Preparing for an Art Show

I am so excited to be participating in the Bloom 11 show being held from March 13th to March 31st at the Coast Collective Art Gallery! Not only am I participating but my piece “Let me be Your Wonderland” is being featured on the poster! However, I must admit leading up to this event has been a total disaster, but I am happy that after everything my work is hanging in a gallery! 

First of all this was one of the largest pieces of work I have ever done in coloured pencil. It has taken me months to complete, my hands are still aching from all of the hours of detailed work. There were so many challenges from the overall size of the piece, to the hundreds of layers it took to achieve the depth I wanted. I really didn’t know if I would be able to finish it, but once I filled in the last flower it felt like the weight of the world had been lifted. I sprayed it right away to ensure that it did not smudge. This was when my world came crashing down…The fixative that I used left splotches all over. Looking at the splotches on my nicely blended flowers made me sick. Thankfully after late nights researching how to fix the splotches, in addition to some tears I was able to correct the problem. One thing I cannot stress enough is to learn how to correct your mistakes, because they will happen! 

I knew that the deadline to have the framing done was fast approaching, and I had to have it photographed for prints before it could be framed. I was planning to do this myself, because this has been something that I wanted to learn to do. On the day that I had planned to photograph this piece, water began pouring from the ceiling flooding the house. To make matters worse my husband left me in the middle of this mess to referee a hockey game. I had no clue where the main shut off was to the water, let alone how to turn it off. I went 50 shades of homicidal that day, so needless to say photographing this piece was not a priority. On a side note, I learned that self-control is a major quality of mine! After all of this I considered withdrawing my application to the Bloom 11 show, because it was starting to feel like the whole project was doomed, but I didn’t. 

One week before I had to drop off the picture I needed to (keep in mind I work full time): find a frame, re-finish the frame, have the picutre photographed, and then frame it. Finding the correct sized frame was a nightmare in itself. Lesson learned: pick the frame first and then create the piece to fit the frame. After searching countless stores I was able to find a frame at an antique store, but I had to refinish it. I ended up purchasing the wrong paint and had to run around town finding an alternative only to have the paint peel. After redoing the frame not once but twice, the photography nightmare began. I had my local print shop photograph this for me due to time restraints. At this point with only two days to go I thought I was finally in the clear… Until I looked at the media files of my print and noticed all of these black spots all over the picture. I was panicked, I had no idea what it was or how it got on the picture! To make matters worse the picture was already at the framers about to be framed. After convincing myself that the picture was ruined, the dust came off easily and it was framed without incident.

So when you’re admiring an artist’s work in a gallery remember that you are truly seeing their blood, sweat, and tears. Some people have an ideal that artists sit in a studio in this zen state creating brilliantly coloured pictures with everything working out perfectly. In reality the artist is about to lose their mind after attempting to frame a picture countless times, yet every time there’s a new piece of cat hair wedged under the glass. There is a significant amount of work that goes into painting a picture and then preparing that same picture for a gallery showing. I feel like this experience has shaved a few years off my life, but it has all been worth it to see my art hanging on a gallery wall….