Mestiso Manifesto #5

This post is more of an update related one, rather than the usual thoughts and feelings. I’ve had a pretty eventful and productive week, which has been nice. Last week was pretty rough for me, but as is my process, after venting all my feelings out I was able to dust myself off and get on with it. My perfectionism was getting in the way of me moving forward as per usual, but in the end I got there. Which means I’m happy to announce that I’ve finally opened an online store for people to purchase my work.

Up until this point, my work hasn’t been made readily available for purchase unless it was through a show I was exhibiting in, so for those interested, it makes the process more straight forward. I haven’t listed all the artwork I have stocked on the website, so if there’s something on my social media you’ve seen that’s not there, feel free to shoot me a message and I can help you out. In future to plan to do some online only releases for different types of work such as prints, works on paper, smaller paintings and maybe even studies! So if you’d like to keep in the loop please subscribe to my newsletter.

I think the over whelming task of setting up my store felt like a hinderance to my practice and productivity, but now that it’s complete I’m able to focus more on my work instead of it hanging over my head.

Another new venture I’m heading into is painting workshops. I recently had the go ahead from the studio manager and studio committee to run classes out of my studio space. I’m looking at beginning the first one November 16th. I’ll create a new page on my website regarding the workshops for those interested, but they aim to cater to beginners with little to no experience in acrylic painting (or painting in general) with a focus on abstract art. I’m currently developing a lesson plan and structure as well as sourcing materials. I’ve never taught anyone in an official capacity before, so this should be interesting.

In exhibition news, I recently delivered an artwork for a group exhibition. The Merri-Bek Summer Show at Counihan Gallery opens on November the 9th at 2pm, with speeches and award winners announced at 2.30pm. Feel free to come along and see my work, say hello and view the art of over 100 other artists. I’m looking forward to see all the work exhibited, especially since the show is focussed on artists in my local community. I’m feeling a bit anxious, but that’s a normal part of my existence at this stage.

Some peers from art school will also have work in the show and it’s been a really long time since I’ve seen anyone from my class, especially since I paused my practice for a number of years (and never thought I’d return to it). That’s a story for another post. I feel like I write that a lot. I promise I’ll get around to posting these stories one day.