How to Prepare for Your Show

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Close your eyes and imagine your show. Live the moment. It is like a party. Envision how your art is displayed, how people move around to see your art, what they are eating and drinking, the background music… Visualize every detail. Now, lets prepare to show our work.

I prefer to take care of most aspects of my shows myself instead of putting it in the hands of other people. I do surround myself with people I trust to help me shape the scene and to alleviate my burden. Seek their advice, listen to their opinion, but most importantly understand their support. Make sure is people who can take care of things without prompting. Otherwise you will add unnecessary stress to yourself.

torsos invitation frontI want to share with you my experience and my process to present an art exhibit. I believe that “TORSOS” opening reception Saturday, November 22 is going to be by far, my largest yet. I am not an expert in how to organize an art exhibit but I’ve been learning and I hope to get better at it. I will appreciate your input and experience. On Saturday, I would love to shake your hand and probably give you a hug (I’m a hugger and not sorry for that). You can find the info about the show HERE.

How to prepare for your show? While there are many intricacies in presenting an art exhibit this checklist might help you get started. Before you decide you want to have an art exhibit you need to be ready with a few things.

  • Short biography
  • Artist Statement
  • Description of the show
  • 10-20 pieces to show.

Word of Advise: Make sure the amount of pieces fits the venue. You don’t want your show to look like a flea market.

  • Venue, Date and Time of the show.

I try to have this at least 3 months in advance. That time allows for you to prepare and promote properly.

  • Check the place and visualize your work there, the show, make the initial vision come to life.
  • Write a press release.

There are plenty of examples and templates online in how to write a press release. If you have someone to do it for you is fine. Some people charge to write press releases. I prefer to write it myself then ask other people to edit whatever necessary.

  • Design printed material: invitations, posters, postcards, etc.

Again, if you can’t do it yourself someone else can do it. I design my own printed material. It makes me feel closer to the show.

  • Promote! Promote! Promote! My mom would say: “Invite even the cat.”

Use your printed material, mailing lists, online media, social media, word of mouth, tell your friends to bring friends… anything that can being people to your show.

  • Decide on food and drinks

Keep it simple to the extent possible unless someone else wants to pay for it. You can also ask for sponsors or wine tastings to be present. The possibilities are endless and it all depends on your budget and preferences.

  • Set up ahead of time

Heads up! There will be a lot of stress on getting ready. Go over your plan and check every detail. Pretend you are a guest and go through all of it. Be flexible to changes that won’t change the overall look and feel of the show. There are things not deserving the stress.

Be ready to enjoy the people celebrating you and your work, make new connections, be ready to answer any questions that could be presented, and have fun. It is your party!

How to Explain Your Art

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182297_10150256163239956_22866031_nI honestly enjoy talking about my art, the process, the technique, the historical influences, and the possible story behind each piece. I believe that being able to explain your art is very important and increases credibility as an artist. I guess it applies to any craft. A while ago I posted something about this subject on twitter and it caused a little outrage from people who misunderstood “learning about your craft” with “going to school” and getting a formal education. Let me clarify that getting “formal” education is a good thing, but that’s not what I refer to. Leonardo di ser Piero da Vinci was autodidact. I guess that clarifies the point. It is not about formal education but to seek understanding about what you do and why because it helps you grow as an artist. If you can explain it, people will be more interested in what you do. This is what I suggest to aspiring artists:

Find yourself in time

Newsflash!!! “There is nothing new under the sun“. This is at times an ego check to artists. You are only as unique as the variation and “spirit” you provide to your art. I suggest you look into an art history book and find yourself in time. All we do have an origin and an influence somewhere in the past. Get to know the arts that influence your art, and where your inspiration draws from. Don’t be intimidated by comparisons from artists from the past. That should be a compliment.

Assess your logic

No matter how “random” you think your art is, there must be a logic behind it. This logic can be found in the use of color, the strokes, rhythm, as it can be conceptual and philosophical. You can find this logic in every movement of art including modern art. Find your logic. When you do and explain it to people they will feel more involved with your work than you could imagine.

Assess your emotions 

Maybe the explanation to your logic is found in what you feel when you are working. Art is a sensorial experience after all. Some people like to listen to a specific kind of music to get in a specific kind of mood. Anger, happiness, relaxation, tension, hope, sadness, loss, loneliness… there are many emotions that transpire in our work that if we can’t identify them someone would.

Now you can tell your story and provide the viewers with the “spirit” of the work and engage them even more. The more you immerse yourself in understanding your craft, the better you get at it, the more inspiration you find, the more engagement from your viewers you reach. Learn about other styles too, specially those that came before and after the one that identify yours. The more you know, the more your confidence as an artist will grow too. Educate yourself to explain your art.

