When I began to take a career in art seriously, after my retirement, I was very intent on all of the business end of things. I had an art management program which was great, a photographer who did my work, a lab that made all the slide duplicates, piles of stamps, an assistant to do the form filling out and slide replacements and fabric folding, listings coming out regularly to check out for appropriate places to enter, quilts coming and going.
But then little things began to happen that just seemed to make everything more difficult. Two years ago I switched back to a Mac but my art management program no longer worked on this platform. Things were supposed to be transferable and I tried to set up a program in Bento but I just couldn't get the hang of it. And then the data would not transfer. I have finally found another art management program that works on May but I still cannot transfer the older work to the newer platform. I have let my website slide somewhat because, without the art management program, I have no place to keep all the information about a piece of art work in one place...you know, size, price, medium, etc. Also, suddenly the way I had been storing my photos no longer worked when I started using iPhoto. So I tried another photo program, Aperture, but it seemed far more complicated.
I know enough about computers to get around fairly well but when I decide I want to do something with a program, I just get lost. Something that should not take very long seems to end up taking forever...like getting my art work into the new program. I end up just frustrated and giving up. I still can't get my laptop, ipad and iphone all synched together...and sharing data like contacts and calendar....can't live with them and can't live without them.
Watching younger artists pursuing their careers with energy and on Facebook, Twitter, blogs, websites, and lots of other social networking means just makes me tired watching it all. Oh, I have a facebook page but I got too confused using it. And I have a Twitter account that I have never used. And I am on Facebook but don't have a fan page or whatever it is. I "like" most people.
So, I flounder with all the data.
But the studio is very comfortable, except when it is too hot or too cold. I think I am going to have to invest in some insulation on my own since the company that owns the building doesn't do anything like that...there is something about freezing in one's studio that is fine when one is young but not so much fun later in life. And all the little heaters don't seem to put out any heat...either is all comes at my feet of it goes up to the ceiling 12 feet above my head.
Ah, but I have entered a show and am waiting to hear if the work is accepted. It is the Deep Spaces show and the art work much bet 18 x 45". Not only did I create a piece just for this show, but I actually was able to get a decent photograph of it and did the on line entry...wow, that is pretty good!
so, I will give you a photo of my piece for this show...if it is accepted. It is called Deep Spaces, my view. It is based on many photographs from the Hubble which I have put together in my own way.
But then little things began to happen that just seemed to make everything more difficult. Two years ago I switched back to a Mac but my art management program no longer worked on this platform. Things were supposed to be transferable and I tried to set up a program in Bento but I just couldn't get the hang of it. And then the data would not transfer. I have finally found another art management program that works on May but I still cannot transfer the older work to the newer platform. I have let my website slide somewhat because, without the art management program, I have no place to keep all the information about a piece of art work in one place...you know, size, price, medium, etc. Also, suddenly the way I had been storing my photos no longer worked when I started using iPhoto. So I tried another photo program, Aperture, but it seemed far more complicated.
I know enough about computers to get around fairly well but when I decide I want to do something with a program, I just get lost. Something that should not take very long seems to end up taking forever...like getting my art work into the new program. I end up just frustrated and giving up. I still can't get my laptop, ipad and iphone all synched together...and sharing data like contacts and calendar....can't live with them and can't live without them.
Watching younger artists pursuing their careers with energy and on Facebook, Twitter, blogs, websites, and lots of other social networking means just makes me tired watching it all. Oh, I have a facebook page but I got too confused using it. And I have a Twitter account that I have never used. And I am on Facebook but don't have a fan page or whatever it is. I "like" most people.
So, I flounder with all the data.
But the studio is very comfortable, except when it is too hot or too cold. I think I am going to have to invest in some insulation on my own since the company that owns the building doesn't do anything like that...there is something about freezing in one's studio that is fine when one is young but not so much fun later in life. And all the little heaters don't seem to put out any heat...either is all comes at my feet of it goes up to the ceiling 12 feet above my head.
Ah, but I have entered a show and am waiting to hear if the work is accepted. It is the Deep Spaces show and the art work much bet 18 x 45". Not only did I create a piece just for this show, but I actually was able to get a decent photograph of it and did the on line entry...wow, that is pretty good!
so, I will give you a photo of my piece for this show...if it is accepted. It is called Deep Spaces, my view. It is based on many photographs from the Hubble which I have put together in my own way.
It has been created using fabrics from another dyer who gets the most wonderful saturated pieces. I Misty fused everything, cut it all up into smallish shapes about 1 to 1 1/2 inches in size and then worked the colors. The bottom part, although dark, is very rich and the orange just glows. Unfortunately, a photo does not do it justice.
Back to the creation of a red stole for a good friend who will become an ordained deacon shortly...it is my graduation gift to him after four years of school...he graduates this Sunday so I need to get it all finished tomorrow.
2 comments:
Do not give up, your last quilt is very beautiful. Let your computer problems in a professional and make your art as you know so well.
I am glad to see you back here, Liz. I've missed you.
And I believe that fallow periods are a necessary part of the life of an artist. At least they are in my life. Even when the surface seems to have dried up or run itself into a dead-end, underground, beneath the surface, things are shifting as they should. If I let them be, and avoid panic or the voices that try and convince me that here is the 'proof' that I'm not a 'real' artist, then sooner or later new shoots start stirring and suddenly my work takes a leap into new territory, (even if it doesn't look that new from outside), and all that creative energy floods back up and out.
I am learning that it pays to be peaceful and unafraid in the fallow seasons, because nothing is really lost. I just need to get out of my own way, and give the process the time it needs.
Simple, but not easy!
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