Tuesday, March 11, 2014

First Friday, the sign and patience and timing!

Up until January I had been working Friday nights for forever, really.  Knoxville has a First Friday art event every first Friday of the month and I had been wanting to go for .. well.. literally years.  Finally last Friday I went.  I wasn't sure it was going to happen, from Monday to Thursday I had a bad toothache and by Friday it was somewhat better.  By Friday night it was much better so I decided to go see how Knoxville's first Friday compared to Phoenix's.  Well, lets just say I was disappointed, but regardless, it was fun and I enjoyed myself.. and the weather was perfect.

The good news of this excursion is that I did find a really nice gallery called The Art Market and thoroughly enjoyed viewing the amazing artwork.  There was a decent crowd and a nice band playing ... which finished playing before I left.  That would be why it wasn't until I was leaving that I spotted the sign  (people were standing in front of it on the way in).  The Art Market was looking for new artist and jurying was Monday. Well of course that piqued my interest!  The sales person at the counter was busy but the sign said to visit the website for more information so I took a card so I could look it up when I got home. 

So after walking around a bit more and enjoying the evening (I brought my nephew Matthew with me) I went home and looked up the criteria for submitting artwork.  It was totally doable!  I went through all the necessary forms and requirements and spent all day Saturday putting it all together. I wish I had the funds and time to reframe my work, as I noticed all the framing was contemporary and my work was framed more rustic, but with such short notice it couldn't be helped.  Artist Statement, Bio, forms filled out, artwork selected and framed, I headed out Sunday (the last day to submit) to deliver the artwork.

Soooo... jurying was yesterday and results were mailed out today.  Somewhere amongst the United States Postal Service is either an acceptance letter or a rejection letter heading to my mailbox.  I honestly have  managed to not worry or be anxious about it because I know God's got this.  If the answer is yes then party on Garth! If  the answer is No then I wasn't ready for this and it isn't my time just yet.  I'm ok either way. 

Romans 8:24-25 For in this hope we were saved. But hope that is seen is no hope at all. Who hopes for what they already have? But if we hope for what we do not yet have, we wait for it patiently. 

Ecclesiastes 3:11 Yet God has made everything beautiful for its own time. He has planted eternity in the human heart, but even so, people cannot see the whole scope of God's work from beginning to end.
 

I'm willing to wait on God's timing .. after all, it took me about 2 years to get to First Friday and it was just happenstance that i spotted the sign.  If not this time, then there will be a next time.

These are the 4 paintings I submitted.  All Pastel





Wednesday, March 05, 2014

A door closes...

In May of 2013 a friend and myself opened a small gallery in the arts and craft community in Gatlinburg.  Before we opened it we prayed about it and some things seemed to fall into place rather easily... we really believed God had opened the door for us to proceed.  Or maybe not..

Things began falling apart rather quickly and without going into much of what happened, I think it was a case of over zealous excitement to do this.. a dream of mine for years, and a lack of experience, a bad location, and I think most importantly for me, it was the inability to be able to give it 100% because I had to continue working my regular job to have an income. Whatever it was, we closed the doors to our little gallery last weekend. It was a sad day for me but i know i learned some valuable lessons along the way.

So I ponder, does God really open doors? Did he open it and I failed him in some way? Thats certainly a possibility I considered. Or is God opening and closing doors just a myth? I mean I would think Paul getting shipwrecked might be seen as a closed door but it didn't stop Paul... The persecution the apostles endured would look like a closed door to some people...  I honestly don't know. 

Revelation 3:8 "I know all the things you do, and I have opened a door for you that no one can close. You have little strength, yet you obeyed my word and did not deny me.

1 Corinthians 16:9 for a wide door for effective work has opened to me, and there are many adversaries.

Good things did come of this venture.  I painted A LOT!  I started teaching painting classes at local resorts.. that may or may not have happened as I was already teaching locally before opening the gallery. I learned alot and met some great people. 

Anyway.. to soothe  my sadness I painted a beach painting, something I haven't done in a while since we catered to a "Smoky Mountain" clientele.

https://www.etsy.com/listing/180766049/snow-at-sunrise-in-bay-head-original?

Snow at Sunrise in Bay Head
Pastel
9" x 12"