BIG plans for 2013

After deciding to take the leap into full time art in 2013 it seems that all my stars and planets have aligned. The universe has thrown open door after door and I could not be more excited about this next phase in my life. 

I have been filled with great confidence that next year will only be bigger, better and 100% more productive as my painting will take the FOCUS from January to June as I will be on long service leave from Education QLD. So with all of that time to paint and continue getting my work out there I decided I will certainly pursue more Solo Show opportunities in 2013. And wouldn't you know it, before I even got the chance to vocalise that plan...opportunity has yet again come knocking.

 I received this lovely email from Jo The Art Director at D-Bar Gallery:

Hi Tamara,

Hope you are well,

We have had and keep having a great positive response to your paintings and would

like to offer you the opportunity to be one of our featured artists for a month next year

here at d’bar gallery !

If you would like to jump on board, I have May or June available. 

Let me know if you would like to take this opportunity to exhibit a new collection of your work

in our main gallery area! As we would love to feature

you as an artist here.

Happy to answer any questions etc…

Have a great day !

Photos courtesy of Cafe D-Bar

So of course I said 'No!' as I want to keep my options open....just kidding! Of course I said yes and I can now confirm that I will have a brand spanking new collection of works on show in the main Gallery area for the month of May in 2013. The timing could not be more perfect and I'm am so excited to have the wider exposure in such a gorgeous location. Looking forward to another fun opening night!

This is the main space where feature artist have their work displayed at D-Bar Art Gallery

If you have been following my story you will know that I only had my first ever Solo Show in October of 2011 at Made. Creative Space in Toowoomba. It too was a huge deal for me and the show was close to sold out. I could not have been happier with the way it all panned out. So I'm itching for school to wrap up this year so I can get stuck into it...without the added guilt of eating into my marking, planning and teaching time. 

http://www.madecreativespace.com

Work on show at Made. Creative Space in Toowoomba last year.
Photos courtesy of Made. Creative Space

So to those of you who are wondering what I will be doing with all of this extra time, I want to assure you that I will not simply be sitting at home painting and posting pics on Facebook. I am under no illusions that being a FULL TIME ARTIST means sleeping in, listening to music and making Art.  I am fully aware that it takes hard work, dedication, motivation, positivity and determination to sustain this lifestyle. I know this because I have already been doing it for the past year and a half at least, on top of teaching full time and squeezing in some sort of social life. So whilst the juggling keeps me busy I have to admit I'm exhausted most of the time (but always an elated type of exhaustion) and I do worry that I could crash and burn at any given moment...which would not be cool.  


So given the chance (thank you ED QLD for long service leave!!!) I'm taking it and running. I'm very excited to see what I am capable of achieving when Art becomes my sole focus for the first 6 months. The sky is the limit. Of course I have so much I want to achieve during my time off, on top of painting plenty of new works I will also be working my way through this little Goal Sheet:

 - Hippie Art Road Trip with my support crew (Matt).

We will be hitting the road for a month long driving tour hitting all the hotspots between here and Tasmania. This trip is intended to fulfil many desires, from seeing places in our own Country we have long lusted to see, visiting and catching up with friends and family, to scoping out new exhibiting opportunities and networking with other creative minds... and of course to have an inspiring and amazingly fun Summer Adventure!

- Creating a range of COMMERCIAL products such as gift cards, posters, phone covers, T-Shirts, diaries and maybe even TEA TOWELS...cringe!!! The intention would be to send these out to a wider range of interstate businesses and sell online.

- Launching new business goals and directions including Illustration work, photography, art workshops, collaborations with other artists, applying for Art Residences and opening an online shop which would be attached to my web page.

- Creating larger works for Competition Entries in 2013...I always intend on entering more shows but sell my work before I get a chance to enter it (again this is not necessarily a bad thing). With more time comes MORE spare paintings :)

- Attending more Creative Classes...not teaching them myself and attending more week night Exhibition openings and Artist talks that I have previously been unable to do with 'school night' curfews :)

- Even MORE networking and promoting online and in person. Driving here there and everywhere to get my art out there!

That should certainly keep me busy and motivated and who knows I may cross it all off sooner than expected...if that's the case there's more I'm wanting to unleash on the world, so stay tuned.

The way I see it you only get out what you put in. If you don't ask, you don't receive and if you put your plans into action there is nothing to regret. Yep all of those things your parents, coaches and primary school teachers told you are TRUE.


If you own or know anyone that owns a creative business, boutique or gallery and are based somewhere between here and Tasmania then drop me an email with their details. I want to line up as many meetings with creative folks outside of QLD as possible. In fact if you yourself are an artist or Art lover wanting to purchase or see my work in the flesh this could be the perfect opportunity to commission a work or order prints and have them delivered to your door! 

