Studio visit: up close and personal with my art

When you invite new friends to come over, you hope they feel comfortable in your space. So you clean up in a frenzy (or is that just me?), drape something over what can't be moved...

...then cross your fingers. That was me early this week: I hosted my first studio visit for some people who are interested in my work. Studio visits are, or can be, a big deal. They usually mean one of the following:

• The visitor is considering exhibiting multiple pieces of your work, or
• The visitor is considering buying multiple pieces of your work, possibly right then and there.

Either way, they want to see it in person. 

And the visit went amazingly well: one visitor compared my washboard-mounted altered books to work by assemblage artist Betye Saar. Dizzyingly high praise.

My washboard-mounted altered books, completed earlier this year. ©Lisa Myers Bulmash

I can't say much more about the visit, but I can tell you this: I'm going to spend the next 13 months making A LOT of work. I promise to keep showing you what I can. Are you ready to follow the mystery as it unfolds?

Art classes: working on the "Basics"

Thank goodness the weather's rainy and blustery: it makes heading inside for an art class much more inviting!

Ever made a collage? Or used a masking pen to create designs on your collage? Try it out during "Collage Basics with Photos" at the Cole Art Studio. We'll use photocopies of favorite photos to breathe new life into familiar images. Details:

Registration is open now. Please sign up at Cole Gallery and join us!

Rough fall: making art in spite of it all

I've spent way too much time being all adult-like, picking myself up after several disappointments. (It helps to spend quality time with one's art journal.)

I made decent sales during the first day of Best of the Northwest. Even had a few visitors to the art festival calling over their friends to check out my work.

But my roll came to a stop on Saturday and Sunday. So I packed my stuff (with help from my loyal friend Claire) and headed home. Then I got news about whether my work was selected to join one of the city of Seattle's art collections.

It wasn't.

And due to an unfortunate injury (not mine), my solo show  at Hanson Scott Gallery is being moved from November to December.

Adjusting lighting for my 2014 solo show. @Lisa Myers Bulmash

Sigh... Fall down seven times, get up eight. There are a few bright sides, first and foremost that I'm still going to have a solo show even though it's delayed.

And my work at the Gary Henderson Gallery is up until mid-December as well. We're going to have a holiday party there too.

I now have some STUDIO TIME. Best of times, worst of times.

And last night someone RSVP'd for two more seats at my next Artist Trust at Large presentation! By the way, the talk includes an example of an artist who was rejected several times before winning a grant. With that in mind, how can I give up now?