Jeanne Beck Blog Moved to jeannebeck.com

Change is good, right?! That’s been my motto in art and life, even when change has chosen me instead of my choosing it. But choosing a new CMS website option to manage and update totally on my own has been high on my wish list for a while.
 
So I shifted my blog and website to WordPress in March. I’m slowly trying to learn it. Also have thousands of images to delete or name and organize in my hard drive. Happily, I’m making progress with both and hope to get up to speed and fully functional in a few more months.

I’m currently able to post to the blog but am having a tough time editing the gallery pages, which currently just have placeholders. The website editing plug-in called PixGridder is what I'm having a hard time learning. There may be changes in my design template ahead and possibly lots of weird looking web pages you'll see as I work through the Word Press.org learning curve. Please bear with me.

Meanwhile, the new blog works as an excellent studio log to share new ideas and works in progress with you.

Please visit the new blog site to say hi and share your thoughts and comments. Thanks!

Exciting New Venue for My Work

Photo from SOFA Chicago exhibition in 2006; this is a shot of the Jane Sauer Gallery booth

Works from my Parables series will be on display at SOFA Chicago (Sculptural Objects and Functional Art) beginning November 6-8,2009, represented by Maria Elena Kravetz Gallery. Maria contacted me in November; we've finalized arrangements and it's official.

SOFA is a "field of dreams" for fine craft lovers and collectors; patrons come to purchase new works to add to their private, corporate or museum collections. On view are some of the most beautiful contemporary craft pieces in every medium that I've ever seen.

And my work will be there among them.

Artists never know how or when an opportunity will arise or what it will ultimately mean for their work. Whatever outcome there may be in exhibiting my work in this venue, the opportunity provides a strong focus for my intentions for this year.

Because of this commitment, I took teaching off my website. Although I'm honoring my existing workshops for this year, I'm not taking on any new ones. I'm also not taking on any new writing projects. This allows me to focus on the vision and new work for this series.

Since I made this decision, I've experienced a gamut of emotions -- from panic and fear of totally failing to an incredible confidence that I'm ready and equal to the opportunity.

None of us can do more than greet any new life opportunity by giving it our absolute best. That's what I intend to do for exhibiting my work at SOFA.

This New Year is unfolding filled with hope and concerns for us as a nation. My anxieties may spike, I may have times of doubt and elation, but I also trust that the universe has brought this to me because I'm ready. I have a strong inner compass; it says this is right for me.

I've always been willing to try and fail in any artistic endeavor. Now it's time to be equally gracious about accepting visibility and the potential for collectors investing in my work. Whatever this may lead to for my career, I already possess a love of creating and joy in being a maker. That is my touchstone.

Simmer and Stir Often

January's creative soup is simmering nicely on the front burner, a tasty blend of exhibiting, creating new work and chopping up MARKETING into small, bite-sized pieces.

Pat Pauly, a gifted artist whose work has been juried into the prestigious Quilt National exhibition, led the installation of RAFA's (Rochester Area Fiber Artists) newest exhibit at the Arts and Cultural Council on Monday. Forty-three artists' works are on display from January 6-30, 2009 in "New Year, New Directions," at the Council Gallery.


The space is wonderful. If you live in the area, please come to the opening reception on Friday, January 16, 5 - 8 PM. The gallery will also be open all day on Saturday, January 17, 10-4.


On the creating front, I'm completing the second "Seeds" piece, now titled "Seeds of Change." As this detail shot of it in process shows,I'm adding more color as well as choosing more saturated colors to accent the grayscale ground. Most of these seed shapes are just pinned on; next I will stitch them down and complete the piece.

I'm also beginning a concentrated expansion of language imagery and techniques for incorporating letterforms in my work; more to come about that soon.

Another ingredient that I'm stirring into the soup pot is marketing. Webmaster Holly Knott just completed adding current and upcoming exhibitions and several new pieces to my website. Next task will be creating a database for mailing lists to mail out postcards for future exhibitions.

The soup pot is also getting lots of spice from the inspiring coaches and motivational books that I've been gathering. Numerous coaches and websites offer newsletters and tidbits of valuable information; all of them help me stay positive, focused and action-oriented. Step by step, action by action, I am actively engaged in moving my artistic life forward.

Yesterday's mail brought three books to read: Ellen Langer's On Becoming An Artist, Visioning by Lucia Capacchione, Ph.D and Coaching the Artist Within by Eric Maisel. I'll let you know how they stack up once I read them. For some years I was very critical of self-help books, but now I see them as tools to help me stay upbeat and charged with positivity. That positivity imbues the seeds of confidence that are growing inside me; I now truly appreciate those individuals who choose to dedicate their lives and their energy to helping others actualize their dreams and desires.

All these various activities and actions all go into the pot -- the ideas, the e-mailed tips and newsletter updates, the affirmations, the appreciation lists, the visualizations -- and the day to day showing up in the studio to do the work. What an aroma to inhale, and what pleasure to be cooking up something wonderful through these wintry January days.