Such a long time

It has been such a long time since my last blog post!  Hints of activity have been blasted out on Facebook:  so easy, so fast!

Tonight, I will slow down for an admittedly drowsy bit of time and try to catch up on the events and activities in the studio.

A magnificent deal came my way on a new embroidery machine.  In fits and starts, including a trip to the shop, I have begun using it. There is a learning curve, but it is not too steep.  It works like any other embroidery machine...except you have to set up the thread-to-needle assignments. It is a bit fussy.

It allows me to sew up to 10 threads with no spool changes. What a wonder! Mostly I have been doing color studies: stitching identical designs with identical thread choices on different color fabrics to see what happens.

I rearranged the studio to make room for the new machine.  In anticipation of the need for more wall space to work large, I finished drywalling the garage.  I have one really long wall out there...over 14 uninterrupted feet.  Now to get it heated...or designate it the spring-fall studio extension.

I applied for the Guggenheim fellowship earlier this fall.  It is unlike any other application.  You practically write a memoir : about 8 pages of narrative about your career and 3 pages about your proposed project and beyond.  No resume.  No artist statement. And you have to provide 3 references. BUT no pictures...until asked.  I was asked!  So I have been combing through jpgs, trying to find the right sequence, the right story.  It is a big-deal-lot-of-work!  I cannot tell you how many hours this has all taken...and it is not done yet.  You can see my progress on picture selection etc. at http://susanhenselgrantapplication.weebly.com/

The body of work I did with my son, I DWELL IN IMPOSSIBILITY, will be exhibited at the Phipps Art Gallery in Hudson, WI as a solo show, in  October/ November 2019.

The EROS DRAWINGS are on exhibit in Wyoming, Minnesota for this month.

And the Art of Giving Project continues.  More artists books have gone to collections:  Pratt Institute of Art in NY; Brooklyn Museum of Art; and now Long Island University, NY.

A can of wiggling worms

As I neared the sure completion of The Art of Giving,  the big give away of the artists books, I found myself anxiously asking, "Now What?" 

Enter, stage left, a can of wiggling worms: What to do with all the newer, bulkier work!!!

That big "Now What?" is why I enrolled in the Creative Capital course and the Praxis course...trying to figure out the next steps for the works on susanhenselprojects!

Sales, of course, would be lovely.  But a lot of my work seems to stubbornly resist commodification. How do you place an installation?  Certainly, after its initial showing or set of showings, the parts can be dispersed. Ophelia and (Her)Suit can be broken apart.  In fact, they were designed to be dispersed piecemeal. But they need to tell their stories a bit more before that happens.

Much dithering still ensues.  However, I have concluded that a new approach to exhibition and a new approach to financing the artwork must be developed.

While considering my response to the results of The Art of Giving and the results of my course work, I am reading a fairly amazing book:  The Art of Asking: How I stopped Worrying and Let People Help by Amanda Palmer. I had watched her TED talk a week or so ago and was captivated.

I am contemplating several techniques of fundraising: general ( a support tab on the website), project specific to complete (Her)Suit and a larger scale studio equipment upgrade campaign.

There!  I've said it!

It is so hard to contemplate, much less ask for help!

The message  of the Art of Asking is timely. I am hesitant to ask for donations/help.  The TED talk and the book address this fear.  It is intriguing. It bears thinking about. I am pondering this.