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Can You Do Art and Illustration?

I mentioned that I would show and tell what I was going to submit to Nahcotta for the show opening in February. The show is called the Enormous Tiny Art Show, and all art has to be small.

They invited me to be part of the show just as I had started a series of artworks for myself that were all 6×6 inches (good timing). But these were a little (well, a LOT) different for me. I started this series for myself to get back into playing and experimenting and having fun with art. (I do a lot of painting for illustrations every week, and was getting a bit tired of doing the same old routine. You know? So I started these in response to that.)

I give myself no rules with these. They don’t have to look like “my style”. They don’t have to be pretty. They don’t have to have a concept or a theme. They don’t have to BE anything. It’s my time to just do. Play. Rip it to shreds and piece it back together if I want. It’s just fun.

Some are created when I’m pissed off. Some when I’m feeling reflective. Some are really simple. And some tell me a story. I like some of them. And don’t like others. And that’s ok. That’s not the point. The point, to say again, is just to experiment and shake up my art a bit.

When Nahcotta approached me I said thank you, but didn’t want to do my “normal” stuff for this. I talked to them about my intentions and asked if they’d be willing to show these instead. And I was pleasantly surprised when they said yes. (I hope they do well!)

I have done a lot of gallery shows in the past and they are always stressful for me. That’s hard to admit. I’m supposed to like gallery work, right? But the truth is that I haven’t figured out a way to enjoy the process because I’m always too busy with my illustration work. So it feels like I’m just doubling up on my to-do list instead of letting shows be an outlet. I use myself up with illustration so much so that my brain has no more juice left to do personal work. And I’m a stress-bomb until show day.

So with all that in mind, you can imagine how happy I was the Nahcotta agreed to show these. This is fun work that doesn’t stress me out. YAY!

(Now that I’m saying all this out loud, I feel guilty for being stressed about shows.)

(and also, I’m very afraid people who attend the Nahcotta show will say these suck and wonder how I could do such hideous art. I’m trying to let that go because it’s not about that. But still, that thought is there.)

Gosh, i have a lot to work on in my head…

I guess what it boils down to is doing art for myself. Letting it be an expression of “me” and not just what people expect all the time. These feel really good to make. And that’s what matters. Right?

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