Deadlines Approaching

The way things work in the art world (my piece of it anyway), is there are long periods of time when nothing is going on, then suddenly everything is going on.  I'm always busy, but sometimes there are a bunch of things that can't wait.

Coming into this week I had two big art things to deal with.  I had arranged to be part of the Belmar Art Walk the last Sunday of April.  Businesses up and down Main Street will be hosting art shows and art demonstrations.  Since I had planned to run another series of woodcut classes around that time, it seemed a good opportunity to promote that class, and I'm no stranger to doing demos.  By the time I decided this, it was a bit past the deadline to sign up, but I guess they need people.  The details of where and when changed a bit, but in the end we settled on a demonstration either in front of or inside a yoga studio, which seems to be part of Belmar's yoga district.  (I'm not kidding- three yoga businesses within 50 feet of each other on the same block)  Anyway, now that I have the promotional event set up, I need something to promote.  I had stopped by the Boatworks a few times to check the building calendar and sought input from potential students.  Only a week to go, so today I committed to some dates in May and June.  Now I have to come up with a project to demonstrate, but that's a problem for next week.  Probably a saint.

The other thing coming up fast is the delivery of work for the Rahway event.  The show opens next weekend and again late the following week, but the work has to arrive tomorrow.  Luckily this wasn't too difficult.  The three largest pieces are all in frames, stored right in my living room and already wrapped for travel.  The fourth, a saint, needed a frame.   When I last showed it, I had it in a frame a little larger than the ones I had used for other saints, but it was now holding the piece I did for Animal Spirits last year.  I found the window mat that fit the frame and the saint, so making the switch would be easy.

But then another thing popped up.  Got an e-mail reminding people that Friday was the deadline for the 40th Anniversary Members Juried show at the Printmaking Center of NJ.  I used to be very involved with PCNJ, but not so much lately.  I haven't been in a show there since the 36th Annual show two years ago (I'll save the story of how we jumped two anniversaries for another time), or taught a class there since four years ago.  Lately they seem to favor curated shows over juried shows, and the only one that I could have entered was juried by the new master printer.  When I looked at her website and saw her work was all abstract, textural, printmakerish stuff I didn't like my chances.  Artists who do that kind of work never jury me into shows, and she maintained that tradition.  However, this time the juror is Eileen Foti, whose name had popped up regularly on this blog as a friend to me and what I do.  Her being the one to select the work is no guarantee I'd get in, but at least I know she's predisposed to like what I do.  Two problems.  First, I had let my membership lapse, so that would have to be renewed.   (used the internet to take care of that)  Second, I've been extremely busy the past two years, but don't have a whole lot of prints to show for it, and by rule all the submitted work has to be from the past two years.  I only have one big impressive piece from that time period, my smoking portrait, but I'm delivering the framed copy to Rahway tomorrow and the unframed copy would exceed the size limits, and the two shows might overlap, so that's out.  That Animal Spirits print became one of my best options, but I didn't have a really good photo of it, so this morning I removed the plexi from the frame so I could get a good photo, then got a quick photo while the print was still held by the frame before swapping it for the saint I need to deliver tomorrow.  Again, the internet allowed me to submit the paperwork and the images today, so they are in.  Be about a month before I get the results, but I'll have a whole new set of deadline to deal with then.