Super busy day. Still feverishly painting away and mixing in beginning prep work on staining frames and varnishing paintings as the clock ticks down. Only two weeks until I deliver this group of work to the Principle Gallery for my solo show there, opening June 7. There is always a sense of tension, panic and rush at this point in getting ready for a show, something I know from the fact that this year’s show is my 20th solo effort at the Principle. After all these years, I know the routine that has been formed.
But there is even a bit of added anxiety in it being the 20th show there. I guess this anxiety comes, putting it in the simplest terms, because I fear every show could be my last show, my last chance to prove myself, my final opportunity to demonstrate that I am deserving. This being the 20th just accentuates that point that there might not be a 21st.
Fear as a primary motivator doesn’t sounds right when pertaining to art but it seems to be the case with me. I don’t know if that’s good or bad and I really don’t care at this point. It keeps me from lulling myself into an attitude where I believe I am owed anything from anybody. Experience has taught me that I am entitled to nothing, that I have to treat every show as my first and possibly last show.
So, I am going to get to work in an early morning cold sweat. Just the way it should be, I guess. I thought I’d share a song, It Takes a Lot to Know a Man, from Irish singer Damien Rice. There are two version below. One is the studio recorded song with instrumentation and accompanying lyrics.
The other is a live vocal performance that took place at a German music festival with Rice and the choral group Cantus Domus performing for an audience of one. A single audience member at each show was kidnapped and taken to a hidden location. When the sack was removed from their heads they found that they were in what appears to be some sort of underground chamber surrounded by the group and Rice, who proceed to give them a one to one concert experience. I can only imagine being both incredibly uncomfortable and deeply moved. It’s an interesting film and a lovely song.
Have a great day.
Redtree Times 
Well, there are philosophers who advise treating each day as though it’s both our first and our last, so you’re in good company. Carry on!
Gary – Loved the music today, but I don’t understand why those kidnapped audience members weren’t in tears. What an overwhelming experience!
On another note, I thought you might appreciate this quote from A-Word-A-Day today:
A THOUGHT FOR TODAY:
Most creativity is a transition from one context into another where things are more surprising. There’s an element of surprise, and especially in science, there is often laughter that goes along with the ‘Aha’. Art also has this element. Our job is to remind us that there are more contexts than the one that we’re in — the one that we think is reality. -Alan Kay, computer scientist (b. 17 May 1940)
Gary, I thought the same thing about them not crying. Perhaps they were so aware of the strangeness of the situation and the fact that all eyes were on them that it sort of froze their emotional response.Interesting…