Tamara x

If I could choose...

Artwork by Keith Arnatt

If I had to pinpoint the first time I came across the 'Politics' involved with declaring oneself an artist, it would have to have been on my very first day at University...way back in the year 2000. There we all were, a bunch of randoms packed into a very dark, very hot little room with black painted walls and a rickety old air con unit working double time to cool us down during a typical Queensland Summer's day. It was the upper level of the first year's studio space on Merivale Street in South Brisbane, which also seemed to be the unknown and often forgotten about campus grounds belonging to QUT.

It was easy to spot the mature age students, the gay guys and gay girls, the eccentrics, the introverts and of course the baby faced, fresh out of high school...kids. Yep I was one of those babies! What wasn't so easy to spot was the great divide that was soon to come between those who were there to study straight Visual Art and those (like myself) who were cramming in a Double Degree of Vis Arts & Secondary Education in four years. Everyone seemed to be on a level playing field in that dark little room for the first 3 hours, but in the harsh daylight of our designated 'Lunch' break, the cracks in the friendly smiles started to appear.

Sadly and much to my surprise the group soon split into those who would be Teachers and those who would be full time, practicing Artists. This made me sad for many reasons. I had started to form some great bonds with other students who were not studying Education and it seemed they were encouraged by other students not to associate with the "Teacher Sell Outs"...their words, not mine. Also I found myself questioning my worthiness to continue being or even considering myself an Artist. I knew that I had submitted my portfolio like everyone else in that building and had been successfully accepted into the University after sitting through my hour long interview with the head of the Visual Arts Department, but yet it seemed to be an uneven playing field after all.

I have no doubt you have heard the phrase 'Those who can, do and those who can't, teach'. Well it seemed to be brought up more often than not throughout my first year at University, I guess all of us were thinking it and worrying about the judgment of our choices. For me teaching was a practical career choice which I had no idea would turn out to be a perfect fit! I desperately wanted to be an Artist...and certainly I still want for that. But when push came to shove I chose to tack on that Education Degree to ensure I would get a paying job and be capable of paying Mr Howard back his generous HECS student loan. Of course it was 3 years into my course before I actually got the chance to be in a classroom as a teacher and luckily for me I LOVED IT!!! Unfortunately for some of my fellow peers, this was not the case and some ended up changing their degrees so close to the finishing line.

Thank you Capstick13 on Flickr for this pic.

Back to my point....there seems to be no escaping the labeling, judging and POLITICS involved with declaring oneself an Artist and I just have to say I think it STINKS!! The worse offenders for this, surprisingly are ARTISTS, not the critics as one might assume. So I stupidly have been worried for far too long what other Artists have thought of me, my choices and my work. Why, I hear you ask?? Well I dunno really! But my guess would be a desire for respect, mutual admiration and  acceptance. I know, it's a common desire and frankly it is one we each deserve, irrespective of our careers and chosen pathways.


So I know fully well I will be labelled as Commercial ( which I guess fits, but damn it sounds so harsh...like Commercial Music....ick!) if I keep on selling works at a rate of knots. Which leads to another dark, hidden secret of the Art World. Did you know it's apparently bad to sell so much work if you want to be considered a serious artist??? According to some this is apparently the case...arghhhhh!!! Also one should never include airy fairy experiences on one's professional artist C.V. if they want Galleries to take them serious, so don't hang your work in cafe's and retail spaces. Oh yeah and don't post your work on Facebook or other Social Media sites too much, because people will copy your work or republish it as their own!!! Amazingly this is the kind of advice I have been given or have read or even overheard in conversation and I have done everything 'they' supposedly tell you not to do and so far I'm pretty satisfied with the way it's all turning out.

As for the labels and labeling I say....BRING IT ON!! Do your worse, I sincerely invite you. But if I could choose one label it would have to be 'Prolific'. Here are 6 reasons why (I like even numbers):
1. It has the word 'Pro' in it and that can't be bad right? Well especially not if I want to be taken serious as a SERIOUS Arteeeeest Darling :)
2. Many Great Artists were described as 'Prolific' and I plan on being described as a 'Great Artist' too!!! (Why stop at one label??)
3. 'Prolific' rhymes with 'Terrific'...which I also aspire to be...on a daily basis.
4. It's a crap load better than 'Commercial'!
5. It would set the bar high and keep my daily motivation on the up!
6. Who could question your practice if you made Art consistently, passionately and honestly...???

So there's my thoughts about 'Art Politics', Labels and turning it into Motivation. I would love to hear your thoughts, experiences and views too.
Tamara x