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 !
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| 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!
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| 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.
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| http://www.madecreativespace.com |
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| 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).
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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.
- 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
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