Saying “Yes” When Opportunity Knocks

I just sent out a New Year’s Newsletter  from Susan Hensel Gallery + Projects.  The responses are mostly “Out-of-office” replies that need to be looked at.  But there are also sweet, nice emails from friends and clients.  The “kudos” that we all enjoy when then arrive. The social network responses about how hard I work.

 

I do work hard, I guess, between an appalling number of appointments and administration tasks. But I also work with great joy. I am always experimenting on multiple fronts at all times, assembling parts and ideas until, seemingly all at once, multiple pieces come together and are completed. So, while it looks like I suddenly made 3 new pieces, the reality is that they have been kicking around the studio, sometimes for months, before I have to put my foot down and “finish it up, dammit!”

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It occurs to me that some of the direct responses to my posts and newsletters are really about “How do you get so many shows/opportunities?”

I have learned when to say YES

Obviously, first I have to make the art.  That is the first step and, for me, the easiest step.  It is just too much fun to stop. I am rarely “blocked.”  Slowed down?  You betcha! But a couple of the keys to my seemingly endless output  are

1) showing up nearly everyday, even if only for 5 minutes and
2) holding the outcome lightly.  The world will not come to an end if I goof up a bunch of materials. No one will die. Besides, I can usually, eventually, salvage the rejected parts to make something else.

I pay attention to opportunities that sail across my bow. Some are free to submit to or are benefits of membership in certain organizations. I almost always say YES to these opportunities. That’s how I became a featured artist twice on the International Sculpture Center website and the Textile Study Group of New York.  For that matter, participation in the Common Thread member show of the Textile Center of Minnesota led to participation in Selections from a Common Thread at the Carnegie Art Center in Mankato, MN. These four opportunities were a result of “SAYING YES'” and having photos more or less ready to send out.

Was there any risk in saying yes to these?  Not much.  The only cost was $25 to the Textile Center and the risk of a jury rejecting me. ( I think the Textile Study Group now requires a small fee, too.  It’s a LOT of work for them to go through all the images and then post them online!)

LET’S FACE IT: REJECTION SUCKS, IT IS JUST PART OF THE ARTWORLD & IT WON’T KILL YOU.

 

People like to say,”You have to build a thick skin.” Maybe. But I really and truly do not have a thick skin. I am relentlessly optimistic, but sometimes all this bums me out, too. It seems like just as I despair of ever showing again, opportunities are offered.

 

If you try enough times, your artwork will be shown and you will learn to not take the results personally… most of the time.

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Sometimes I am asked to participate in podcasts.

 

I always say YES because

 

1) I get to yack about art.
2) they all share my images so more people can learn about what I do.
3) I have discovered that it is fun! The introverted Susan gets to talk to other (mostly) introverted artists who are  just trying to figure things out, too.

 

Susan Hensel Textile Talks

 

 

 

 

 

School of Stitched Textileshttps://player.captivate.fm/episode/c1a7465c-b3c1-4ee2-850e-1208525335d3

 

 

Art on the Airhttps://www.lakeshorepublicradio.org/show/art-on-the-air/2022-10-18/art-on-the-air-november-13-2022

 

 

Stitchery Storieshttps://stitcherystories.com/susanhensel/

 

     Saying "Yes"

 

Art is…
https://open.spotify.com/episode/3Rd8tZfWxxO9jwaX1uKSZL

 

https://open.spotify.com/episode/3wGfIvDPNm6y32fruUjaKn

 

 

The Artist APPEALS https://www.theartistappeals.com/s06e014-50-years-worth-of-lessons-from-textile-artist-and-art-gallery-owner-susan-hensel/

 

 

ART SUPPLY INSIDERS https://www.artsupplyinsiders.com/1910686/11899637-asi-52-artist-spotlight-interview-with-textile-artist-susan-hensel

 

 

How Great is Thou Art https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/1b433060-b4ad-4189-beca-28f2718a68d3/how-great-is-thou-art

AND, COMING SOON

QUILTER ON FIRE https://quilteronfire.com/podcast/

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Then there are all the other opportunities you have to work harder for

 

These take more thought because there are both upfront and hidden costs that need to be considered.  My acceptance rate for Café entries is increasing.  What you need to consider with these entries is cost to apply and costs for shipping.  Those are personal, budgetary questions. And, always, does this show benefit your career or is it on a topic you care about?

 

I also look at Artjobs.  This might seem like an odd place to look.  It’s emphasis is actual wage/contract jobs in the artworld: art handlers, registrars, studio managers, studio assistant.  I learn a lot from those listings that help me focus my assistant needs.  But they also list exhibition opportunities that you might not see elsewhere.

 

I am beginning to pay attention to calls for art on Instagram and Facebook.  I find it clunky and annoying…but I just found a call for a billboard opportunity (One of my dreams,<G> really!) with an organization I had never heard of before https://www.saveartspace.org/.

 

From time to time I google search for galleries and museums accepting proposals. And there are lots more places to find opportunities.  Most do not come to find you. You have to search for them.

Time, opportunities and simplicity

Finding opportunities does not have to take a lot of time.  An hour here and there should do it.

 

To Keep it simple I keep a folder of opportunities I am interested in with their due-dates as the first part of the title of the document. I still miss due-dates, but it helps.

 

To Keep it simple I stay up-to-date photographing my work. I do it myself: sometimes with the Nikon SLR with which I am NOT an expert and sometimes the iPhone.  (Photo-phobic non-photographers, hire me as a mentor and I will teach you my tricks!)

 

To Keep it simple I try to keep my resume and statements up to date.

 

To Keep it simple And, really important for my work, I have the artworks boxed, weighed and measured for UPS-ready ease. My work, as I am sure you know, is crushable and of a wild variety of sizes.  So this is a key step for me. It is a time-sucking-expense.  Mostly I pay to have the boxes built by Dale and Sarah.  Sometimes I have to build them, and that is not nearly as pretty as what they do.  If you work in standard sizes, just makes sure you have a few standard size boxes to use at any given time.  (BTW  did you know you can get used moving boxes?  Look for “mirror-packs” for canvases and frames artwork.  It will save you a lot of money.)

 

All that sure makes me sound organized

 

And I suppose I kind-of am organized, but it is not natural to me.  It’s been 50 years of slowly learning what works for me to facilitate getting my artwork out into the world.

 

HOW ARE YOU GOING TO SAY YES THIS WEEK?