Organizing for a New Year

In anticipation of the January blahs I've set aside this month to work on organizing my studio and my thoughts (and spending some time outside.)

I've been focused on drawings, ideas for new work and prototypes for upcoming orders. This creative break has been a nice rest from the production last year ended with.

Working on ink drawings for a very overdue order not only made a great excuse to clean my drawing studio but also offered a chance to revisit the world of objects and furniture. This process brought forward new ideas and experiments, so now that the framing is finished, I'll be setting up for something new.

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The Usual Suspects

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But Mom... Everyone's wearing them!

I've also been spending some time working on administration, trying to clear off my desk and organize that part of my brain. I need to go over my art documents: resume, bio, statements and organize my images in order to work on website updates. Which is totally daunting when I look at it as a list!

If you live in the Jackson area and are struggling with this side of your art business, I'll be teaching a workshop in a few weeks at the Art Association.

Crafting Your Artist Statement will be the first workshop in a series of professional development classes. This short workshop will meet on January 30, 10am - 12pm in the Photography Studio at the Art Association. I'll help define the various forms of the artist statement and offer tips on writing and communicating the meaning behind your art. Plus- this class is free for members of the Art Association and only $5 if you are not!

Give me a shout if you have questions (hello@dowdhousestudios.com) and stay tuned for more from this series.

There is so much to come this year and I still feel overwhelmed from last year. I'm glad I gave myself permission for this short break and I hope to feel more organized by the end of this month.

Professional Practice in the Arts

Good business is the best art. -Andy Warhol  

In just a few weeks I will be teaching Professional Practice in the Arts for Central Wyoming College at the Jackson campus.

I am looking forward to this class more and more as it approaches. While helping my students set short and longterm goals, learn the process of portfolio and application preparation, brush up resumes, statements, learn about social media tools... I need to be sharp! I keep thinking about all those things I thought I'd get to over the winter, computer file organization / streamlining, editing and organizing images... I even have boxes of old slides to weed through and digitize. 

As with all classes I teach, I have the opportunity to learn along with my students. So, I'll be setting goals for myself while brushing up on all the topics we will cover. I'm excited for the questions that will be brought to the class and I have high hopes for my students (and myself) during the 5-week crash course. 

I picked up a great book that I think might help form part of my approach: Better Living Through Criticism: How to think about Art, Beauty, Pleasure and Truth by A.O. Scott

My first goal is to finish this book before the class starts. So far, I don't think that will be a problem!

The class will be meeting from 5 - 7:30pm for 5 Mondays: April 11 - May 9 at the Center for the Arts. For more information, send me an email or contact CWC: 307.733.7425