Amy Meissner
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The serious business of showing, part 2.

10/11/2015

12 Comments

 
Amy Meissner, textile artist. From the post The serious business of showing, part 2. www.amymeissner.com/blog/the-serious-business-of-showing-part-2

A few months ago I commandeered my dining room table and assembled a matrix of photocopied show prospectuses, post it notes, paperclips, Sharpies and disgusting felines. Perhaps some of you remember this post and were curious whether any of this effort proved to be fruitful. If so, read on. If you think I'm a gross cat owner and could care less, that's totally fine, too. Just know that it's the cats who are gross, not me. I come fully armed with disinfectant spray.

As of last week, I've applied for 9 juried exhibitions, 2 grants and submitted images to 2 magazines. I still plan to apply for 4 more shows (some deadlines are a ways out) and another project grant (maybe).

So, I heard somewhere that if rejection hurts, you just aren't getting rejected enough and need to submit more work. Callouses are a direct response to irritation, and all that. So, this was my personal experiment. I've never applied this widely, mainly because I've never had the body of work to do so. Would I actually grow a thicker skin if I put myself out there more? 

Yes, but probably only because I had some successes:
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Amy Meissner, textile artist.
"Girl Story #3, " (26" x 26") Vintage domestic linens, cotton velvet, wool, found objects. Machine pieced, hand embroidered, hand quilted, 2015.
Amy Meissner, textile artist.
"Girl Story," (22.5" x 37.5" ) Vintage domestic linens, ink. Hand embroidered, hand quilted, 2014.

These two ladies from the Girl Story Series are going to the Kent State University Museum for the Focus: Fiber 2016 National Contemporary Fiber Art Show (Feb. 12, 2016 - July 3, 2016). Anyone going to be in Ohio this spring? I'd seriously love some photos of this exhibition. This museum features one of the largest collections of historic costumes in the US, totaling more than 40,000 pieces. Forget about the textile art, the clothing designer in me wants to snap on the white cotton gloves and flip all that stored vintage couture inside out and check out the seams. There is a lot of history behind the work I'm sending as well, and I'm thrilled it's heading into the world. The first Girl Story traveled within Alaska last year and won a juror's merit award at the All-Alaska XXXV  juried show.

Pssst ... maybe she's one of those girls who, you know, gets around. 

Amy Meissner, textile artist. Reliquary #3: Catch from the post The serious business of showing, part 2. www.amymeissner.com/blog/the-serious-business-of-showing-part-2
"Reliquary #3: Catch" (25.75" x 25.75") Vintage domestic linens, silk organza, wool, unfinished embroideries & quilt, found object. Machine pieced, hand embroidered & quilted, 2015.

This reliquary is on exhibit at the Barrett Art Center in Poughkeepsie, NY at the New Directions 2015 Contemporary Art Exhibition until October 31, 2015. Janet Bishop from the San Francisco MoMA was the juror. Again, with the photos. Anyone? I'm in Alaska. I won't make it to upstate New York for this one, 

​or this one:
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Amy Meissner, textile artist. Reliquary #1: Accumulation from the post The serious business of showing, part 2. www.amymeissner.com/blog/the-serious-business-of-showing-part-2
"Reliquary #1: Accumulation" (39.5” x 49.25”) Vintage domestic linens & drapery, wool, cotton, silk charmeuse & organza mesh, found objects, clothing. Machine pieced, hand embroidered & appliquéd, hand quilted, 2014.

Quilts=Art=Quilts at the Schweinfurth Memorial Art Center opens on Oct. 31, 2015 and runs until Jan. 3 2016. This piece will be there, teeth and all (also a piece with a ton of history behind it).

I won't list the galleries and exhibitions that rejected me, but know that so far there are 3 and I immediately submitted elsewhere, like, the day I received the rejection. I'm delivering one piece for a 2nd round of in-person jurying (it still could get cut, of course), and waiting for rejection/invitations to come this month and next. Are those dates on my calendar? Yes. Am I bummed when museums and galleries don't contact artists on those scheduled dates? Yes. I can't help it. I meet my deadlines and assume that's the way the rest of the world should work, too.

And the magazines? More on that later.
​Grants? Hope so. It's expensive to submit and ship art.

Also, I've kept my News page up to date, because it feels good, dammit.