Learning is a Transformative Experience

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10343524_10150481345604956_8131657156029738621_nThe more I learn about learning, the more I am convinced that learning is a transformative experience in which knowledge is shared and each personal experience is intertwined as part of a larger story. I am an educator, instructional designer, and fine artist. I teach with a holistic view of the world but focusing on the specific needs of the learner and their experience. I aim to guide learners to connect and use knowledge in practical ways. Experience motivates theory, and theory substantiates practice as experience supports theory. In my practice, I provide learners with opportunities for sharing knowledge and experience, exploration, experimentation, and discovery, in both individual and collaborative levels.

My teaching experience includes individuals of all ages, children with disabilities, working adults, seniors, and corporate training, individuals from all academic and professional levels, and one emerging common denominator is fear to try new things based on past experiences. I had experience transformations firsthand from my students from fear to eagerness to try new things and also becoming advocates and inspiration for others. As I wrote in my dissertation, “Individuals can develop skills through experience and exposure and become candidates for success in the process, influenced by previous experiences and how they have interpreted achievement and failure in the past.” I provide experiences that improve self-efficacy, which is the perception of skills to achieve a goal, by bridging new concepts to known concepts and experiences, focusing on short-term goals, guidance, feedback, and motivation. Commitment to short-term goals leads to accomplishment, which improves self-efficacy creating a cycle of transformation.

IMG_1322Seeing how knowledge becomes alive is of great motivation and validation for the effort. It is also a learning experience for myself. “Individuals are not just the result of their environment or life circumstances, but rather individuals consciously contribute to their environment or life circumstances to change their environments and themselves.” It is a rewarding experience to see and being part of the transformation, more so when I see my students serving others for the same purpose.

Connecting Back to Yourself

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Have you ever felt disconnected? I am not talking about solitude. We all need time alone where silence is the only noise. I am talking about loneliness. What’s the difference? Solitude is the state of being alone while loneliness is the sadness of being alone or feeling alone. Many individuals experience loneliness even when surrounded by others. That disconnect not only separates yourself from others but it separates you from you. Sometimes it is necessary to connect back to yourself as a means to understand your disconnect with everything else. Clay sculpting is one way to help you connect back to yourself.

Slide07I don’t believe art is the solution to the issues in your life. I do believe art and specially clay sculpting is a tool to connect you back to yourself. Consequently, it will help you connect back to your surroundings and the people around you, and hopefully with your Creator. The act of touching is one of the most primitive forms of communication. Through touch we get to know our parents when we are born and this same touch affirms how much they love us. Babies touch everything around them. They trust their tact more than their eyes. Kids have the need to touch to feel in connection with the surrounding reality. Seeing is not always enough. How many times you had to be told not to touch stuff in the stores?  Affection is known through hugs and caress.  Many lives had been truncated and crippled by unwanted touch. Healing often occurs through touch as it is in many traditions. God had to form the first man to feel a deeper connection with him. Thomas had to touch Jesus after His resurrection to believe.

Clay sculpting opens neurological paths to our emotions helping to open our souls and prepare us for healing. It is not only a creative outlet which benefits are compared with meditation, but also a bridge to our intimate feelings, good experiences and traumatic experiences. I love to observe and listen to people in my private classes and sculpting parties. Through the process of creating a clay sculpture they reveal their insecurities, both physical and emotional, and they feel free to talk about it. That is a good step towards healing.

 

Welcome to my brain

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the-artistImagine for a moment that you want to focus a blog based on your experience in a particular field. Experience on a field of knowledge comes generally from academics or work. Sometimes we gain experience in other ways vicariously or intentionally. In my case, I had work in a few different things and loved different areas of my academic fields enough to share from these experiences. My mind map for a blog would probably look like a maze where each turn from one experience in one field crosses over experiences in other fields. Sounds complicated? Imagine you are inside a brain with work experience in radio, tv, graphic design, art, education, technology, bible, motivational speech and comedy. Interestingly, I learn and teach with a holistic vision. If you read my teaching statement you may understand what I mean. In this blog I’ll be writing about many things that may seem random but each thought is interconnected in the way I approach life. It is also reflected in my art, my research, my interest in the human brain and behavior, my way of teaching, and just in my private meditation and contemplation. I am planing to share some of my research, the subject of future research ideas (sounds boring but it is not), experiences in classes and workshops, my thoughts as I approach my art, and my meditations about life in general. Maybe in a few months I could put it all together and make a book.