Stressed in a Good Way

These past few weeks have been very busy for me, but in the best way. I have been preparing for my first ever art exhibition, and without Michele it wouldn’t be possible. Being her intern has taught me the level of professionalism she has, that I hope I will be able to achieve moving forward in my career. She has shown me tools such as how to use MailChimp, a site that allowed me to send out an invite of my event that I created to my list of contacts. She’s explained to me how to wire the backs of panels and canvases, as well as the details of labeling and artists bios. I have taken these tools and skills, and tried to use them on my own. Such as, for my exhibition I coordinated details with the other artists showing with me, and contacted the owner of the café about the reception we’re having. I’m grateful that I am experiencing both my first studio artist internship, as well as my first exhibition at the same time. It is stressful, but good for me because I am achieving my goal of getting out of my comfort zone. I am pushing past my fears, and moving forward pursing what I love to do. 

I have continued to help in the studio with projects such as the color wall, and new ones too. I was given the task of preparing Michele’s wooden panels on which she paints. Seeing where she gets them from, what mediums she uses, and how she uses those mediums to create the surfaces she wants. To prepare her panels I used a new medium GAC 100 to coat them. It dries immediately after application, so when doing this it needs to be applied evenly and to perfection. I painted two coats per panel going with the grain of the wood. After they dried I sanded them down, and applied a third coat to them including the edges. It’s a long process, but worth the time and investment for the finished piece.

While I have been working on these projects, Michele has simultaneously been working on her paintings for commissions, prints for art buyers, and preparing for upcoming shows. She just finished working on a series of 8 works on paper that were inspired by Japanese prints for an art buyer in Virginia. The process of using an art buyer consists of sending your work to them, and they then sell that work to the clients who wish to purchase them. The works she made are beautifully executed, and watching her create each of them was amazing to see. Moving forward she will be getting ready for an upcoming exhibition she’s in, and I’m excited to see what she comes up with next.