Wearing Many Hats, continued

As promised, here's the rest of the story of my creatively jam-packed summer and early fall.

Wearing my Art Consultant hat (the eminently stylish purple fedora, seen at left!), I accepted the position of Art Gallery Walk Director of AACF, the African American Cultural Festival of Raleigh and Wake County (type that one five times fast!).  As such, I was responsible for the recruitment of artists and merchandise vendors for the show, which was in its 4th year.  I also commissioned the show's souvenir poster, from my friend and fellow artist Larry "Poncho" Brown, who'd been part of the show since its inception. Once the applications were in, I chose, convened, and participated in the jury which selected the best entries.  Then, I informed all the accepted artists and vendors, designed the Festival map, and worked on the welcome packets for the Labor Day weekend show.

Posing with hosts of the local TV show, "My Carolina Today"
after my appearance to discuss AACF 2013

Of course, all of this did not happen in a vacuum; I was still teaching, conducting my Artist Residency at Wake Enterprises, providing private art lessons for one of my young students and her younger sister, holding meetings and participating in a gallery show for the Guild, and oh yeah, creating my own work for AACF and my final show of the year in October.


Was it a hectic time?  Yes.  Was it tiring?  Absolutely.  Was it rewarding?  Very.  Would I do it again?  Probably!  And now do you see why Artventuring was on the back burner?

My organizational skills were truly tested, and there are some things I'd do differently if I had to do it again.  I often felt like I was watching and performing in a many-ringed circus; sometimes, I was actually dealing with three or four of my activities in the same day! As it was happening, I kept telling myself that this was the life and the work I'd imagined myself doing, and that being creative, and helping others to express their own creativity is what I love.  That, a very supportive husband (thanks, hunny!), and an evening glass of Pinot Grigio got me through.

My final show of the season, in October was the prestigious  Art on Main, in Hendersonville, NC.  Longtime Artventuring readers may recall that Hendersonville was the site of my most disappointing gallery experience (if you care to revisit that, look here) in 2009.  Well, I think I should just stay out of Hendersonville altogether.  This year, it was the site of the worst show I have ever done.  We sat for two whole days and sold nothing.  That's right:  NOTHING.  Not even a measly $5.00 magnet.  Thank goodness the show provided housing with their "Adopt-an-Artist" program, so we did not have to pay for a hotel.  What went wrong?  I have no idea; it seemed a few other artists were selling their work, but there weren't very many people with bags walking by.  I've given up trying to predict or analyze; as we always say:  shows are a crapshoot. 

So, this year's show season ended on a sour note. Heading into 2014, I need to reevaluate...what changes will the new year bring?  Stay tuned.