Totem:  Rebirthing Myself, clay collage wall sculpture, 26" H x 8.75 W, by Tammy Vitale

The title for Rebirthing Myself comes from the two dragonfly tiles combined with the abstract person on the blue tile.  Dragonflies can symbolize transformation and rebirth.  The abstracted person/goddess is a piece I did at the very beginning of working in clay, which I cast.  I have a bowl made out of slabs of this piece that is one of my favorites.  People seem to like dragonflies, and I enjoy them on my pieces, so it’s a good creative/retail match.

I realized today as I was posting the photos that I only have one more day’s worth of new work.  I guess I better get back in the studio!  Have been (and plan to continue to be until March 1) on vacation since my show on Dec 2.  That doesn’t mean I have forsaken the studio.  It means I’m catching up on administrative stuff that I’ve put off because I don’t like administrative stuff – and there’s something about December winter/short days that makes it okay all of a sudden.  In fact, I may even pull out the books and finish my numbers up sometime soon so that I can hit the tax reporting early and be done with it.  I have several things I want to make in the studio floating around in my head and I’m also focusing a lot more on 2D than I have been.   I ordered more canvas (I’m indulging.  I have an xmas account with money in it.  Some of it I get to spend on me.) and then found a 24 x 36 canvas tucked away in a closet with all the other art I took down to "clean out" the house for showing.  Well, there’s another thing I plan to do:  get my art back up so it feels like my house again!  And if we decide to show it, the art isn’t coming down this time.  Anyways, I’m all excited about that 24 x 36 and doing an abstract on it.  I did an abstract water color/acrylic/pastel the other day and though I am not usually attracted to abstract, I like this and am pretty happy with the way it turned out.  So I immediately decided I want to work larger with it but couldn’t find that 24 x 36 canvas.  It must have felt me looking for it because it popped right into my hands within 24 hours.  Now it is sitting in my office, all blankly white, just waiting for me to come play.

But that might have to wait.  I do believe Husband and I are going to try, once again, to tackle the tile flooring in the cottage since the quote we got was $2K just for putting in tile!  We can do this.  I do tile all the time – just not this straight, everything needs to be even tile.  And Husband is a Virgo – that means he is "particular" about the work he does.  Some might say picky.  Some might say obsessive.  We have set ground rules.  After all, it will be covered with a rug!

I have found some websites on how to approach an art gallery.  I am passing them along here.  I am not sure I agree with everything, but then, do I ever?  When you read them, remember they are one person’s take.  Read, absorb, adjust and then go try it out.  January should be a good month for talking or visiting art galleries.  Things tend to be really quiet then.  February too.  Here they are:

"Approaching Galleries for Exhibition" by Professor (!)William V. Dunning (why the professor in front of his name, I wonder.  If he’s writing academically, they already know that.  If he’s not, is it to give some heft to his words?)

"Guide to Approaching Galleries" by Sylvia White, which embeds another article, "How to Establish Which Galleries to Approach"

thought for the day:  …ours remains a predominantly Judeo-Christian culture in which our central creativity myth goes like this:  Everyone is having a very nice day in Paradise until someone gets uppity and wants to try something new, like picking an apple (or writing a novel).  This is too uppity for a jealous, territorial, competitive God.  Adam and Eve may want that apple – God wants their heads!  And so it’s out of Paradise for the two of them…What if the story had had a different ending?  What if we’d been raised with a creation myth that involved God’s delight in our exploration and expansion?  What if God were encouraging, loved to share creative collaborations with us, loved our steps into risk?  What if God had said, "I’m so glad you finally noticed that apple!  I made it bright red for a reason!   What did you think of seeds?  Aren’t they a great idea?  I really think they’re fun.  ….It might have been very different for us emotionally.  Julia Cameron, The Vein of Gold:  A Journey to Your Creative Heart

p.s.  Write your own creation myth.  I did.  Then go back and read it.  You may be surprised at what wiggles its way in when you’re writing away and not paying attention!