tiny art show (pt ii)

what follows is the second excerpt from my Honors Capstone project, which discusses the origin, inspiration, and process of my art show, 9 Semesters.

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The show began as a flurry of inspiration written in a notebook. I had lots of ideas and words to describe them, some vague images in my mind (almost none of which made it into the final artwork). I wrote them down, tore out the page, chopped it up into individual ideas and glued them, kindergarten-style, into a different notebook with space for embellishment. I added sticky notes, sketches, and questions that debated possible materials, forms, colors.

If this sounds at all exciting or impressive, I need to reassure you of my timidity and mild embarrassment in bringing this collection of scraps to my former drawing instructor to ask her to be the director of my project. To her extraordinary credit, she never said a single word to encourage my imposter syndrome. She had excellent suggestions to kick me in the right direction, handed me lists of materials and supplies that would be helpful, and told me to email when I had something show her or any questions.

I went home and ordered paint, bristol paper, brushes, watercolors, tools online. I went to the hardware store and brought home cheap plywood from the culled lumber section to doodle on. I dug my supples back out from drawing class - the pencils, erasers, my beloved vine charcoal - a bold but generally forgiving medium. And I went to work. And I got stuck. And I went back to work. And I got stuck or distracted.

It went like this in several rounds: I would plug away at a piece that I had a good final vision for, or I would wait until I was tired enough to create something without caring about what it really looked like, so that I could actually make something interesting. I would take it to Roxie and she would point out better materials or different directions the piece could go. I would go two and a half weeks without talking to Roxie and she would email me. What a saint.

Eventually the collection as it is came to be. But how much doubt we often have in our own abilities to bring a project to completion! Even in the last few weeks, I have been paralyzed at the thought of bringing my meager offering into the gallery, panicking that I need just one more piece, to fill the space, and having nothing in my creative storehouse. Here we are anyway.

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9 Semesters is on display this week, Dec 2-7, 2018 in the Union Grove Gallery at UAH (the tiny white church building between Morton Hall and the CTC). There will be a reception Wed, Dec 5, 5-7pm. For viewing outside that time, contact me.