​Meanwhile, back to the grind.
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Amy Meissner, textile artist. From the post The serious business of showing, part 2. www.amymeissner.com/blog/the-serious-business-of-showing-part-2
Amy Meissner, textile artist. From the post The serious business of showing, part 2. www.amymeissner.com/blog/the-serious-business-of-showing-part-2
Amy Meissner, textile artist. From the post The serious business of showing, part 2. www.amymeissner.com/blog/the-serious-business-of-showing-part-2
Amy Meissner, textile artist. From the post The serious business of showing, part 2. www.amymeissner.com/blog/the-serious-business-of-showing-part-2
12 Comments
Roxanne Lasky link
10/11/2015 03:20:10 pm

You are just plain, down and dirty, amazing.

Reply
Amy Meissner link
10/13/2015 05:46:31 am

Awwww, thanks Roxanne. I'll take down-and-dirty amazing any day. Did I ever mention that someday I WILL meet you?

XO
Amy

Reply
Martha Ginn link
10/11/2015 05:23:36 pm

Oh, Amy, that beautiful cat is far from gross. Can't you see she's very clean from all those recent baths? Good luck on more acceptances. And tell kitty to forgive if I've insulted him if he's a she.
Martha

Reply
Amy Meissner link
10/13/2015 05:49:47 am

Martha,
She is a she, and is very sparkling because she's too afraid to go outside. The fat Siamese around here is also very sparkling because she cleans him, too. It's all very tidy.
XO
Amy

Reply
marijka
10/11/2015 06:43:47 pm

(1) I'm greatly inspired by you and this post. (2) The cats aren't gross to me. :-)

Reply
Amy Meissner link
10/13/2015 05:52:29 am

Marijka,
Thank you for the kind words--always nice to be inspiring to someone, even if that someone is very small and furry and inspired to nap on my projects. Thank you for taking the time to read the post and comment here!
XO
Amy

Reply
Anita Joy
10/12/2015 02:12:28 am

Tip #1 How to keep cats off fibre art and other textiles.
Strategically place flyers for taxidermy classes about the studio.
Collect straw.

luv,
The Dog
xxx

Reply
Amy Meissner link
10/13/2015 05:56:40 am

Anita ... err, The Dog,
I also hear that aluminum foil works well, too. No, wait, that's to keep the aliens away.
Never mind.
Thanks for the hot tip about some straw though. Now I'll just have to worry about small dancing men with long strange names entering my studio through doors I didn't know about.

I think I have too much to worry about now.
XO
Amy

Reply
Lorie link
10/15/2015 12:40:03 pm

Well, no one enters the creative field and lasts long w/o a thick skin. Wouldn't last 2 seconds! On another note, these pieces are really great, and I'm so glad the shows are saying yes to more conceptual pieces. And so what's the story with the weavy-loom thing? Kitty doing some homecraft too?

Reply
Amy Meissner link
10/16/2015 10:19:37 am

Lorie,
Thanks for the support -- I agree on the thick skin part, but we make room for the occasional artistic meltdown around here. The loom in question is my 7-year-old girl's personal project -- she's been working on it on the floor of my studio. There have been meltdowns involved.

Rest assured there is no "homecraft" happening around here. I don't even know what that is. No way, lady. Sheesh. You're killing me.
XO
Amy

Reply
Deb
10/18/2015 01:07:31 pm

Beautiful work! I love your blog. Forgive my ignorance, but how do you submit your work without actually sending it out, do you use digital files and email or do you send pictures of your work? I find the process fascinating. Thank you for sharing.

Reply
Amy Meissner link
10/18/2015 08:11:19 pm

Hi Deb,
No ignorance around here! Just good questions. Back in the day, we sent slides of our artwork (yes, I am that old), then we sent disks, now we upload images to sites like CaFE or Entry Thingy or the online system created by Lisa Ellis that many textile exhibitions use. Other venues are still accepting emailed images. One thing hasn't changed: you still need great photographs, well-written descriptions and sweet organizational skills (I guess that's 3 things). The additional knowledge one needs now is the technological bit that makes it all work smoothly, but it rarely works smoothly anyway, and is always a bit nerve-wracking to submit. Thanks for asking and for reading the blog!
XO
Amy

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    Amy Meissner, textile artist. Photo credit Brian Adams, 2013. www.amymeissner.com

    Amy Meissner

    Artist in Anchorage, Alaska, sometimes blogging about the collision of history, family & art, with the understanding  that none exists without the other.
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