Ahh- its over! I had a wonderful time connecting with the people coming through- some old friends, some new. In fact there were a couple of people who I had not seen in 25 years! What a gift. I also had a chance to connect to older work and to see it all together in a way that never happens when I have shows in galleries. Very cool. And eclectic. The piece you see in the slide show that has two views is one that I did before grad school- so probably 1992 or 3. I was thrilled to see it again- and inspired to work with that idea again. I love the way light plays on it.
So I am happy to have my studio back- the work tucked away- the beautiful cloth folded in its box and my tools available. I have started to take photos for etsy (this is going to be a long project- not a one fell swoop like I thought!), make pots for a firing in December, and create 5 x 7" sculptural wall pieces for the December small works show at Gallery A3. It feels great to be actively using my new studio. I had been wondering whether it would be worth all the work to do this studio sale- and as I think about advice I might offer in this regard- these are the things that make it worth while: 1. Validation- letting my community close at hand know about what I do. It feels really great to be seen as the artist that I am, and not just as my daughter's mother (though that is still my most significant role). My identity is filled out a bit and validated. 2. Connections- I have no idea what will come of this, but I had the strong sense that the conversations with people were equally important to the things I sold. I feel very inspired to follow up on the leads and directions that were offered. 3. Activating my studio- getting the energy of affirmation in my studio feels good- makes it a juicy place to work 4. reacquainting myself with the breadth of work that I have done- I can feel a creative stirring and churning going on as I enter a new phase in my creative life- this feels like a kind of marker and portal. 5. Community- I am so lucky that when I put out the word in the local list serve that I was thinking of an open studio event and wondered if there was anyone else who wanted to do it with me, 4 fabulous women artists responded. We have so enjoyed working together that we now have a name: The Shutesbury Arts Collective. And we are planning to keep working together to produce open studio events and other things as yet defined. I needed a community of artists and what a great way to invest in it!
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Please come to the Studio Tour and Sale I am pulling out all the work I have had in storage for way too long as well as showing stuff hot out of the kiln. Bronze and clay, sculpture and pottery! For me this is a big welcome home party as I have finally set up a studio here. I would really love to have you come see it to infuse it with good supportive energy as it is now the center of my career. I will be teaching there as well as making and selling. And of course coaching! 10% to Cancer Connection! I am excited to announce that I will be donating 10% of proceeds from this open studio event and any on-line sales that happen through the end of December to Cancer Connection. I think this is an amazing organization and I am honored to be able to teach clay classes that support both cancer patients and their care givers. Shopping on-line and getting it shipped I am working on getting my new Etsy shop (ValAtTaproot.etsy.com) up and running though I am not convinced I will have it fully stocked by the time of the open studio. I will send out another email notice when it starts looking good! In the mean time if you have something you want, email me! Event Directions There are five of us up here in Shutesbury who have joined forces to present this tour. Make a day of visiting all five of our places- 4 houses and a business. Check out the map and address list at the bottom of the page for directions. Who we are The images below will link to our individual web sites. |
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