Learning to be Lewis and Clark

Yesterday was a fantastic day. I was invited by my good friend and incredible artist Keith Hanson to share a space with him at the 3rd annual  Wounded Vet's Run at Suffolk Downs in Boston. Simply being there was a once in a life time opportunity in light of the Boston Marathon bombings. The Boston and Watertown Police were honored right along side of the Vets and it was truly a day to remember. Keith donated a custom painted POW helmet and I donated a custom painted dog tag. There were literally hundreds of other donated items on the raffle tables which also showed me that despite the acts of senseless cruelty, there are many, many more acts of kindness in this world.

So I suppose that you are wondering how Lewis and Clark fit into all of this. Well, it is always interesting to me to see the reactions that people have to my new work. However, in choosing the path of a style of art that is not understood and rarely believed, I have learned that my marketing plan needs to be as unique as the artwork itself. I tried various methods of talking to people that stopped. Some I just let browse, some I jumped right in explaining all the details and methods. One reaction that I found most common was that people assumed they were photographs. That is certainly an honor and  really one of the benchmarks I set for myself when painting however, it sort of backfires when someone just passes by assuming they are photos. One very nice lady even smiled at me as she was walking by and actually said, 'Lovely work, my husband used to be a photographer.'

So here I am this morning sort of like Lewis and Clark mulling over which direction to be taken in the dark. The marketing goals have evolved (again) to closely look at what will allow the true details of my work to speak for themselves.

Evolution of the journey.

My hope is that everyone is enjoying the first day of a very happy and healthy 2013.

With the New Year, it is fitting that this blog entry is about change. We are creatures of change and adaptation. This is how we grow and evolve. As a young art student, my number one fear was not being able to find my artistic voice. I was very concerned that my art would blend into the crowd and never be unique. Change is a powerful friend of the creative process. It forces us to look outside the boundaries of what we already know and it forces us to take chances. For me it was simply stumbling across the request to paint something small that changed the course of my creative path. Granted, it has not been a particularly easy path, but the voice is so loud, it cannot be ignored.

Listen to what your artistic voice is telling you. Feed it with knowledge, practice and challenges and it will reward you a hundred times over.

With that, my artistic voice is now calling me again. I’ll be posting updates of all the new paintings for 2013 on the facebook page and as always, thanks for checking in!!