Doing an art or craft show you never know how they will turn out.

Will you have everything ready for the show?

Will people be drawn to your look at your art or even buy it ?

It’s always an mystery to me how these events will turn out.

Then someone asked me, what am I looking to get of this show.

Money?

Exposure?

Really, why do you do these shows?

What would make a great show for you ?

I recently did the Hand of Man Art and Craft show in Peterborough this last weekend. I though to myself ,why did I do this show?  What to me was success?

First I though it was all about the money, the more money you made the more successful you were. Yes, money is important because that is how you exist in this world. Let’s not fool ourselves, I am not a bohemian or like or want to have the label of begin a starving artist. I am happy to make just enough money to support my passion. The element of success, were  people and the inspiration they gave me.

It occur to me that I was ecstatic when my work could inspire a conversation. A conversation not about me but about the experience of the person. How their lives related to a piece of work I created. How a visual image can create a connection between two total strangers. To me as an artist if I can relate to a person with my art I have done what I set out to do. Connecting is important to me. I have chosen to be an artist because my language is visual, that is how I communicate. When a person understands that expression or if I can create an emotion, I feel connected.  Art galley are most the quieted places in the world, but the conversation, the communication between the viewer and the art is very loud ,that has always intrigue and inspired me me.

I spend my life as an observer and imaginer. I watch what around me and translate that into a visual expression. To me the purpose of art is to connect with the human experience, the imagination or to make the human experience think about itself , and if I can do that at a show I have begin very successful. I must say that people truly inspire me. People are planets in the universe, each one unique and new.

I heard many impassioned stories this weekend. To me it is an honor to share in their  stories and experiences. This is why I do shows.