Redtree Times

Artists are people driven by the tension between the desire to communicate and the desire to hide.

― Donald Woods Winnicott (1896-1971), British Psychoanalyst/Pediatrician

Well, the June issue of the American Art Collector is out.

I should be excited since it contains a short preview of my solo exhibit, Flow, that opens at the Principle Gallery two weeks from today, June 12th. While I can’t deny there is some excitement in seeing my work in a national magazine, I would describe it more as a form of nervousness or anxiety. Maybe fear.

You see, I like giving the work the exposure, getting it out there to a wider audience. I think it deserves it. But there is that neurotic part of me that fears it will reveal all its weaknesses and flaws, which by extension are my own.

Reveal me as a fake. Imposter Syndrome, I guess.

So, when I look and begin reading, it is always with a great deal of trepidation. It makes a phrase in the first sentence describing my work– child-like quality–seem more insidious than I am sure it was intended. Thinking about it for a few moments, I actually come to like the phrase since I have sometimes described my work as having a naive quality, not unlike the artwork of children, which I regard as being very honest and true in the way they express emotion.

Once I got past that child-like thing, I was actually pretty pleased with the article and think that the images of the paintings show really well in the magazine. They certainly don’t look like anything else displayed in the magazine. I am not sure if that is a good or bad thing but for right now, it pleases me greatly. I have always worked to have the work carry a unique identity and I think this displays that quality pretty well.

In the end, I find myself happy with the article. As I am buried in getting work ready for the show, this is a great relief. One less thing to worry about. My Imposter Syndrome quelled for the moment.

I have to get to work right now, in fact. If I am slow in responding to comments or emails, please bear with me. I will get to them soon, that’s a promise. I am a little worn down and things seem to be taking twice as long or more to finish. But I should be done tomorrow and have the show delivered on Sunday. Then I can rest a bit before the show opening.

That sounds pretty damn good right now.

Since this is about a little publicity, here’s a song that sort of deals with that, though nobody is looking to put me in the movies. This is Ringo Starr and the Beatles doing an old Buck Owens song, Act Naturally.