Saturday, September 15, 2007

It's Colorful...It's Fun...Umm...

Last night, at an art opening, I had the interesting experience of watching somebody try to explain my work to two other people.

This, as it turns out, is not an easy task.

It was actually quite funny. I will never forget the looks on the listeners faces as they stared somewhat blankly at my valiant friend. She struggled on, bravely, for a bit: (I'm going to paraphrase here) "it's papier mache...fun shapes....colorful....(nervous giggle)..."

I am grateful to my friend for even attempting to describe my work. (thank you, Shelley!) It's not easy for me, either. What I do is unusual. In my book, that's a good thing, but I have to learn that it's not a judgement on my work if other people don't understand or connect with it. And I'm realizing that this is going to keep coming up... I just got accepted to the North Tahoe Arts Artisan Shop on a trial basis, as I'm their first-ever papier mache artist. I'm honored...I'm boldly going where no papier mache artist has gone before. So, THAT will be interesting...

While I don't exclusively consider myself a papier mache artist, I do adore the medium, and I'm grateful for the opportunity to watch people stare blankly at me... because at some point, I know I'll begin to see glimmers of recognition. And that will be worth all of my previous stammering!

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