Catching Up

So, I haven't been a good blogger lately. I think I may have to do some back tracking as there has been quite a lot of activity going on the past few months. The FilmDayton letterpress poster project which consumed a couple months of my life, a variety of new printmaking techniques at my disposal and capturing my attention, my first two Baren Forum exchange prints and my space at the Cannery Art and Design Center filled with prints and pastels are all blogworthy, but they'll have to wait as I'm starting with the most recent Starkeyart news.

The monotype I made Christmas Eve was just awarded the Best of Show at the Dayton Society of Painters and Sculptors annual Kay Smith Memorial Printmakers show. I loved the juror's comment, "The technique transcends monotype." I wasn't trying to transcend anything, I was just missing Alex and Anna on the first Christmas Eve I spent without them and reminiscing about the magic of Christmas when they were the younger. And I admit it, I shed a few tears in the process. This print has a lot of love in it. I'm starting to look forward to the show being over so it can get it back in it's place, because I miss it.

So two juried shows in a row with two awards for the two most NFS (not for sale) personal pieces of artwork I've done. Hmmm. It makes me think that maybe I spend too much time making pretty pictures and getting caught up in projects and new processes that distract me like shiny new toys. They disctract me to the point of un-productivity , because I have been all over the place since I joined the Dayton Printmakers Co-Op, not editioning a thing but just experimenting like crazy. And I've been getting caught up in making things that people will want to buy and not making anything that means anything to me other than the enjoyment of creating it. And sometimes that's not even a joy, just a lot of trial and error. Ironically, both awards came on a day when I had just about decided to give up pursuing the whole "artist" thing and concentrate on being a commercial artist and paying bills.

Maybe it means I should spend more time making art that is meaningful to me, and just toss out trying to sell art. Or maybe I just need to find some ground and direction, because I am all over the place lately, just like this post is all over the place.