I’ll talk a little more on how I started painting but right now I want to talk a bit about show preparation. I do 3-4 solo shows a year, all at galleries that have represented my work for a while and have built up a base of collectors over the years. These are big events for me and are a little nerve-racking. There’s the pressure of satisfying those who follow your work, trying to give them something new and exciting so that their interest is maintained. There’s the pressure of meeting the expectations of the gallery by producing a body of work that they feel is strong and fresh and will be excited to sell. There is also the pressure in a solo show that your work is the main source of income for the gallery for a time and that if your work isn’t well received the gallery suffers. There is also the pressure from myself to see growth in the work. Finally, there is the pressure to have to meet the public and talk about my paintings. That is often the greatest struggle mainly because the longer I do this , the more instinctual the action of painting becomes. There is less time spent thinking out each motion. Describing something instinctive is difficult.
The show I’m currently preparing is for the KADA Gallery in Erie, PA. It’s a wonderful smaller gallery ran by Kathy and Joe DeAngelo who are just wonderful folks and were one of the first galleries to see something in my work. I have been very fortunate in the people that I’ve worked with in the gallery world and Kathy and Joe are prime examples. They represent my work with enthusiasm and encouragement and they treat the work the work with the respect I think it deserves. So it’s very important that I put together a show for them that is first-rate, something that hopefully really shines in the gallery.
The show is titled “The Time Has Come” and opens October 4, 2008. In the near future I will talk more about the title and the thinking behind it but now I have work to do!
Redtree Times 