The Year That Was 2010

Another year gone, and in many ways a typical year. You can learn all the details by going back through the past 12 months of this blog, or look immediately below for a rundown of the stats and highlights of the past year.

Prints- As usual, didn't get as much done as I would have liked. At least part of that is due to increased employment, and a little due to exceptionally heavy snow at both ends of the year. Still, I finished two more prints in the boardwalk series, a new print in the supermarket series, contributed to 2 collaborative prints, and started on my long in planning smoking print. Plus the annual Christmas card.

Shows- Another year with no solo shows, but once again I did get a bunch of work out in public in various group shows. By my count, a total of 33 works appeared in 7 shows, with 2 of those shows traveling to a second location. The typical mix of juried, open, and invitational exhibitions.

Publicity- A photo of me next to one of my prints appeared in the local weekly newspaper this past spring. And over the summer I was interviewed for a video news story about my work and the exhibition in appeared in, with the video posted on YouTube.

Awards- Was awarded Best In Show for my contribution to the After Sunset show at the Boatworks.

Firsts- With a lot of help from experienced professional Mark Ganguzza, I produced my first digital video, The Dog Food Story, to show in the Belmar Urban Myth exhibition.

Miscellaneous- Had a work banned from a commercial location (the same print in the newspaper photo mentioned above). Saw two artists with connections to the Outlaw Printmakers on TV this summer- Sean Star Wars on a commercial, and Peregrine Honig on an art-themed reality show. Ran into Drive By Press twice in New Jersey- at my university and at a street fair in Asbury. A seminary student made me and my Ecclesiastes series the focus of a class project.

The Studio- Business as usual. The critique group continues to meet regularly, and I'm making some good prints when I can find time to get in there. At the rate things are going around here, I might not be back there until the spring thaw.

Next Year- Not a whole lot on the calendar yet. I have a couple of small collaborative pieces at the Tallinn Print Triennial in Estonia, opening in about 3 weeks. And that's all I can confirm right now. But there's talk of a group show or two for our critique group, and I'm far enough into the boardwalk series that it's worth organizing an exhibition proposal around it. I'm hoping to finish 3 or 4 more prints in that series, and to finish the smoking figure print that I started this past year. There's bound to be a few surprises as well, but we'll find out about those as they happen.