Wow, wow, wow.
I woke up this morning to find (among other things) two gorgeous Harley's sitting in the Alley way below my studio, just gleaming away. I promptly grabbed my camera, poured down the steps into the Sidewalk Cafe, to find out who's bikes they are, and see if I could snap a few pictures. My friend John and Wandee Dooley who own JD Power Sports, (newly located up on Hwy 64, Siler City) have been mentioning a mural for their building, and I thought a close up of some gleaming tailpipes and radiator fins might do just the trick.
While I was busy interrupting these two gracious gentleman's breakfeast (Don Kinyoun, and Rod Hackney- on their way to ride the Blue Ridge Parkway), Becky walked over and handed me a letter in a nice looking envelope.
As we talked, I glanced down at the envelope tucked into the corner of my arm; a large, dark green, bold and classy looking logo in the corner heralded that is was from the Raleigh Fine Arts Society.....Ah..I was wondering why I hadn't heard from them..(I usually get my mail from a PO Box).
I had entered their show a few months ago, entitled North Carolina Artists Exhibition 2011. I almost didn't, as I have a lot going on, and also wasn't sure if I could cut it (I have been batting 5-5, and didn't want to break my streak!). I thought, maybe Spiritual Visions is a good place to stop for a while- quite while I'm ahead... I just about let it slip by, but then, at the last minute, for some reason, I went for it. In a graphic artist's confessional, they had printed a very, very attracive, artfully colorful application on cardstock, with a perforated tear-away mail-in. Oh...the rapture. To me, this suggested they were serious about exhibiting, and perhaps investing in, fine art. Also, this work-of-graphic-art-in-itself featured a photo of the exhibition's setting in the Progress Energy, Center for the Performing Arts, which lit up at night looked like some kind of lavish colleseum, and what sculptor could resist placing their art in such a jewel case as that?! Come to think of it, I have always wanted to show my tire art in a stone building. There is something about the combination of polished granite, complitmenting ordered grace of a treadknot....not sure. And to top it all off, the show was being Jured by Peter Nisbet, of the Ackland Museum of Art, an institution for which I have considerable respect (spent many hours there taking in breathtaking exhibitions during my time at UNC.
So at the last minute, I had selected a couple artworks that I thought might be a good fit, both for the space, and the show, and what would capture the Jurors interest, as best as I could surmise. We could submit two artworks.
For this, I chose Leviathan, who is currently showing in the Spiritual Visions Exhibition, at Hermitage Museum, in Norfolk Va (see Dec - Jan). Leviathan, is a big, strong piece, very strong, indeed, powerful, I think. I thought that if I had one piece that could hold his own in this space, that would be he. I also came very, very close to submitting a much smaller treadknot, with a soil inlay, a precurser of the developing Gem Line. I thought that the inclusion of the orange-red tinged soil, so characteristic of both this area, and also an allusion to the pottery tradition, would actually make a very nice addition to the show, and in some ways, I wish that I had submitted it. But in the end, I decided to hedge my bets, and put it all on the big guy, showing a side shot of his massive flanks (locked in self battle), in place of the other submisssion.
It was a gamble (a $30 gamble!), and I really wasn't sure we would get in. I marked the announcement date on my calender, and when it passed by, and I hadn't heard from them, I was a little dissapointed. And also a little puzzled- it seemed like an organization of this stature would surely have the courtesy to let a looser know the score.
Well, there was my answer, in an off-white envelope waiting to be tore open...
So anyways, I was somewhat relieved to see that my batting streak remains thus unbroken. This old tire is still rolling, this time up into the State Capital..
And check this place out! Glad to know how they are spending all that money I send them every month!
And here's to Don and Rod, out on the road as I write this, on their trail up into those blue mountains.
