Altered Books

Rejected!

Karen

I got my very first official rejection to a juried art show today. Here’s a snippet from the letter:

“I am sorry to say that your work was not selected for inclusion. We received over 140 entries from 51 artists from all around the United States, and 50 artworks were juried into the exhibition.”

I wrote about the entry process in my blog Paper Art :: Rising to the Occasion. I had every confidence that my altered books would be selected. So when I got my rejection form letter I was surprised and disappointed.

I understand that rejection letters are usually terse and unrevealing, but I sure wish I could find out why my books weren’t accepted. Was it the quality of the work? The photography of the work? Did I botch the entry form? I have no clue. I don’t mind failures if I can learn and grow from them, so this lack of input really irks and irritates me, especially since I spent $30 to be rejected. Feels pretty stupid. Am I bitter? No, I’m not bitter. After all, 90 other pieces of art were rejected too, so I’m probably in pretty good company. I look forward to the online exhibit that’s going to be posted in September. I’ll post a link to it at that time.

I have two more applications in transit right now. I will remain positive. I will keep working and making my art and getting better and better.

Paper Art :: Rising to the Occasion

Karen


I have just completed everything I needed to do to enter my first juried exhibition. And I’m even ahead of the deadline! What a surprise. There were a lot of guidelines to follow. I had to read and re-read, underline, take notes, and I’m still paranoid that I missed something and will be summarily rejected. This exhibition is specifically for the Book Arts, so I have decided to enter four of my Wall Hangings. I figure that it is likely that most of the book arts submissions for others will need to be on tables or pedestals; I hope that that will leave plenty of wall space for my four entries.

The first thing I had to do is decide which book sculptures to send. There are a few that I worry about traveling, so I decided to choose ones that I thought were my best work and also would go through the mail in one piece. I decided on Paper Art :: Rising to the Occasion, Decorative Wall Hangings :: Dream Weaver, Contemporary Wall Decor :: Stone Heart, and Paper Sculpture :: Land of My Heart. I could have submitted one more, but I really didn’t want to pay the money. Even though this is a non-profit art organization I’m submitting to, and the fees are relatively low, I don’t like the idea of having to pay a fee that doesn’t come back to me if I get rejected. Seems like a weird way to run things. Wouldn’t it make more sense to pay a fee if you get accepted? But who am I to say? From of the looks of things, that seems to be the way it’s done.

So after I decided which books to submit, I had to make a CD with up to four digital images of each book. That wasn’t too hard because I have images on my computer for use on my web site. I had to organize and name them a in a specific format. Again, not too difficult after I got the hang of it. I was grateful that I didn’t have to send slides, since I don’t have any. I am considering entering a arts and crafts’ exhibition in San Luis Obispo, and I will need slides for that. I’m looking into creating slides from my digital images. Everything I read says that I should invest in professional photographs of my art, but I can’t even consider that right now. I know that if I was running my “art business” as a “real” business, I would invest the money, and it would be a worthwhile expense. I mean, if my art doesn’t come across effectively in slides and photos, who’s going to want to buy it anyway? So some day soon, I hope I’ll be in a position to have this done.

Along with the digital images, I had to include a Word or PDF doc giving my name, the title of the work, the media used, and the selling price. This gallery is only charging a 25% commission, which is really reasonable compared to others I’ve seen. Most places charge 40 – 50% commission. It’s hard to keep the selling price down. I mean, the retail price on those four pieces is only $125 each, which I think is pretty low to begin with. If the gallery keeps 50%, then I’m down to about $55 for each piece. Subtract the entry fee – about $5.00 each. Subtract the cost of shipping the work to the gallery and then shipping it home if it doesn’t sell. Boy, when you start looking at it that way, I’m really underpricing my art!


