Well, the work for my show that opens this Friday has been delivered, which is a great relief. While I like having a deadline or a destination to shoot for with my work, there is an immediate sense of relaxation when the task is completed. Unfortunately, this is often replaced by the stress of fretting over how the show will be accepted at the gallery. Will people connect with the work? Will my established collectors see work that will fit in with the paintings they already own? Will people even show up?
In the past these questions would have made me a nervous wreck in the week between delivery and the actual show. This year however, I don’t have nearly the anxiety of past shows. I’m not absolutely sure why there appears to be more calm this year but maybe it has to do with this being my tenth show at the Principle Gallery and something like my twenty-fifth solo exhibition in galleries overall. After so many shows I’ve come to realize that I can’t control anything beyond the creation of my work. Provided I am satisfied and excited by the work, once it is out of my hands the level of success, good or bad, of the show is dependent on factors on which I have little impact. The economy. The weather. The gallery’s promotion of the show. These things and many more can have an effect on how well a show does.
And, as I said, all are out of my control. So, why worry?
There’s also, finally, after so many shows, a sense of acceptance, at least in my own mind. For years, I harbored the fear that my work was not worthy, that it had little validity and may never be accepted by what I imagined the art world to be. But time has shown me that there has been a validation through the years that comes in the form of the response to the work that finds its way to me. Many comments, notes and e-mails over the years have convinced me that there is an authenticity to this work, that is has truly had an impact on the lives of others. For a simple person such as I, can there be a greater validation for the efforts and long hours spent?
So, time has finally afforded me some relief from my normal state of anxiety as I wait for the opening of the show. Light has appeared and I am out of the darkness. And that is a good thing…
The painting above is fittingly titled Out of Darkness and is part of the show about which I’ve been talking, which opens Friday, June 12 at the Principle Gallery on King Street in Alexandria, VA. The opening starts at 6:30 and I will be there to answer any questions. Hope to see you there…
Redtree Times 