I’m experiencing infant over load. It’s not a bad thing. They’re cute. Two close friends of mine have infants. One was born this past week. They’re so tiny at first. Then they work on their caloric intake and start chubbing up. Their neck muscles start to kick in, and you aren’t so afraid their heads will lop off that instant where you lose a little grip when holding them.
Babies cry. They are taking in all this information with their big eyes. One moment it’s darkness, it’s warm, their ears hear sounds in muffled tones (I’m imagining this. I have no idea what it’s like to be completely aware in a womb). Then it’s bright, loud, cold, and who are all these people? What is going on?!
Waaaaaa!
Life is tough. Even when we’re babies we’re fighting reality. We’re flexing every muscle to be heard and screaming our heads off to be understood. Somebody hold me! Somebody comfort me! Somebody feed me! Somebody tell me it’s going to be alright!
Waaaaaa!
Then the hushing starts. The swaddling. The bouncing. The dancing. Sometimes it works and other times it doesn’t. But when it does the cooing starts. The eyelids weigh heavy, and there is some time before that baby stress attack happens again. I really don’t see it as any different when you’re an adult. You just manage it a little better; and the moments between cries is further apart.
It’s been fun daring to be me by putting my photography out there. After selling work at an arts and crafts bazaar last November, I wanted to pursue a dream I’ve had for a while, which was to show my work at a coffee shop. It doesn’t sound like a big dream, but it has been for me and it’s always seemed like one that was distant. But this past month I had the opportunity to hang my work at a local coffee shop. I shared the showing with my friend who paints and who has done this before, so she gave me a lot of good advice on approaching the project from beginning to end. Here are some things I feel made this first time showing a great experience:
Hi, I’m Marivic I introduced myself and asked who the best person was to contact about possibly hanging my work. In this case, I asked one of the employees and was given the name and email address of the manager. In my email to her, I briefly introduced myself, that me and a friend had interest in showing my work, and provided the website addresses to browse our work.
We’d Love to Show your work! After getting the offer to show our work, my friend clued me in on good questions to ask:
– When can I show my work? We were offered an entire month to show our work and were asked to choose a month to do it.
– When can I come in to hang my work? Establish a date to go in and hang your work and take it down. Consider loading and unloading, paying for parking, the size of your work (are there restrictions on size/weight?).
– Do you provide hardware to hang my work, or should I be expected to provide the tools needed to get the job done? The coffee shop provided enough hanging wire and hooks for our pieces. Before hanging, our contact emailed and asked how many pieces we were expecting to hang so that she could have enough hanging wire and hooks to provide us on the day of hanging.
– Do you take profit from work that is sold? Check to see if the place takes any percentage for work you sell. I know a friend who showed work at a boutique and it asked for 15% of any sales he made. That was not our case with the coffee shop.
– Can I transform the space? We did not do this, but if you think the place would be open to this, ask away and see what they say.
I’m going to show! Now what?
As soon as we established a time to show our work, my friend advised to get my work ready to show as soon as possible, if it wasn’t already. Even if the show is months away having work ready to display is a good idea. The reason behind this advice is that on rare occasions some artists are not ready to hang in time and drop out of their slot. When this happens, the space they are hanging in could ask you to hang in their place. In the case of coffee shops, I know from experience how sad it is to look at bare walls for an entire month (customers will point it out). My thought is that if you are not ready to show it’s fine to decline the offer. But if you can fill that spot, you’re helping a place out of a bind and they would surely be grateful for your help. Plus, assuming you’re keeping your planned spot, you get to show twice 🙂
Hanging Work
This being my first time, after figuring out what would be provided, having my work ready and ready to hang, I spent time at the shop planning how best to hang my pieces. How should I group them? How many hooks would I need? Where could I post my bio and business cards?
