Great weekend in Denver at the Cherry Creek Art Festival. If you want to see 230 mini art galleries at your disposal this is the place to be. Such remarkable art. Between the Des Moines Art Festival and Cherry Creek I think I have inspiration for the next year. I was so thankful to be a part of it.
I'm on to KRASL Art Festival this Friday (July 9th). It's about an hour away from Chicago in St Joseph Michigan. The Festival is on the bluffs overlooking Lake Michigan. A beautiful setting and an impressive show of artwork.
I just finished the first be art festival of the season and am taking the day to recoup. I have a new appreciation for artists who make their living on the art festival circuit. The time and planning it takes to prepare pieces, pack them, load the van, set up, label, protect the pieces the first night, reset up the following day, repeat for two more days and finally take everything down, pack it up, drive many hours and unpack again. This is usually all done in 90 some degrees or in a down pour. So when you visit an art fair and you see what might look like prices that are too high please understand that it's not just the amount of time that it took to think, plan and create the piece, there's also all the physical work that goes on before and after.
It made it all worth it to hear and see positive responses to my artwork. So thanks to those of you who stopped by and gave me encouragement! On to Cherry Creek in Denver!
Sometimes I think being an artist is more about being (or getting) ready than actually creating a work. First there's the idea and planning how to construct the sculpture. Then there is the construction, cleaning up and drying, followed by glazing and firing 2 or 3 times. But a big amount of my time is spent planning, applying, responding, setting up, taking down, preparing title tags, postcards,etc for arts festivals. A lot of time is spent setting up and making sure the display is ready.
Today I start a series of several art festivals ....Des Moines Art Festival this weekend, Cherry Creek Arts Festival in Denver next weekend and then the Krasl in Michigan the 17 and 18th of July. I have two more after those big three for sure, Loveland Sculpture Festival and the Plaza in Kansas City. The photo is from yesterday when my husband and I set up the tent and the main structure. Today I'll actually take the sculptures from their protective containers and set them in their places ready to show off their 'Sunday best.'
Oh, and you can follow me on twitter this summer while I visits art festivals. You'll be able to view festivals from one artists point of view. I'm at lindalewisart.twitter.
It happened again. Some of my newest pieces, just out of the kiln broke. In fact 4 pieces from the last firing ended up breaking. Today while photographing some of the pieces I bumped a shelving unit two of the pieces were sitting on. They clunked together tipped over and crashed to the ground. So now I'm lamenting over the hours I put into the pieces. That's one thing I did not think of factoring in when pricing items. It seems I lose one out of every 6 pieces I make. I guess, as with life, we win some and lose some. It just seems like I'm losing more than the average. I save the heads, which seems a bit sadistic, but at least I can use them in a very unique piece somewhere down the line. I can't quite seem to part with them.
So how do I adjust. I do some deep breathing, remind myself people count, not things, and try to find the good from it.
I had a conversation today with an arts editor from a midwest paper. I've know him since he was a baby and he was good friends with our kids. An excellent writer, he displays a basic curiousity about people and always seems to be interested in others latest endeavors.
He asked how my art was coming along and that evolved into a question to me about how one can tell if something is 'art' or 'crafts.' I've read other's take on this but I had never had to articulate it myself. And alas, I couldn't really explain the difference between the two or how I can tell, what is 'art' and what is more in the line of a 'craft' (as in arts and crafts).
I've been asked many times how I get the ideas for my pieces. Little do they know that the very perosn who asks me that question may be the impetus for an idea that develops into a sculptural piece. Many times it's what they say, not so much what they look like or what movement they're making.
Because of this, I've found my best source of ideas come when I listen to others and get them to talk about themselves. For instance the other day I was setting next to a retired female principal. Her mother had grown up in the south. This stately, warm, nurturing yet outspoken woman talked about how her mother had instilled in her that you reach forward to better yourself (or learn more, or be adventureous) while at the same time making sure you reach behind you and pull up & along those that need a little help. She made a pose with her hands. That inspired my current piece I'm working on. I'll make sure I post that piece when I finish it.
