I’ve decided to commit to the following New Year’s Art Resolutions:
1. I will spend at least 2 hours almost every day making art. Whether it is working on a new artists’ book, taking photographs, doing post-production work, producing an edition or just playing with materials. Sure, once the move is over it will be a lot more than 2 hours, but if I can just keep that window open for creativity almost every day – despite packing up my studio, I’ll call that a win.
2. I’ll keep a daily journal to jot down thoughts for my art – even if I don’t have time to work on it right now – I don’t want to lose the ideas! More importantly the journal doesn’t have to be fancy, artistic or, even worse, perfect. It just needs to keep ideas in one (findable) place.
3. I will not stash everything in my studio in boxes just to get it packed and done. I will clean it out as I go and find homes for items that I don’t love any more. I’ll offer supplies to my artist friends, the kid’s schools and Freecycle. Only supplies I love and find inspiring will go with me to my new studio. By investing this time now, I’ll have freedom to create later.
4. I will make new mid-year resolutions once the move is over. Yes, right now moving to a new house and a new studio feels all-consuming, but this too will pass. There needs to be a point where I get back to my regular art-making practices. The sooner the better.
Are you making Art Resolutions for the New Year? I’d love to see them. Please share yours in the comments.
Happy New Year to you and your family.
~Ginger
Participating in gallery shows can feel like one expense after another for an artist. Not only are we paying entry fees for most shows, but we’re also paying for shipping to (and maybe from), packing materials and, if we’re fortunate enough to sell something in the show, we’re paying a percentage to the gallery. Often we enter shows and get little to no feedback about the process, our artwork, or the response to our work. In fact, in general, the gallery system is quite mysterious.
As book artists, we’re very fortunate to have gallery owners like Laura Russell who are willing to take the time to explain how galleries work. Laura, who runs 23 Sandy Gallery, is always gracious and patient. After our recent email exchange Laura used her own blog to answer my questions about what the submission fees pay for when you enter a juried show.
Some of the expenses seemed obvious, such as postcard printing and mailing, but others less so – such as paying a programmer to create the online forms we artists use to apply to the shows.
I think you’ll find Laura’s answer interesting. You can read the full text of her answer here.
And while you’re at the blog, take a moment to wander around the 23 Sandy Popular Postings (top right column), you’ll see more information that galleries rarely share with artists.
As always, thank you Laura.
~Ginger
Posted in Business of Art
Tagged 23 Sandy Gallery, Entry Fees, Gallery shows, Ginger Burrell, Juried Shows, Laura Russell, www.gingerburrell.com
Midnight Musings 