I'm going to change things around here in my blog and I hope you will follow me into Wonderland. I really don't know what I'm doing so this will be interesting but I think together we can share a few ideas, stories and other tidbits that make up life and its intricacies. Last year taught me a few things about myself, so I'm going to take a new approach to things this year.
One thing that I did do was set aside fear for once and became part of an artist showcase.
I hadn't done one on my own and was really nervous. Showing your work is like putting your heart and soul out there for people to look at. It can be very intimidating.
A few things I learned:
1. Be prepared. The Scouts had this right because flying by the seat of your pants usually always comes with consequences. For those that can do it on the fly, more power to you. I, on the other hand, not so much. I had a month to prepare for this showcase which included shooting a new series, editing, and putting together my display. Talk about a crazy month. But putting a plan together, making a list of things I needed to get and do helped me put together something I was proud of. I also had help and support from friends and family that I could not have done it without.
2. Other artists can be really cool. I was really intimidated about going in there with my simple black and white photos. There were a lot of talented artists there and I felt like an amateur. But when it came down to the day of the show, everyone was really cool and everyone that I met had this great attitude. I had other artists tell me that they were nervous too! Go figure. I think artists tend to psyche themselves out by comparing themselves to other artists and we have to get out of that mentality.
3. That brings me to this:
Let go of your fear.
No kidding. I almost didn't do the show. I almost said no. I told myself I wasn't going to be ready, I'm too busy, I didn't have the money to invest in such a short amount of time. All excuses to keep me from saying yes. But then I told myself I would kick myself in the ass if I didn't say yes. The fear would subside but the regret would be be there for much longer. I'm glad I did it.
Here is an installment from the series I used for the show.
I went back to basics and shot black and white nudes. I wanted to do something different from the photos I had been taking. Stretch my legs, if you will and I'm glad I did. I received a lot of positive feedback and even had some people tell me they'd like to book a shoot like this for themselves!
4. Which taught me to be true to myself. I let go of worrying about what others thought and went with my gut. I had been wanting to shoot this series for awhile and I just never did it. I figured this would be a good time to bring something new to the table.
Well, thanks for coming back or checking out this blog for the first time. It'll be a little different going forward but change is a good thing.
So, until next time...
