In August, when I committed myself to my first “solo” show in almost 10 years, I knew I had a lot of work ahead of me. There were things to think about:
Paintings
Frames
Title Tags
Hanging Hardware
Business Cards
Paintings
Publicity/Marketing
Theme
Dimension
Paintings
More publicity
More paintings
When I first decided I wanted to be an artist, I knew it would take work. It is never quite as glamourous as it appears: relaxing in a studio with a cup of coffee, painting at one’s leisure, making infinite profit and always highly inspired…
I took 10 years “off” from the art world to develop my business career. In that time, the other necessary skill-sets developed: Time management/meeting deadlines, dealing with pressure, paying attention to minute details and learning confidence, among other things.
Today I hung an art show. It took nearly 4 months of continuous thought, planning and anticipation. I am happy to say that today I felt that I got to combine all things: those moments in the studio with a cup of coffee, those moments of high stress and attention to detail. Being an artist IS hard work. You are allowing people the privilege to judge your art, which ultimately means they are judging YOU. It is my hope that this show is the first of many, that my skill sets are always getting developed and that I have the joy of preparing to exhibit a piece of my heart to the public.
I have a lot to be thankful for.
Rachel Alvarez Art - The Nap Time Artist 