Sunday, May 17, 2009

A Learning Experience!


It has taken me a little over a week to process and recover from my first big event, and when I say "big" I'm not putting it mildly! The Alberta Art Hop consisted of 17 blocks of NE Alberta Street closed to car traffic, lined with 150 artists and crafts people. It was a huge and beautiful day! What a thrill to be out there among so many other truly talented and amazingly cool artists.

After a stressful week of too much to do and not enough sleep, it took everything I had to disguise my Zombie-like condition and get through the long, hot day with composure and style. I spent 8 hours standing in the street, in the blazing sun, (clearly a rookie without a tent!). But it was so worth it for all the people I met and all the things that I learned. Though physically wasted, I felt spiritually jazzed to be out there -in the mix with all the other artists and crafts people . . . am I one of them now? I don't know about that yet, it feels more like just my foot in the door -but that door is opening.

It has taken me a while to process my impressions and even though I wasn't as ready as I wanted to be, I'm glad I put myself out there. It was awesome to see people's reaction to my stuff! My Robots are kid magnets! The kids (and their parents) had a lot of fun examining all the different items used to make each face. People got a big kick out of them. The best comment of the day came from a boy about 9 years old who said "These guys would make Frankenstein jealous!" -that made my day.

I also brought a small collection of my Calaveras -because everyday is a good day to celebrate the dead! These turned a lot of heads as well, and I even managed to sell a few. It was incredibly rewarding and fun to see people's faces light up when they saw something they liked. Everyone expresses their interest differently and it was wonderful to watch.

I am extremely grateful to have had my friend Julie to spend the day with in the space beside me, I couldn't have done it without her! Next month will be a whole new ball game: a two day event in Vancouver, all by myself! Anyone out there care to come along and keep me company?

Monday, May 4, 2009

BlockHead

OK, this is not a Tiki, it is a garden-bot, because we all need more Robots in the garden. . .don't we? I had a lot of fun making this and it cracks me up every time I look out my window and see it's big shiny head and goofy expression! I am currently exploring lots of different themes and ideas for what I want to make. It feels good to experiment, but I look forward to getting into a groove where I can really focus on one thing at a time and find a way to do it really well. Hopefully I will hit my stride soon!

Ready or not, I have booked myself into two Art Festivals coming up. Since this has always been a dream of mine and it is part of my business plan, I figured I'd better go for it and get my feet wet! The Alberta Art Hop is coming up on May 16th! -That's in less than 2 weeks -Yikes! My art-pal Julie has signed up also and will be selling her Ecoshikis in the booth next to BoneWerx. We are both excited and terrified! It will be a opportunity to get ourselves out there, meet some other artists and learn the ropes. I just hope I have something to show and sell by then! I have a little more time to prepare for the Vancouver Recycled Arts Festival in June. I am super-psyched about both of these venues, but signing up is only the first step (the easy part). Now the hard work must really begin!

I have put a call out to everyone I know to collect their tin can lids for me in hopes that I can get enough to make some nifty things with them. So if you have any laying around, please save them for me! It has proven to be more challenging than you would think to amass recycled materials to make art with! There is a lot of competition out there all scrambling to get the good junk for free. It's not easy anymore, it's big business now as any 'Scrapper' will tell you. Let me know if you have a good dumpster connection or juicy junk pile you can direct me to. I'm not afraid to get dirty! Just last week I took a lovely Spring stroll along the railroad tracks in the inner SE industrial area. It felt very nostalgic and brought back some of the thrill of my youth and those punk rock days. Only difference is that this time I am not cutting school and drinking Olde English, I'm a 42 yr old woman treasure hunting for rusty old pieces of garbage. I did find some nice pieces (see the mouth on the robot) - but I ran like a dork when the train started coming . . .will I ever be cool again?