Access Denied.

   And so I did not get into the N.E.W. juried show.  I have mixed emotions about this.  I am sad for my show resume but I am kinda glad I didn't get in because when I would have sold a piece I would have hated giving them the 50% they require after the entry fee.  If I can make the opening of the show I would like to go just to see the look of the show and the works the juror chose.  I know my work is a little different (wall hanging sculptures and all) and might be hard to show with a lot of paintings.  So I am going to look into other local venues to show.  The Durham Art Walk is coming up soon and I am in need to do something about that.

   Oh...  And my apologies to the one reader of my bog (thanks Mom ;-) for not posting in a while.  I have been kinda busy with "life shit."  

Giving my old molds another shot.

   I am trying to get a couple more casts out of my old molds before I retire them for good.  And if they mess up another cast I will retire them real good with a real big hammer.  This way I am killing two birds with one stone.  I am getting out some of my frustration and, at the same time, I am preventing future frustration.  Good times.

Starting over on the molds.... I messed up the last one.

   Seeing that my old slip casting molds are no longer doing there job I have started making new ones.  Rushing the first try wasn't such a good method.  I had to trash the first one after my mold dams sprung a leak and I ended up with more plaster on the floor than in the mold itself.  The second time around I took a little more time and did it a little more correctly.  And though not perfect I think that this one will work.  Well it looks better anyway.

Entering a juried show and kissing my $30.00 good bye!

   I have entered these two works in the 19th annual N.E.W. show at the Visual Art Exchange.  It is a show with an entry fee.  I think the whole concept of the "entry fee" is just wrong.  The galleries who choose to charge fees to the artists who are (like myself) not making any significant income with their art are just taking advantage of artists.  It cost me $30.00 to enter both works.  On top of this the gallery will take a 50% commission if I happen to sell a piece.  If I didn't need to flesh out my show resume I wouldn't have entered this show.  I really don't mind an entry fee if the gallery isn't going to take a commission.  I have curated shows in which we needed to charge an entry fee to the artist in order to cover the rent of the space for the duration of the show.  But we didn't charge a commission to the artists.  Charging both is a bad business practice.  This practice is all too common in the level of galleries that "support" the artists that are starting out.  This is just another reason why a lot of artists and I are starving.

Mold making

   I am currently trying to make some new molds for my slip casting.  This is proving to be just as messy of process as I remember.  I made some new oil clay last weekend.  It ended up a little on the soft side but it was my first time making this clay so I am not too disappointed.  It is the plaster part of this process that makes the big mess.  My mold walls for holding the plaster in while it sets up broke and I ended up with more plaster on the floor and myself then were it was supposed to go.