Instant art Show #1
traced ink line
Welcome to the first Instant Art Show, which is all about traced line drawing! It explores the possibilities of using traced ink line to create a series based on a related collection of items, which in my case happens to be a collection of well-loved shoes. I had originally created a few of these pieces to fill out a show of shoe paintings I did several years ago when I was just starting out as a painter. I really liked the streamlined simplified look of the pieces, and they’re really fun and easy to make, so I thought that creating a whole series of them would be a good subject for my first Instant Art Show!
I’ve had such a great time and have learned so many things in getting my first Instant Art Show ready to share! Below are some images of the pieces I created for this week’s show. I’ll be in my studio hosting an in-person art salon at Enclave Studios in Ashland next Sunday, September 10 starting at 4 pm, and if you’re in the area, I’d love for you to join me to check out the work and talk art with your fellow creatives!
And next week, don’t miss my first Instant Art Show Post-Mortem! In this space, I’ll be posting photos of the in-person event at Enclave Studios, as well as the inside scoop about what I learned during this week’s show: what succeeded, what failed, what I discovered, and how I was able to push myself out of my comfort zone and get better at sharing my work.
Thank you so much for joining me for my first Instant Art Show!
the first live instant art show!
I had such a great time at the first live event in my year-long series! I had a fantastic time telling people about the concept behind the show, sharing my process, and talking art with my fellow creatives!
Instant art show #1: the postmortem report
the objective of the week * what went well * what was challenging * what I learned
Welcome to the first Instant Art Show Postmortem Report! What a crazy week this has been! Getting this project off the ground and into the world has been both a challenge and an adventure, and I’m really excited to be sharing the process with you!
The objective of the week
For me, the most important goal during the beginning of the project has been to start developing a system for making this whole project work each week, and bringing all the parts together into a manageable task list. As James Clear (author of Atomic Habits) wisely says, “We don’t rise to the level of our goals. We fall to the level of our systems.” I’m a wholehearted believer in this way of thinking about anything complicated, and the process of putting together Instant Art Show definitely qualifies for me as complicated. There are a lot of pieces for me to put in place for each week’s episode, and the past several weeks have been dominated by my quest to create a good system for myself and not get overwhelmed. I’m sure it will take me awhile to create the perfect checklist, but it’s starting to take shape.
What went well
I’d say that just making myself visible by getting the Instant Art Show started online and in person is the major victory I would claim for myself this week! Putting myself out there and making this project public was really challenging for me. Anyone who knows me well would describe me as an extremely private person, and clearing the hurdle of my own innate tendency to hide has taken me miles outside of my comfort zone. In a way, I feel like my desire to carry out this project is the universe goading me to play chicken with my ego, and the only way to participate in the game is to keep coming out of hiding over and over again. (And I find that anytime I put something out there, right after I press the send button, I have a vertiginous moment of panic, like that moment when you think maybe you accidentally sent that bawdy text to your boss instead of your bestie. Or you realize in the dream that you’re up in front of the class with no pants on.) I’m sure with practice it will get easier.
What was challenging
The biggest challenge for me during the beginning of this project has definitely been dealing with my own demons about being on camera. I’ve always been extremely camera-shy, and would never have thought I would be able to make myself do something like the videos I’m doing as part of the Instant Art Show. But I really wanted video to be a component of this project, since it’s such a great way to communicate with people; and once I was forced to face the cringe factor head-on, I realized I had a choice. I could either turn the whole video portion of the project into a slow-motion extended drama freakout, or I could just get over it and remember that everyone already knows what I look and sound like. (Everyone except me, that is.)
And I can also be generous with myself and give myself permission to be awkward if it’s my first time doing anything, including being on camera. But I have a whole year to get better!
What I learned
My number one rule for this year’s project is this: don’t be embarrassed! This mantra is also the first rule in the book “How to Be an Artist” by the art critic Jerry Saltz, and I kept repeating the phrase in my head this week as I did things that would have totally mortified me a year ago. Thinking this way helped me to shift my mindset and make new decisions about lots of important things:
I decided that if I found my own art experiments interesting, other people might find them interesting too. (And anyone who wasn’t interested didn’t need to watch.)
I decided I wanted video content as part of my project, and then found someone to help me create it. (Because it’s okay to be a beginner at something. And it’s okay to ask for help. We all have to start somewhere.)
I decided if I wanted to start building a mailing list, I could just start with the people I knew. So I cold-contacted everyone I’m friends with and asked them if they wanted to sign up for my newsletter. (And you know what? Almost everyone I asked said yes.)
And it turns out that I don’t actually need to be embarrassed about any of it. I can just do my best and share my ideas, and call it good enough.
So that’s the first week’s postmortem. If anything resonated with you, or if you have a different perspective to share, I’d love to hear from you, so feel free as always to email me through my website and share your thoughts. I’m looking forward to seeing what the second week holds in store.
Thanks so much for reading!