Message in a Bottle, uhm, I mean Box
One of the reasons that I started making art quilts back in 2004 was that I thought I could make big colorful stuff, roll it up in a box, and easily ship it to faraway places. I realized this has come true when I was updating my exhibitions page and saw that this fall I’ll be showing quilts in California, Colorado, Oregon, the Netherlands, the UK, and Africa.
Wish I were there!
Even though it’s easy to ship, I always stall out in the packing stage and procrastinate until the last minute. Besides, I don’t want my stuff sitting around in some mysterious storage room. As I drew the clock with the 8:30 pm FEDEX deadline, I noticed that it sort of looked like an un-smiley face. Gotta change that bad habit!
Sometimes it’s a little weird shipping your art off to who-knows-where. You wonder where it’s going (don’t always know on these traveling exhibitions) and who’s going to see it. Reminds me of the old Police song, Message in a Bottle:
A year has passed since I wrote my note
But I should have known this right from the start
Only hope can keep me together
Love can mend your life but
Love can break your heart
I’ll send an s.o.s. to the world
I hope that someone gets my
Message in a bottle yeah….
Walked out this morning, don’t believe what I saw
Hundred billion bottles washed up on the shore
Seems I’m not alone at being alone
Hundred billion castaways, looking for a home….
Related posts:
- Hanging a Solo Gallery Show Last night as I was packing up quilts for...
- Collages for the Creamery When our studio flooded, a lot of framed art...
- Quilts in Times Square This is so cool! Nine quilts from the exhibition Journey...
7 Comments
Leave a Reply
Welcome to my art adventure blog!
I'm an artist who makes humorous quilts and drawings and shares a studio in an old peanut butter factory with my husband who is also an artist and sculptor. You can also see more of my art at PamRuBert.com
I ALWAYS wait to the last minute and then justify to myself with the “I didn’t want it sitting around to long…”
I have always said my quilts go more places than I do ( more than I would even want to
kim
I also heard that Faith Ringgold began making quilts because they could be rolled and shipped
That is true about Faith. I heard her give a talk and she said that. I relate to packing yourself in a tube and joining your quilts on tour. Mine have been getting a lot more miles than me!
The worst thing I ever did was ship one to myself. I accidentally put the shipping label inside the box and the return label on the outside of the box. Expensive mistake!!
It always impresses me to read posts from people doing exactly what I hope to be doing. I’ve only been in a few very local shows and galleries. It seems I’ve got so much to learn!!!
I haven’t had to ship my work anywhere, but I’ve certainly given enough away (and even sold a few here and there) to feel a little tug each time one walks away to live somewhere else.
It also reminds me of a woman who hid her brother in law’s baseball cap one time he was visiting her home, and he thought he had lost his favourite hat. Over the next couple of years she sent it to friends around the world or sent it off with people she heard were travelling – they would photograph the cap with, say, Sydney Harbour Bridge in the background- and then ship it back to her, with a photo, and she planned to give it back to him one day along with an album of photos of the cap in all the places in the world it had been to without him !
What’s the address of the gallery in Golden! I’d love to see your stuff in real life!