On the day of, I had some idea of how it would work. My husband pretty much did all the hanging 🙂 A very tall ladder was provided and he climbed it, hooked the frames onto the hanging wire, and placed the gummy stuff that helped stick them to the wall and kept them leveled. I brought a tool kit, nails, drafting tape, and 3M velcro stickies just in case. Studio Cornix brought double-sided tape and wire cutters which she used for the wire she used to attach her frames to the hanging wire.
I’d Like to Buy This Piece.
If you are selling your work, don’t make it hard for people to contact you! I provided a brief bio with business cards that I made sure stayed stocked. I also titled and priced each photo and posted my contact information. My friend included her contact info on every title card for each piece.
Enjoy Your Art and Your Hard Work!
This being my first time showing, and Studio Cornix’s reemergence to showing, we wanted to hold an informal gathering at the coffee shop to celebrate. We asked the shop if we could do this and they were more than accommodating. It was a night of snacks we provided and hanging out. It went so well that there are no pictures from that night because we were too busy enjoying each other’s company and talking about our art. (Note: Clean up after yourselves).
I’m thinking of showing my work? Wanna co-show? Sure!
This might not work for everyone, but I found it really helpful to share this opportunity with another artist. I had some ideas on how to approach this endeavor, and when I mentioned it to my friend, she asked if I’d be interested in co-showing. I could have said no and made the experience all about me, but I knew that was not the attitude to take. I went to an artist’s presentation of work last year and he featured other artists with him. His point being that sharing the opportunity to show your work with others is giving other people a chance to shine. Elevating others elevates yourself. So not only did I get to benefit from her wisdom in how to manage the process (everything I stated above), I was also excited to also promote her work. Thanks Studio Cornix for all of your help!
So there you have it. I had a plan, I shared that plan, I worked hard to be prepared, and we celebrated our work and accomplishment. We took our work down yesterday readying the space for the next month’s artist and are set to show our work for two months this summer in a different location.
I went with two small sets. The cluster of four on the left is the The Slice of Sunphotos. On the right, I wanted to highlight my abstract/playing with light work. Beneath that are the descriptions.Studio Cornix went with clip frames for her Cell Portraits and posted titles with prices and contact info next to them. I liked the pins she used to attach them to the wall.I was walking by and saw people sitting next to my work. It was a cool moment for me. I’ve sat next to other artists’ work many times, and this time it was the other way around.My parents and I. They were very excited to see my work, and I was really excited to show it to them.
You can’t walk down any street in Portugal without taking a picture of tile or ornate doorways and windows. A mixture of charming, old world, and fun.
Who doesn’t like a mannequin leg hanging above their door? Taken in an alleyway in the Alfama neighborhood of Lisbon, Portugal.One of the many doors at the Universidade de Coimbra.I think I took this in Lisbon.Nazare, PortugalNazare, PortugalFrom the lighthouse building in Nazare, Portugal. This building is a place for spectators to watch surfing competitions. This video of how big the waves get says it all. It was so windy there, you could lean into the wind about 10 degrees and it’d hold you up for a good second or two.Where I had the best gin and tonic, ever. This is a little bar that plays great music, and holds live jazz performances. Slavo the bartender was the greatest, and made us an awesome beef sandwich. And we met a sea merchant (?) who told us about his travels. It was like talking to your favorite uncle.Universidade de CoimbraUniversidade de CoimbraCoimbra, Portugal
I believe this was taken in Porto, Portugal.Porto, Portugal by the river front. We were told that the marks on the concrete are the flood levels from that year.Lisbon, PortugalYes. Not a doorway, but next to one. I was distracted by the fun sign and bicycle. How could I not take a photo of this? A last minute visit to get some beard cream for a friend who swore by it. Taken in the Alfama neighborhood of Lisbon.In any city, I always like looking at how builders level their doors on a steep incline.Okay, so this is a window. But I saw a lot of doorways with tile decor of religious scenes like this around them. This is probably one photo I felt good about posting. I really like the lace in the window and the naturally distressed wood.And just so you get an idea of how the other side of doors can look like in this country, we found this door lock in one of our lodgings to be especially entertaining.
