~lstolzar

It's been a busy few months here, so I figured it was about time for an update...

About 3 months ago I made the decision to start showing my photos in public. I had no idea how to go about it, but I've seen some pretty mediocre art in public places, so I figured I had a good shot. Of course, I was at a distinct disadvantage not having much of a network built up in the arts and not having any formal art education.

Through some patient searching on craigslist, I found an Eastern Mountain Sports in Boston that was featuring an artist a week, and they were willing to take me...eventually. That was certainly exciting, but I figured I could do better than that in the meantime, so I went back to what I knew - coffee shops in Worcester display artists. I managed to get my first big show at Acoustic Java (16 photos - I took over the place). As far as I know, my photos are still up there...but I'm afraid to actually contact the owner and ask (c;

Excited, but still feeling like there was more, I decided my next goal was to get into a gallery. Low and behold, I found myself a gallery that was just starting up. After a few false starts, that gallery finally had it's grand opening last weekend - with me as one of the artists. Going to a gallery opening as an artist was a profoundly weird experience, but hopefully it's something I"ll have to get used to over time.

I also realized that I could help people with my photos, which was great. I've donated a few photos to a few different charities to auction off (none of those auctions have happened yet, but hopefully each charity will get something from my photos).

So what's next? Even though I live near Boston, New York is my home, and I"d love to get a show there. Of course, so does everyone else, so that is proving to be quite a challenge. Melbourne, Australia is the other place that feels like home for me, so I'd also like to get something there, though that presents it's own set of challenges.

It's certainly been a fun ride for me. I bypassed all of the traditional channels, and as such am flying by the seat of my pants trying to learn everything while still trying to appear professional. I've been picking a lot of people's brains for some basic information, but I still have a long way to go.