The Making of an Artist: Part I – Talking to the Inner Critic

Shadow Tree

Shadow Tree © 2011 Bo Mackison

A lot can happen in a year. A whole lot!

Exactly a year ago, Sherpa and I went to the Tubac Festival of Art with a couple we knew from Phoenix. The woman had been an artist on the art fair circuit for 15+ years, and we asked them if they would come with us to the art fair. I wanted to walk the show, ask questions, learn the ins and outs of being an art show artist from an experienced show artist, from a pro.

I was at the earliest of stages of considering whether or not I might exhibit my photography at outside art fairs. I remember how overwhelmed I’d felt after walking the art fair for several hours. My friend had provided informal lessons on topics such as tent and canopy quality, and on weighting tents for the worst kinds of weather. I’d taken snapshots of canopies and attached awnings for sun or rain protection, of staking systems that held a tent firmly in place. I’d learned about different ways of showing my art — panel systems, grid systems, mesh systems.

I also remember looking at the many kinds of art that were at the festival. I kept looking…and looking…and looking.

Finally I gave myself permission to allow the tiniest thought to spring to life. It said: “I think I can do that!”

It didn’t take long before all the gremlins in my head joined forces and started spitting out their thoughts on the subject: “Ha, ha, ha! YOU aren’t an artist!” “You can’t make art that someone would pay REAL money for.” “You’re an introvert–you could never be a show artist. Why, you would have to TALK to people. Ha ha ha!”

“You can’t…”  “You aren’t…” You don’t…” Oh, those crazy voices in my head were so loud, so persistent.

I did want to share my art. I did want to see if I could sell my photography on more than just an occasional basis. But I had so many concerns, questions, fears, uncertainties. So many questions flooded my head!

Was my art good enough? Did I have what it takes to work the art show circuit? How would I manage the traveling, the overnights away from home, the packing and unpacking, the physical stamina required to set up and take down a booth, and work in the booth for two, three, even five day shows?

The last questions I asked were the hardest. Did I have what it takes to be an artist? Did I have any talent? Could I really be successful?

I returned to Wisconsin knowing I needed to give these questions some soul-searching thought. It would take me several months before I began to answer any of them.

Part 2: The Making of An Artist: Start Up

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Bo Mackison is a photographer and owner of Seeded Earth Studio LLC. She is living in Tucson for the next eight weeks, exhibiting her photography in art fairs, taking photographs in deserts and desert gardens, and blogging about learning to live on her own. Her mantra is “Bo goes solo!”

Seeded Earth Photography at Waterloo Arts Festival

Grasses on Black © 2010 Bo Mackison

Seeded Earth Photography will be on the road as we start our holiday art fair season this weekend.

Our first show, the Holiday Arts Festival, is at the Waterloo Center for the Arts in downtown Waterloo, Iowa. The show is open from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on both Saturday, November 13 and Sunday, November 14, and is free to the public.

If you are in the area, stop by my booth in the main art gallery, booth # 51, and say hello.

I’d love to show you my photography. Not only will I be offering matted and framed prints, but I am now printing many of my abstract and macro botanicals on large scale, gallery wrapped canvas. (The printed canvases are stretched on a 1 inch deep frame so the photograph wraps around the sides. No frame is necessary.) Photo art card sets with holiday, botanical or seasonal themes are also available.

Or if you are in the Madison area, I will be at the Holiday Art Fair at the Madison Museum of Contemporary Art in downtown Madison on the weekend of November 19-21 and at the Arboretum Local Products Expo at the University of Wisconsin Arboretum – Madison on Sunday, November 28. More info provided as these dates get closer.