I received great news yesterday: I've juried in as a studio artist at the Torpedo Factory Art Center. This is something I've dreamed of for awhile, but in no way whatsoever did I think it would happen so quickly. I was told that nobody juries-in on their first attempt, and I certainly didn't see myself as a "real" artist ("I'm still very new at this," I say to people). Be that as it may, I got in...and my self-perception has just been flipped on its head.
Over the past 24 hours, all kinds of explanations have run through my head. Anything from, "there must have been little competition," to "artists are disappearing in this economy - they must be hard-up for fresh blood." Whew, I can be harsh on myself.
However, today at the Torpedo Factory, I felt like Cinderella. Not only did people gush about my work, they seemed genuinely excited to welcome me to the fold. I'll be learning a lot over the next few weeks about what's involved - apparently there's a fairly well-honed mentoring process for new "associate artists" that's intended to set us up for success, not launch us in over our heads too quickly.
Next week, there's an exhibition of the juried-in class of 2010's work at Target Gallery, with a reception to meet the art center's artists for possible sub-lease matches (feels a little like a sorority rush!). Of course since I didn't expect to be participating in any of this, I scheduled my knee surgery for next week. I am, however, determined to not miss a thing, crutches and all. What a nice high to carry me through what may otherwise be a tough week!
The original motivation for starting this blog a mere two years ago was to explore, integrate and share what it means to consciously live my life. I can't believe that was only 24 months ago, because, boy, when you put your intentions out there in the world, stuff happens.