Year End Summary for 2012
I traveled to Cleveland and Cincinnati to see a couple of amazing shows, "Rembrandt in America" and the Henry Ossawa Tanner show titled " Modern Spirit". I went to Chicago because a friend had a spare bed in the apartment she was renting so I thought, "why not?" There is so much art to see in Chicago that I am never disappointed. There were some great shows in San Francisco - the Jay DeFeo Retrospective, Jasper Johns' "Seeing with Mind's Eye", the William Paley collection, and Mark Bradford retrospective. I volunteered at SCRAP during the summer and part of the fall and loved it. I really enjoy organizing areas and straightening up the merchandise.
I applied to very few competitions and residencies. After the turmoil of 2011, I wanted a peaceful and quiet 2012 and not being more aggressive in getting into shows was part of it. Here is the summary of the shows/residencies I applied to.
40 Watts sponsored by the South Bay Area Women's Caucus for Art - accepted
curated by Eleanor Heartney, contributing editor to Art in America and Artpress
As a member of the Women's Caucus for Art, I am eligible to exhibit work in the "members only" shows. This was one of them. The venue was the Pacific Art League, Norton Gallery in Palo Alto, California. A nicely organized show (WCA always organizes great shows and is great to work with) and I had friends who live in the South Bay stop by for a visit.
Arteles Artist Residency - rejected
I chose to apply to this residency because it was located in Finland, a place I've been to during my previous life as a biotechnology scientist. I loved Finland and the Finns. I was there in October many years ago and I vividly remember the freshness of the air and the different, "darker" light.
Excelsior Public Gallery - accepted
This is a city commission for a public art piece to be displayed in the Excelsior District. One or more pieces will be displayed at the Excelsior library. It is a paying gig (at least, it is suppose to be but I haven't been compensated yet) but for me, the bragging rights are huge.
San Francisco MOMA Rental Gallery - rejected (4th time?)
Denali National Park Artist Residency - rejected
This sounded great - you stay in a cabin and you could bring a friend.
Women's Caucus for Art - featured artist - no feedback yet.
Johanna Spillman - for contemporary art show - no feedback yet.
This sounded good because it would be local and the exposure sounded promising. I am wary, though of operations of this nature. Someone wants art, they have a "call for art", they have no integrity or are flaky and irresponsible, and I never hear from them again. Worse still, the work is accepted and is treated with no respect. I will, of course report the good and the bad from any exhibition experiences.
The Global Meal - ArtHouse Coop - everyone is accepted
This was a fun, worldwide event where every participant got together with others at a specific time to share a meal. For San Francisco, that time was 8 am so I cooked a Hawaiian inspired poached egg on fried rice. If I lived in Beijing, I would be eating with my friends at midnight! In 2012, 4000 people worldwide participated. The next Global Meal is set for February 22, 2013.
2012 also represented the lowest amount of sales ever but realize that it was my own doing. All of the portraits I finished were given away as gifts to those people who helped me through 2011. They helped me to survive that horrendous year and they helped me become a better artist. I have however, because of the portrait work, received a commission to do a portrait. That's two commissions in 2012 which will be completed in 2013.
Onward to 2013!
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