Have you ever set out to create something only to end up stuck somewhere along the way?  Maybe it’s an element that isn’t working, or perhaps the concept is just not translating the way you hoped.  Or how about when you start to question whether your idea was worth its salt to begin with? What then? Though it can be an extremely frustrating circumstance, what if I told you these roadblocks are as important as the process itself?  It’s true! And I’m going to tell you why.

After 10 years of playing hopscotch across the US, The Weatherman and I made a choice to settle in Oklahoma. There were a lot of reasons for this but mostly because we spent 11 years praying for an impossible doorway to open, never sure that it could, until it did. We took a beating to get here, leaving so many great friends, hopeful that our future here would be promising. Since then the journey has hardly been what we expected; riddled with disappointments both great and small.

Six years ago, I took a running leap off a cliff with my whole life screaming across the feeble promise of a wire.  Gliding through that liminal space, my fear gave way to a child-like curiosity and wonder that has cascaded through so many facets of my life to the present day.  How could one simple choice to let go of fear become such a pivotal moment?

I’m by no means an expert, but I don’t need to be an expert to call out a racket when I see it. Juried Exhibitions definitely seem to fall into the category as one of the fastest ways I’ve pissed away my money as an artist.  If there’s one thing I’m passionate about, it’s about helping people and artists avoid mistakes I’ve made along the way--learning as I go. Now more than ever, I think we need to put our minds together collectively and form an alliance of market disrupters to take antiquated ideas, such as juried exhibitions, and turn them on end. Amirite? Let me explain...

If you read my last blog post, you know that recently I needed to step back for my own sanity, but after doing so, I found that busyness just filled up the gaps. It’s like I stepped off one hamster wheel to try out another. I had to get disciplined about resting, which are words I never thought I would utter.  When yesterday came, I finally had the energy to create the first in a new body of work I’m exploring, only to be confronted by what seemed like endless obstacles. How do you overcome that when you’re feet are already feel heavy? I don’t have a magical cure for this, but I can tell you how I got through it.

It’s not something anyone really talks about, but it plagues creators of all kinds.  It happens in the aftermath of a show and it often strikes hardest just after the biggest of our career milestones. I call it the “Exhibition Hangover”.  Like other hangovers it has the nasty backhanded sting fresh off the heels of a career high, but unlike others this one isn’t alcohol induced. Allow me to elaborate...