Projects

Ever have one of those weeks where you just go from project to project to project, then back to the first and start all over again? That's been me for the past, oh, I dunno, several weeks.

Today I was trying to prep the studio for next weekend's Studio Stroll. It needs a MAJOR cleaning. We're talking serious cobwebs and dustbunnies that could eat a Volkswagon. I'm also trying to decide which pieces to have on the wall, which others need to be framed, where they'll go, and where all the other stuff that doesn't need to be seen will go. And order the frames, get the matboards, cut the mats, clean the glass, arrange the works, wash the couch cover, mop the floor, you name it. All this in a studio that's well over 90 degrees in the mid afternoon. YES, I'm whining! Sometimes it just seems overwhelming, and I get a bad case of "don't-care-itis". But in my head, I know that participating in the Stroll is a good thing for me in the long run. Which is what keeps me going.

Another big project that keeps demanding my time is the Arts Council. I'm on the Board of Directors of the Asheville Area Arts Council now. I got my arm twisted by an artist who's on the board, and finally agreed to join it. Then I started finding out (a) what a board member really does and (b) what's going on with our Council. We have a good organization and good people, but it's going to take a lot of work to get from where we are now to where we want to be. And here I thought that board members just met once in a while, drank coffee, and voted on stuff. NOT! Not if you want a functioning organization, that is. (If my tone sounds whiny again, it's just a carry-over from the first paragraph ... in all truthfulness, being on the BoD is going to be a good thing.)

The third big project is learning about grants. I've decided that galleries are probably not going to be my be-all and end-all. My best paintings have an in-your-face narrative quality that doesn't really go well in any commercial gallery I've seen yet. But they can be matched to the missions of some organizations. So right now I'm working on putting together a grant proposal that, if funded, would let me work with the Navy to do more works like Lament and Warrior. And I believe that I can get the funding. It's pretty exciting, really: I see more promise of doing the kind of works I want to do this way than I ever did while working with a gallery.

Oh, yeah, one more project: keeping the wife happy. That means mowing the lawn, getting a new washer (our old one isn't quite dead yet but is on physical therapy with no hope of getting better), painting the house, and giving in (eventually) to her demands for a dryer that matches the new washer.

I need a beer!