Self-Portraits

Once upon a time, pictures of oneself were called "Self-Portraits."  Nowadays they're called "Selfies."  I have a hard time with these, at least the blatantly Millennial version of looking at the camera, instantly sharing it with my closest 500 friends, and hoping no one notices the spots and sun damage the Kansas sun/genetics has caused, and giving me the banal compliments that are to automatically come along (or so one hopes).  

But there is something about straightforward, eyes-directly-at-the-camera, brash in-your-face images that I admire.  I'm not quite that daring.  Not wanting to be the subject of my own self-portrait is kind of weird, but it is the truth, nonetheless.  I make sure to add interest in the backgrounds, looking off or adding a weird face because, well, I think that's more interesting.  I don't want anyone to think I'm serious, for crying out loud.

They're really more portraits of my work, but I know that sometimes it starts to seem as though these things I make are produced by disembodied hands when I direct people to my online presence, so I thought I'd put my face here for proof that a human lady-person is attached to those hands.

Also, I get bored at shows sometimes and taking creeper shots of patrons isn't okay.

Whatever...here's a few from the last year and a half.

Oklahoma City Festival of the Arts, 2013, during rain.  Probably FREEZING RAIN.

Loaded up and heading to Des Moines, 2013.

OKC Festival of the Arts, 2014.

Loring Park, Minneapolis, 2014, Day One.

Loring Park, Minneapolis, 2014, Day Two.

 

ArtSplash, Sioux City, Iowa, 2014.
Covering up a zit with that finger.

Handmade & Vintage Market, Leawood, Kansas,
 last weekend, Day One.

Handmade & Vintage Market, Leawood, Kansas,
last weekend, Day Two.

It's clear that I have many pairs of glasses.  Very important.

Here are artists who use themselves in their art:
Cindy Sherman (one of my all-time favorites): Untitled Film Stills.  THESE ARE NOT SELF-PORTAITS!!
Nina Katchadourian: Lavatory Self-Portraits in the Flemish Style
Elizabeth Layton: although these are drawings, they leave me speechless.  She is an inspiration.
Ricky Gervais: not really his medium...but these are ridiculous and I love a person who doesn't take himself seriously.  Scroll through his Twitter feed.  Lots of him and some palette-cleansing kitty photos, too!

Showed It: Sioux City

I showed for the first time at ArtSplash in Sioux City, Iowa.  Aside from the show being book-ended by rain during set up and tear down, we had lovely weather.  

Post-show sky after I'd dried off and was searching for dinner.

The show coordinators really know how to take care of their exhibiting artists, including a dinner at the Sioux City Art Center the Friday night before the show.  

Yaaaawwnn, right?  Oh, wait, that's Jackson Pollock's Mural from 1943!
Over nineteen feet of art-world busting greatness.

Get it where you can.

Due to it being Labor Day weekend, the downtown was a bit sleepy, but I enjoyed walking around after the show closed.  I didn't see one speck of graffiti, but there was plenty of art on display due to the SCAC sponsored Sculpt Siouxland public exhibition.

I don't think the clothes were part of the original design.
(They were gone on the next time I saw this.)

And because it was Labor Day, I wasn't able to visit this place on my way out of town because it was closed for the holiday, which made me very sad.

I'll coordinate my meals better next time, because this looks great.

So anyway, here's a bit of my booth.

I added several more hearts to my inventory and sold
some of my favorite clocks.

I enjoyed Sioux City, and now I can say that I've spent time in the middle, east, and west of the great state of Iowa, which is more than I can say for my home state of Kansas or my current state of Missouri.

UP NEXT: I'll be in Leawood, Kansas, Sept. 13 and 14 for a new event, The Handmade and Vintage Market.  I'm excited to stay home and meet some new Kansas City area folks!  Better get to making...