Thinking about a lot these days...

Art-A-Whirl 2016 is finished.  It is a two and a half day extravaganza of art-looking, eating, drinking and art-shopping.  It began 21 years ago as a studio crawl.  It has grown into the largest studio crawl in the nation, I hear. It has become bloated, perhaps.  Every inch of available space outside the rented studios appears to be rented out to artists who do not work in the buildings year round.  As a result it is more like a huge, unjuried art fair.  There is artwork of all stripes and all qualities, from beginner to very advanced.  There are greeting cards, suncatchers, children's artwork and awe inspiring monumental art.  It is truly a mixed bag.

I have exhibited three times now, I think.  Twice in the Northrup King Building and, this year, in the Grainbelt Bottling House Building.  I participate when my work has required renting a larger studio than my home studio.  As a gallery/museum artist, Art a Whirl is not a big sales event for me.   But, it still is valuable.  My goals were to show the new body of work and to collect information. And I was pleased with the results.

So, here is what I am thinking about beyond the last couple of days:

I will be reporting here on how I am going about re-booting my art career.  I have been an exhibiting artist for the better part of 40 years, starting in art fairs with pottery and moving on to artists books and installations in galleries and collections.  190 exhibitions, 30 of the solo!  Most of my artists books have gone into collections.  There are still a few hanging around the studio that will go out to Denver this week to join a wonderful project that takes the books out to underserved communities.

I still work in installations and longterm projects that accumulate momentum and meaning over time. These are harder to place.  I have always been a self-represented artist...whatever that means!  I do show in galleries across the US, but I am my own agent.  It has been up to me to get my work placed.

Currently I am reading the books and watching the Youtube videos by Brainard Carey, garnering ideas for moving forward as an independent artist. Tonight I will be starting an online class with Creative Capital, taught by Sharon Louden, an author I have really enjoyed reading.

I invite you to follow along with me and participate in the brainstorming ahead.  Stay tuned.