I spent today frantically trying to get 2 prints framed totally last minute to submit some prints to a juried show at the Danforth Museum of Art. Thank goodness for my amazing framer Dave Geller who completely bailed me out. Incredibly, he agreed to cut me matts today and have them ready and assembled in pre-made frames by tomorrow afternoon. I don’t know what I would do without him; any other frame store wouldn’t even think about putting something together on such short notice, much less do a good job and make sure everything was the best it could be, which I am always sure he will do.

Recently I feel like I’ve been getting distracted by lots of extraneous stuff to my work- submitting to shows & grants, etc. I try to make undisturbed work periods for myself where I don’t do any of that so that I can focus exclusively on making good work which really in the end is the most important thing. On the other hand, if I go too long without submitting to shows or getting curators to my studio it can definitely have a negative impact on my standing in the art community. The marketing and the submissions are a necessary part of the process if you want to keep moving forward with your work. You’re always looking for a balance between the two because really you can’t have one without the other. I think when I get back from Rome I’m going to go back into another undisturbed work period and put this submission stuff on the side. When I get back, it’s going to be all about painting. I can use the studio visit I have scheduled in August as incentive to get as much work done as possible.