Studio Update: 10/22/23- 10/28/23 Tea Time

Okay yall what a hectic one. I had an appointment on Tuesday to bring my work in to a local shop and they were going to look at it and choose what they want to make an offer on, either consignment or wholesale. I honestly was really excited because this is my first time selling to a shop and it felt like a big step forward as an artist. I have been really finding my stride recently both with my art and my confidence to put myself out there as an artist. I spent all day Monday documenting this work since most of it just got out of it's last firing. I am going to spare you all the details but basically I did not have a good experience with this shop after having to drop off work when they forgot/ did not communicate correctly about my meeting to look at the work and they ended up displaying my work out in their shop a couple days later before I received any kind of offer for it( a friend sent me a picture of it out and displayed). I was really upset! I felt taken advantage of as an artist and it honestly felt like they were stealing my work, my stomach was in a giant knot that whole night. I didn't know how much of it they put out, if they wanted to buy it wholesale or consignment, I didn't have a talk about pricing, nothing. I received such little communication on their end so Thursday night Gh helped me draft an email to them. The email was gently angry and stern. I told them I would be stopping by the next day to talk. At this time I was unsure what I wanted my next move to be because again, I was so excited for my work to be there. But their massive red flags, disorganization, and straight up stealing of my work was something that did not sit well with me at all and quite frankly left me worried about how that would translate to having work in their shop. After many discussions with many artist friends ( shout out to you guys- you know who you are!) I decided that I would not only be going in to talk to the shop the next day but I would be taking my work home with me. I can find somewhere else to take it that will respect me and have better systems in place. Honestly this was a pretty daunting task as I tend to not be a very confrontational person. But truthfully, I have had to grow in this a lot over the past couple years in my personal life, and I felt those experiences prepared me for setting boundaries and standing up for myself in my professional art practice. My roommate/ studio-mate, Kate, came with me on Friday for emotional support. I was really proud of myself! I think I was respectful, but firm, and I didn't cry!!!! I was also really thankful for all the nights I spent with my friend Ashlan watching videos explaining the different tactics a narcissist uses, because quite honestly this person used about 6 of the tactics in the time I walked into the store to get my work and 2 hours later when I finally left. It was wild, I will spare you the details. But my work is back home and safe and I feel confident I can find somewhere else for it.

In other news while this was all happing Thursday night, my roommate came home late and was asking me if I checked my NCECA juried show submission to see if I got in. I really didn't want to check because frankly, I wasn't in the mood for more disappointment. But after checking, I saw the little note next to my clown cup set that said "Invited"!!!! What a weird combination of feelings going through me at that moment. I was upset and disappointed about my work in the shop but I was excited about NCECA. I think it honestly gave me the confidence to handle the issue the next day with pride. Also Kate insisted on drawing a taro card for me right after and she drew the magician! That's such a good card to draw and made me feel so inspired and affirmed.

Anyways studio wise I started working on a sculpture this week. Return of the slump molds!!!

Image: The only picture I took of my work this week