One or two?

So maybe I've written about this before, but right now I'm getting applications for shows etc. ready and that means going through my work to decide what to use or how to represent myself. Applying to a gallery, with as few as three pieces to represent a body of work years in the making, it's really tricky. What's this galleries' MO? Do I even fit with this gallery? Which pieces best fit with this gallery? Have I ever made anything worthwhile? Did think these were great, why was that again? These are some of the things that go through my mind. It's a little like going to the optometrists for an eye exam, one or two? Which looks better and is there really a difference?
Or for a show opportunity, which series should I go with? Which might they show? Which pieces best represent the series? So many questions, so little certainty.
Anyway, I should get back to work.

Goals

When I started college as an art major, I knew next to nothing about what was out there and the possibilities. One of my first art teachers at BYU was Wulf Barsch, who I've written about recently. From Wulf I learned about an awesome opportunity for an artist, the Rome Prize. The Rome Prize is and was a wonderful opportunity to live and work in Rome at the American Academy there. Wulf knew all about the prize because he'd won it.
Since that time I've been wanting to win the Rome Prize. It's something that's been in the back of my mind, shifting from a pipe dream to a possibility, to a great desire. I love Italy, I loved my trip there, I loved the art there and the rich history there. Almost a year living and working in Italy, so much opportunity to learn, grow and improve.
Next year I want to be ready to apply for the Rome Prize and then go to Rome.

"Beauty will save the world" -Dostoyevsky

Template

watercolor and pastel pencil

9x9in

2010

Series: Choices

In part one of this topic, I talked a lot about Wulf, but Wulf has played a major part in my being an artist and my doing what I do now.
I was able to go to Italy in 2011. I loved it, I got to see famous and beautiful art that I'd studied and loved. I got to see works of masters like da Vinci and Durer. I also got to see the remains of cultures and civilizations that valued beauty far more than we seem to do these days. Buildings were made so that they still stand centuries later, buildings that were made to be beautiful, not just to be a building.
I hope to bring beauty to the world with my art, for the world to perhaps be a little better for my art being in it. I probably haven't fully managed that yet but I have goals to work towards.

Hex Artist Statement

In my studies of traditional arts and craftsmanship, I was delighted to discover sacred geometry and hand drafting with compass and straight edge. These techniques were crucial to the art and architecture of the golden age of Greece and later the renaissance. I first learned about working with a compass and straight edge in college, studying with Wulf Barsch. My discovery of sacred geometry has since blossomed into a love for geometric patterns and designs and lead to an increased interest in Islamic art through the geometric patterns so prevalent there. In this series I have been exploring the possibilities of the number six or the hexagonal shape, in so doing I have relied heavily on Islamic art and other geometric traditions and thrilled as I’ve learned the secrets to these beautiful patterns and designs.

I love what I do over all but there are a few things that I didn't expect to come along with this job title. I've been getting a show application ready and in doing so I've taken what feels like a million pictures of my work which I've then cropped and picked the best images, resized etc. I've been wondering if I should have taken a photography class or two in school. Oh well, it still beats sitting in a cubical somewhere.

Why the Camel Smiles

Yesterday I got to go to a workshop on Islamic art and religion; Why the Camel Smiles: Exploring the Tradition of the 99 Most Beautiful Names of God from the Qur'an, presented by Andrew Kosorok. He is working on a fascinating and beautiful series about/based on 99 of the names of God in the Islamic tradition. I've been interested in the project since I heard about it a few years back and have watched eagerly to see more in the series.
Something that I took away from the workshop was in Islamic art, everything they create is a testimony and a testimony that God is beautiful. I love that idea, that your art should speak for your beliefs and your love of what you believe and should reflect that in its quality and craftsmanship. This or similar ideas have been presented to me before but I get distracted by other things and I forget. I want that to be part of my ultimate goal, I don't want to make art in order to become famous, or to make it into an art history text book, I want to create beautiful art that can influence people, be appreciated for its beauty both today and hundreds of years down the road. I want to create a lasting testimony of what I know about beauty and about the things I believe. They're lofty goals and ones that aren't exactly easy in this day and age, if they ever were but that is what I hope to achieve with my art and my life.