I continue to edit my photos from Portugal. My intention, I think, is to just roll out small sets of themes or places to share because there are just too many. Here are a few I wanted to share of the furry and feathery friends that crossed our paths.
Coming out of the shadows – This one was feisty and would not stay still. Looking after – I could not love this image more. Surgery sucks – Ice the Dog recently went through surgery. Old bones – How cute are those ears? Tourist fatigue. Can’t blame it. This is my best side. And after this I get a chip, okay?
The Federal Courthouse in Seattle seems to draw me in every time I pass it. It’s obviously planned environmental and architectural landscaping, but I find it to be lovely. My favorite time of the year to be here is actually during the summer. There is plenty of room for people to sit and enjoy lunch. The steps in front and to the side almost look like an Aztec pyramid. Then there is the circle of steps around the abstract statue that sits on a patch of green. Then, with light tree coverage, you get shade and sun; whatever you’re preference. During the winter it does not get the attention of the office worker hour-lunch crowd. The only ones around are a security guard who patrols the premises and a couple of homeless people who camp on their benches. One day I’ll want to do a proper documentation of this corner, but for now I’ll do my quick studies.
I saw this painted on the front of The Indoor Sun Shoppe. I think I was into obstructed views on this particular afternoon. I wanted to take this like I was actually seeing this woman standing in her natural environment. The plastic chair kind of messes up that illusion, though, doesn’t it?
Searching Seattle (Fremont), Washington February 2, 2016
Believe it, or not, I’ve never seen Casablanca (gasp!). With that said, being a consumer of television and film, I’m thinking I can at least guess that this was a relationship between Humphrey Bogart and Ingrid Bergman’s characters that was difficult to have. In this photo, you can assume that Bogart and Bergman are on the same wall. They are divided by a block of white that is used for Fremont’s outdoor movie nights during the summer. I was interested in telling the story in two frames. Each frame centers on the character, but each is surrounded by obstructions. Setting up as a diptych was intentional; another barrier to their relationship. I’ll now have to watch it and see if my presumption is correct.
Last May, my husband and I traveled to Portugal for 10 short days (Side note: In my opinion, if you’re coming from the U.S., 10 days is not long enough to explore anywhere outside of the States). On our last leg of the trip, we ventured to Porto to visit my friend Gail, who showed us around this city she now calls home. One of the places of interest she brought us to was the bookstore Livraria Lello & Irmão. Unfortunately, it was late in the day, and it wasn’t open. But a couple of days later, we showed up before lunch, walked in, and stepped into this magical spectacle of a bookstore. Here’s a little collection of photos I took. You can peruse more here.
Front of the bookstore.
Espresso and cake.
Bookstore sign out front.
Middle of he staircase.
sloping walkway to staircase.
Beautiful details.
Twist!
Gorgeous ceiling.
Fish-shaped staircase to top level.
You can only imagine the insane amount of foot traffic this place gets. You’d think that it would drum up a good amount of business, but I think a lot of people just want to go in, look around, and take tons of pictures, with little intention of purchasing anything. Gail’s recent post Making Friends With Livraria Lello & Irmão goes into the history of the bookstore and how it has been managing being open to curious tourists and making a profit. Per the post, “In July 2015, Lello started charging an entrance fee of 3 euros, which is deducted from any in-store purchase.” We feel lucky to have been able to walk in without having to pay a fee, and take pictures without too much of a crowd. We enjoyed sitting for coffee and cake and purchased a few souvenirs on our way out. If you’re ever in Porto, a visit to the bookstore is definitely worth a visit.
While watching the Seahawks take a substantial beating in the first half of this past Sunday’s game, I distracted myself from the horror by taking some photos of a leaf. It’s from our philodendron plan we named Phil. It’s pretty much how I felt that entire first half.
Searching
fighting reality 