Public Viewing

An Open Studios Artist, someone I had yet to meet, stopped by today to drop off a few business cards. She commented on the weather and introduced herself, somewhat giddy, somewhat nervous. We chatted for a bit and then right before she left she started talking about how nervous she is about Open Studios Weekend. I shook her hand and assured her it was going to be great. “I don’t think people have the expectation you may think they do. They just want to meet you and see your art. You’re probably just nervous about all of the work you’re going to sell.” She laughed, said thank you and headed out the door. I imagine her now at home pacing about the house, hearing the clock tick and feeling as if there’s just not enough time to make it perfect.

Being that this is my first blog entry, I can relate to feeling as if there’s not enough time to get it just right. What should I write about? I can’t think of anything interesting “enough” and somehow mentioning the woman I met today seemed like a first step. I’ve always had a hard time taking that first step toward doing anything new. Take Open Studios for example. Two years ago I thought about attending. It took me a year to make it. I was overwhelmed by the map and all of those studios and what I might say when I met a few of my favorite artists? I found out that “Hello” works quite well. My first studio tour, I brought a friend and we spent more time walking the path in Timothy Prow’s back yard than we did checking out the art, but that’s the best and the worst thing about doing anything new in life, you don’t know what to expect.

This year I know a lot more of the artists and there are a lot of studios I’d love to tour, but unfortunately I work both Saturday and Sunday so I have just two hours to zip around to see what I can see. Next year I may actually participate. I’ve been threatening to do so for two years now. It always comes down to one thing, not the time, not the work, it comes down to taking that initial step forward and committing to taking a chance on something new.

I salute all of the Artists participating in Opening Studios this year. Whether this is the first or the tenth year you’ve been on the map, it takes courage and a lot of work to open a part of your world for public viewing.