With my move from Hawaii to Oregon, looking for a place to live and not having my things yet; my schedule has gotten a little crazy. So, my posting format is off somewhat. I hope my readers will have patience with me as I get back in the swing of things. I hope to follow my schedule of posting next week and have a devotional next Friday as well. Have a happy and safe 4th of July!
Chair Series
So, here is my article for today:
Sometimes ignorance is bliss. I really had not been painting very long when I decided the best way to further my career was to have a one woman show. I had no idea how artists went about getting one. I was clueless.
I did know that it was a good idea to have a show in an area you are known in. I had gotten my name out in the Brazos Valley by entering numerous art shows. I had even won Best of Show in some local competitions and been asked to do demonstrations for some local art clubs.
Since I was a graduate of Texas A & M University and had visited their art gallery several times, I decided that was where I wanted to have my first show. So, I got on the phone and called the gallery, asked to speak to the person in charge and proceeded to ask how to get a one person show at their gallery. Thinking back, I can’t believe I called like that. I was brave. I got the information and proceeded to put together a package which included slides of my work, my resume, a brochure telling my background, and cover letter.
I mailed in the package and a few weeks later Joe Fenton, gallery director, called me. I was going to have a one woman show at the J. Wayne Stark Gallery in the Memorial Student Center! I was so excited. I went to Texas A & M University Gallery to meet with Mr. Fenton and find out all the details, such as how many pieces I needed, dates, how the show would be hung, delivery times, etc. That is when I found out that I had to give a lecture the night of the opening.
Whoa! A what? I got a chill up the back of my neck. The thought of lecturing at a major university really scared me. I had spoken at other events, but this seemed different. I wanted the show though. I readily committed to do the lecture. I pushed the worries aside and worked on getting a collection of nice paintings together for my show. I had several months to get things together.
I decided the best lecture format would be to show slides of my work and talk about why I did the paintings, what techniques I used, and what I was trying to accomplish. So, that is exactly what I did. I was nervous, especially when I found out that a public speaking class had been given the assignment of coming to my lecture. The students came into the lecture hall with notebooks, pen and pencil. As I spoke, they wrote. I couldn’t help but notice when several students started writing all at the same time. I started to panic, thinking I was using poor grammar or something. Luckily, I regained my focus, got through the lecture and had a great reception.