If at first you don’t succeed…
I grew up hearing my mother say “If at first you don’t succeed try, try and try again” - I’ve only just found out that it is attributed to Robert the Bruce in 1314 just before the Scottish whupped the English at Bannockburn.
I’ve just exhibited at my first group exhibition and I’ve gone and blown it! I was so chuffed and excited about being included in "Les Ploërdutais ont du Talent" and packed up my 3 framed paintings with labels and even made them sign a consignment form, got everything in on time too! Only I forgot to prepare myself mentally - if it had been a driving test I would have failed magnificently so I’ve now come up with some rules for Exhibition behaviour.
Check out the hanging before the opening. Not only had the organisers not seen the little envelope stuck on the back of the painting with the label for the painting complete with title, dimensions, medium and my email address on it but they’d managed to spell my name wrong! My poor paintings’ first outing into the outside world and potential for world fame were done under the name Tracy Vanheyden. “Buggery Bollocks” as my friend Wend would say. I ended up correcting the name label during the exhibition and it isn’t easy trying to write on a vertical picture frame.
Try to bear in mind who might be going to the exhibit. I selected 3 works that went together (same sort of colour palette) but demonstrated each of my 3 styles, 1 watercolour abstract, 1 zentangle abstract and 1 zentangle portrait. I live in a rural community and it was a no brainer that the painting that garnered the most interest was of a tractor, and coming in a close second a drawing of the Ermin, the emblem of Brittany and some pastels of the local countryside. I could at least have had a nod in that direction.
Make a point of talking to everyone at the exhibit - I completely went into shy mode and only talked to people I knew. I’m thinking that I would have been well advised to have a drink beforehand or something anyway to just boot me out of my shell. Social skills definitely need working on and I feel really stupid for not thinking about that beforehand. There was even a local journalist there and I didn’t even attempt to talk to him. Blimey I’m shit.
I have to have blarney about my paintings - I actually found myself lost for words when this little boy was telling me how much he loved my painting. My homework for this one is to write proper descriptions for all my paintings when I upload them to Artwork Archive - boxes on the website I’ve been happily ignoring heretofore.
Stay until the end - yes that’s right I ran away!! Just really, really unprofessional of me.
So, I need to grow a pair. It can’t all be beer and skittles and it does seem like a laudable goal for this year to learn to talk and write about my work. While I was beating myself up to my friend Kathryn about this, she kindly pointed out that that was the part that everybody hates. Note to self, "stop being such a girl’s blouse".
Oh blimey! I’ve just remembered one of other goals for this year that I’ve somewhat cheekily declared achieved - to have a collection of 15 gallery ready paintings (OK so I’m short 4 frames) but since they’re all Zentangle abstracts being gallery ready does imply that I need to be able to talk about them. Haha I know I’m going to practice making videos talking about my paintings. Maybe that’s what I could do reels about.
Hey ho, as they say there’s no such thing as failure, its just a learning experience.