Why have an open studio event?

Ahh- its over! I had a wonderful time connecting with the people coming through- some old friends, some new. In fact there were a couple of people who I had not seen in 25 years! What a gift. I also had a chance to connect to older work and to see it all together in a way that never happens when I have shows in galleries. Very cool. And eclectic. The piece you see in the slide show that has two views is one that I did before grad school- so probably 1992 or 3. I was thrilled to see it again- and inspired to work with that idea again. I love the way light plays on it. 

So I am happy to have my studio back- the work tucked away- the beautiful cloth folded in its box and my tools available. I have started to take photos for etsy (this is going to be a long project- not a one fell swoop like I thought!), make pots for a firing in December, and create 5 x 7" sculptural wall pieces for the December small works show at Gallery A3. It feels great to be actively using my new studio.

I had been wondering whether it would be worth all the work to do this studio sale- and as I think about advice I might offer in this regard- these are the things that make it worth while:
1. Validation- letting my community close at hand know about what I do. It feels really great to be seen as the artist that I am, and not just as my daughter's mother (though that is still my most significant role). My identity is filled out a bit and validated. 
2. Connections- I have no idea what will come of this, but I had the strong sense that the conversations with people were equally important to the things I sold. I feel very inspired to follow up on the leads and directions that were offered.
3. Activating my studio- getting the energy of affirmation in my studio feels good- makes it a juicy place to work
4. reacquainting myself with the breadth of work that I have done- I can feel a creative stirring and churning going on as I enter a new phase in my creative life- this feels like a kind of marker and portal.
5. Community- I am so lucky that when I put out the word in the local list serve that I was thinking of an open studio event and wondered if there was anyone else who wanted to do it with me, 4 fabulous women artists responded. We have so enjoyed working together that we now have a name: The Shutesbury Arts Collective. And we are planning to keep working together to produce open studio events and other things as yet defined. I needed a community of artists and what a great way to invest in it!