and we're off

First app is in the mail, it begins again. I am, as always, totally irked that the first one is an important one and it comes while the Christmas decor is still struggling to be boxed up and when the bank account is trembling, especially since this is a show that cashes the check right away whether you get the show or not. It is also hard for me to gear up to create something new and fresh so soon after the last season ends. In January, my activity of choice is to wrap up in a quilt and read books by the fire.

I tried. I went up to the studio, which, by the way, at the end of the season looks like the set of the disaster movie of your choice. Wind could have done it, maybe an asteroid. No human could create the chaos in there, so I'm thinking maybe aliens. But I digress.

I dragged myself up there, brushed debris off my chair, cleared a spot on the work table and tried to create a new book design so charming and artful that jury members all over New York would gasp in admiration when the image was revealed.

Yeah, right. What I actually did was scape the embellishment off an existing book, re-sewed it and stared at it for a while, trying to conjure inspiration. For a while I have toyed with the idea of adding bead fringe to a binding, going for a gypsy look. So, I did that. It was actually kind of fun, but I couldn't get a good photo of it. And, truth be told, while it is probably a design that people will like, I doubt it will bring a jury to its knees.

New York show season pretty much runs from June to December. Is it really necessary to have entries for June in the mail while the New Years baby still is running around in a diaper? Seriously, show committee type people, once you get these frozen apps in the mail, how soon do you actually open them up? You can't wait a couple of weeks?

Sigh.

You know, a lot of this is my fault. I declared early on that I would take pictures of my best work all year so that when jury time came I would have a whole library of photos to choose from.

Sigh.

OK, so this is mostly my fault, I get it.

It is not my fault, however, that the next app asks for slides. Slides! Nobody asks for slides anymore. Even CD's of images are becoming old school, it's all online now. Slides. Cripes. Should I do the CV on a cave wall with a chisel?

I'm beginning to detect an attitude problem. Deep breath.

Tomorrow I will do my yearly studio cleanup. It will psych me up. All those clean surfaces, washed brushes, sharp scissors. Tools in clear pockets and totes. Papers assorted by color.

Then I can sit by the fire with a book and wait for inspiration.