A New Show!

"Observations from Air, Land, Sea and the Local Coffee Shop" is up for viewing at the Sequim Museum & Arts Center. Twenty two framed paintings, plus some unframed originals, prints and a calendar are available for purchase through the end of August. As museum volunteers were hanging the show and we were attaching price and title cards. I looked around and wondered, "Where did all this come from?" I'd been busy for sure, but the realization was dawning that there has been a prodigious amount of work produced during the six years we have lived in the Pacific Northwest. A lot of the effort has been to re-establish myself in a new location, something that we all face when we move. Leaving a place where we have friends, and perhaps family is always difficult. As a business owner, leaving an established clientele creates a different kind of void that is difficult to describe. Will I ever get work again? How will people find me? Will they forget me? Is what I worked for over 23 years in Alaska all for naught? Technology has given us blogs, Facebook, and easy to navigate websites, which help tremendously. Anyone who works from home will tell you that keeping your name out there is a full time job. I see it all the time on Facebook with the posts made by fellow artists who share the new work they are creating, encouraging people, as I do, to visit their pages, websites and blogs.

While watching the Olympics the other night, the commentator quipped, "Confidence is that little voice inside your head that tells you you belong." It went by so fast that I almost missed it. What? Who said that? I googled the quote this morning and found it shared and analyzed on amymoritz.com's blog entitled "Byline to Finish Line." The US Olympic beach volleyball team of Misty May-Treanor and Kerri Walsh-Jennings had found a way to improve by working with a sports psychologist. Rather than playing from fear, it is important to play as though you belong- and with confidence. Thus, Misty and Kerri play like winners, like they belong.

So where do I go from here? I will keep producing the art that I love, continue to connect and share my work with others, and know that the sense of belonging will allow me to move forward toward a personal best that is mine alone.