Next I completed an entry form. I also enclosed a very brief cover letter, although I wasn’t asked to. It seemed weird to just stick everything in an envelope and send it without a note of some kind. One of the resources I’m using to figure all of this “art biz” stuff out, is a book called Building a Career as a Visual Artist: Taking the Leap. It has a couple of examples of how to write a cover letter which gave me some good ideas about what to write. Cay does say to use some nice stationary–nothing flowery or cutesy–so I had to make some using my computer. I think it looks okay. Simple but nice. This book has really been helpful to me. It’s very clear and easy to read and basically answers all my questions before I even think of what to ask!

Finally, I filled out a SASE (self-addressed stamped envelope) so they can return the CD if they don’t like my work, and I plan on getting the whole shebang to the post office tomorrow. Check back to see how it all works out!

Wall Sculpture :: For the Roses

Karen

The Wall Sculpture :: For the Roses was the second wall sculpture that I made. I had picked up that book for some reason before the concept of hanging altered books entered my mind. When I was looking for books to work with, the title immediately made me think of roses blooming on the page. I cut the center sections out and then painted the back sides of the pages in darkening degrees of pink. I cut out little star shapes and folded them back, which created the the roses. My sister says they look like stars, but I see roses. I cut and folded pages of the book for the vines that I wove in and out of the pages before I glued them shut. I really like the way this book looks on the wall.

I’m working on another flower-themed wall hanging right now called Anatomy of Paradise. It’s taking me a while to get it finished because I have to keep leaving home to take care of my mom. I have a hard time working on a project if I can’t stick with it over time. I like to just sit down, start, and then work and work until it gets done. If I have to put it down and pick it up, I get frustrated; I lose my rhythm. So right now the vines and leaves and blossoms for this altered book are lying all over my work space and have been for about three weeks. I can’t seem to sit down and continue working cause when I get back from my parents’ house, I have so much to catch-up with at home. I thought this summer I would really be able to focus and create. It’s just not turning out the way I had imagined.

Making Altered Books :: Art in a Child’s Hand

Karen

Wow! How fast time passes. I didn’t realize that I had let so much time slip away since my last post. I’ve been busily updating my web site; I haven’t even had time to do any art. Egads!

One of the pages I recently updated was a description of the techniques I used for one of my first altered books. In Making Altered Books :: Art in a Child’s Hand I talk about this board book I made for ISABA [International Society of Altered Book Artists] for a display they were doing.

One of my favorite things about this book is the quote by Picasso. It says “It took me four years to paint like Raphael, but a lifetime to paint like a child.” Isnt’ that lovely? The back of this little book isn’t even finished, but that’s on my to-do list for this summer. I want to finish the cover and add it to my Altered Books for Sale page. I have too many books and too little space. Some of these have to move on to loving homes so I have room for the new work. Now if I could just get around to creating all that “new work”. . .

Contemporary Wall Decor :: Stone Heart

Karen

Contemporary Wall Decor :: Stone Heart

I just added Contemporary Wall Decor :: Stone Heart to my Wall Hangings Gallery. It’s very dark– makes me think of broken love or wearing your heart outside on your sleeve or looking inside a chest that’s been cracked open during surgery. Two very shiny paper hearts are suspended inside dark and silver niches.

Maybe I’m thinking dark thoughts because I’m listening to Bonnie Raitt’s great song “I Can’t Make You Love Me,” which has got to be one of the prettiest sad songs ever written. Bruce Hornsby is playing the piano; Bonnie’s singing in that smooth, sultry voice of hers. Just makes me want to have a shot of tequila or something.

Here’s a little poem I thought up while I was waiting for my son at the mall the other day.

Spilling Over
Everything is spilling over
The girl’s breasts are spilling out
of her too-tight bra
and low-scooped shirt.
The man’s gut is spilling over
his silver belt buckle
and low slung denims.
The goth girl’s thighs
are spilling out of the rips
in her black fishnet stockings.
The teenage boy’s striped boxers
and butt are spilling out
of his sagging bagging pants.
The top of that woman’s feet
are spilling out of her strappy
spikey little sandals.
The teenager’s belly is spilling
out from below her tanky top
and over hip hugger jeans.
And I just stand here, watching,
wanting to stuff everything
back in where it belongs.