Self Awareness for Saturday

Seekers Of A Lost Truth 50cm x 60cm

© 2007  Tracey Hewitt

As an artist who has invested some time learning about art marketing from Alyson B Stanfield, I should have been prepared. I should have known to be prepared. But I so was not prepared! Perhaps it was because I was so preoccupied with creating the table centres for the Theodore Chamber of Commerce dinner, perhaps it was the thousand other things that have been going on and needing my consideration and attention or perhaps I'm just plain flaky...Whatever the reason, halfway through dinner, the auctioneer for the evening came to me and asked me what the piece I had donated for the auction was about.

How is it possible that I was siting there, stammering, opening and closing my mouth like a landed fish, with nothing sensible - let alone articulate and intelligent - to say?! Why hadn't I been prepared for this? Why hadn't I even given a passing thought to the fact I would need to be prepared for this? Good questions indeed - and no answers.

Thanks to the help of my good friend Kathy (who I have a lot more to tell you about very soon...) I managed to cobble a few thoughts together to help this poor fellow give the crowd a bit of a spiel about the piece before he started to call for bids - which to my immense relief came quickly and to a much bigger number than I'd ever imagined! I learned a couple of valuable things last night. Be prepared! I was a Brownie, Girl Guide and Ranger Guide in my youth...How is it I didn't have that down already?! It's next to impossible to articulate anything about something as deeply personal as a piece of artwork if you haven't given yourself the gift of a few moments to anticipate the kind of questions you'll be asked and how you might answer them - my head was so full of table centres, bankers, accountants, sons and loved ones that this piece of artwork had no place of it's own there all week.

The thing I found myself reflecting most deeply on though, was how very uncomfortable I felt with a few quite direct questions about "What does it mean?" Initially, my response was that while I may have something in mind as I created the piece, what was important to me was for each individual to experience their own response to it - that I hoped the viewer would interpret the piece in their own way - find their own unique meaning within it. I felt almost irritated that I was being interrogated and forced to 'explain' it in great detail. I later realised that the poor man was probably feeling a bit out of his depth, his auctioneering experience in the past heavily weighted to property, cattle and items with which he felt he had a greater understanding and knowledge of. He was just trying to get some information to help him do the job well (which, I must say, he did!). I thought a lot about my feelings of discomfort and difficulty expressing the meaning of the piece - then it struck me. If I could put it into words, I'd write it, not paint it! It's a feeling, it's broad and deep and powerful and in my heart I know exactly what it means, but I struggle to put words around it. I'd love to hear in the comments if you have these kinds of struggles...

Next time I donate a piece of work for auction, I'll take the time to provide a carefully worded, well prepared artist statement, just as I would for an exhibition. I will be prepared. And, I'll have a better idea of how to respond to "But what does it mean?" I'll also remember to take my camera, so I can share a photo of the lovely family the piece is going to live with!

A New, Fresh Look

I'm pretty excited today! For a little while now, I've been communicating with Rachelle Sartini Garner from Owl and Bear on Etsy, and she has been toiling away, coming up with a fresh, new look for my marketing materials...How do you like my new Blog header; and what about this neat logo she's designed? I especially love this - I sent Rachelle some images of my work, and she picked up this pattern from the machine embroidery I had done on one of the surfaces.

The blog header, and my Etsy graphics all feature this detail of Cherish, which is, as you may know from my earlier posts on it, the piece of work of which I am most proud so far. Rachelle didn't know this when she chose it, but it seems like the perfect piece to be using.

So, it's just a quick post for today - to encourage you to have a dig around on the Etsy site - there are some wonderful artists lurking there, just waiting to make your dreams come true - whatever they may be! I truly cannot say enough lovely things about Rachelle - I was possibly not the easiest to please - I kept asking to tweak this, and change that, but she remained ever bright and eager to please - and please she did!!

I now have some work ahead of me getting my Etsy shop stocked up again and 'hanging' all my new graphics...sure beats getting stuff ready for the accountant at tax time, which is what I have been doing!

A New Challenge

This photo is of the entrance to our property. As it happens, it's right by the river we live on, which recently experienced the most enormous flood seen in decades! Which is the reason for the big patch of missing bitumen and the dead, flattened grass.

My blog feels a bit like our entrance...a bit tired, a bit worn, kind of neglected; all the necessary infrastructure in place, but in great need of some fixing up and some prettying up in order to make the experience a pleasant one (let me tell you - driving over that grid is far from pleasant!). SO, I've signed up for a "Blog Triage Class" with Alyson Stanfield and Cynthia Morris. 4 weeks of first aid for my blog (or maybe for me - 'cos I feel in need of some first aid- or at very least, a kick start!)

And on day one there's homework! Today, I'm to describe the people I want to visit and read my blog, and what I want to get out of it. Well, I'm kind of outrageously excited if anyone reads this blog! But, if pushed, I guess I would hope that people from all walks of life might enjoy a visit. One of my motivations in starting the blog was to reach out to people through my art; people who maybe have no connection to a rural community, and give a glimpse into how we live and work and what motivates us. Kind of building a bridge between city and country. As I've written posts and received your treasured comments, I have been excited to discover some international visitors as well! Obviously, I love that I have some artist visitors, and I have begun to cultivate some lovely connections with artists as a result of this blog. I have also enjoyed picking up with old acquaintances here. I guess, I would like to attract a reader who appreciates art, creativity, family, simple pleasures and who recognises gratitude as one of life's greatest attitudes. I'm not sure if I'm answering my first assignment at all well...I might fail day one!!

As for what I want to get from blogging - Well, I love to write! I probably don't always make a great deal of sense, but it's a creative outlet that I really enjoy, and the opportunity to share it with anyone who is inclined appeals to me. I am a prolific journaller, and I see the blog as a visual extension of that (except that you will never get to read here the bad language and dreadful temper tantrums I sometimes have in my personal journal - I like you way too much to do that to you!!). There's also the aspect of 'marketing' for want of a better word, I'd be lying if I said that at least some of my motivation isn't to get my work in front of a wider audience. Maybe a better way to put that is 'to share my work' - I don't think many artists create without the thought of sharing their work and growing from the experience of peoples responses to that work. Also - I live a long way from anywhere! There is a social contact aspect to this blogging business that is a pure delight for a woman whose constant companions are manure covered men, dogs who love rolling in dead things and cattle whose vocabulary is limited to "MOO".

I hope that the next four weeks are fun for us all, and that over the course of the class, you will see some changes here that are improvements! I'd love to hear what you think, and have to confess I have no real idea what we're in for! I'm open to anything at this point!

As for our entrance, I'm not sure the future is quite as promising! Much of what's needed there is the responsibility of our Shire Council - and on past performances, I'm not holding my breath that we'll see that road fixed any time soon! I'll keep you posted!