Blogging from the Bus/ Ben Folds!

Posted on by Jen

Hi there!  So, this is a first- I’m blogging from the bus!  I’m taking Red Arrow up to Edmonton today, to go to the Ben Folds concert tonight!  I’m very excited about it; I’ve only been wanting to see him in concert for 15 years or so!  Ben Folds is my absolute FAVOURITE musician, who I discovered when I was in my early teens and have been listening to and following ever since. The ticket was a birthday gift from my brother, probably the best birthday present I’ve ever gotten!

So the plan for the day is to take the day off work- the trouble with deciding your own schedule is that all the sudden I realize that I’ve worked every day for like, the last two weeks, and so it’s important to actually take a day off.  I will be returning to Calgary tomorrow, and I have an ASA event the day after that, so I’ll be back to work again on Saturday.

Anyway, so as I said, I’m on the bus.  Red Arrow to Edmonton.  It’s nice and quiet, mostly business people, and so people are either typing away on their computers or sleeping. (There’s wireless internet, and even outlets to plug your computer in!)  When I get to the city, I will find some lunch, check into the hotel (I got a good deal), and the plan for the afternoon is to check out the Art Gallery of Alberta. Then dinner, most likely with my brother and my cousin, and then…. ba da da dah!! The Concert!  Did I mention my ticket is in the front row?

I wonder what the crowd will be like.  Because this is the first time (to my knowledge) that Ben Folds has ever done a concert in Alberta, my guess would be that the crowd may not be huge, but I am expecting them to be very enthusiastic.  My guess is that the crowd will be made up of people like me, who have been waiting for this particular concert for a long time.

Anyway, I am super excited, and I will report back soon!  What a great treat!

I’m still here!

Posted on by Jen

I apologize that I haven’t been as active on this blog lately, but I have a good excuse!  I have a new job!  I’m working for a local arts group, and it has been quite the learning curve!  It is a really good job for me, and seems like a great fit, but because it’s new, it’s taking me some time and energy to settle into the role. So that’s where most of my energy has been going lately.

I’m working on finding a better sense of balance.  Because the new job is working between home, the office and other places for meetings, etc, I am finding it a bit of a challenge to separate work from studio time from down time.  As a result, my studio practice has been temporarily (*I swear!*) on the back burner (which is a little strange for me).  I will pick it up again soon, but it did happen to happen at a natural time to take a bit of a break, so I don’t feel guilty about it.

And, as timing would have it, I have a show up right now. I’ve probably mentioned it before- it’s called Meet The Morphoids, in the Untitled Art Society’s +15 window in the EPCOR Centre.  The opening was last night.  It wasn’t my usual crowd that went, but I did run into some people I haven’t seen in quite a while, and it was great to talk with them, and to go have a beer.  It was a nice treat.

Anyway, let me see if I have some images of the show on this computer. This is in no way an excuse for you not to go see it. What do you think?

Just a reminder that if you work hard enough….

Posted on by Jen

Recently I found this rejection letter…. from the first time I applied to ACAD in 2004. (Excuse the photo quality; the letter is a little beat up.)  Anyway, I’m sure I was really upset to receive it, but looking back, I know I just wasn’t ready at that point in time.  It’s quite funny to me now, as I worked incredibly hard during my time at ACAD, volunteering a lot, and putting a ton of effort into my work and my classes, eventually earning the Board of Governor’s Award for my department.

I take this letter as a reminder that just because someone else says no, it doesn’t mean that you can’t do something, just maybe not in that time or way.  Maybe you’re not ready for it.  Maybe someone else is more qualified.  Maybe you’re just not right for the situation.  It’s a reminder to me that I am capable of doing whatever I want to do, but will sometimes need to fill in what I don’t have or modify my approach. It really does depend how bad you want it, and what you’re willing to do or give up to get it.

And persistence is worth more than anything.

February Photo A Day Challenge: Day 5

Posted on by Jen

So, I’m well aware that I missed a day, but I have decided that instead of beating myself up about it, I’m just going to skip it and not worry about it.  Yesterday was a really busy day, anyway, and really, this challenge, while fun, is not a priority in my life.

Yesterday, I installed my upcoming current(!) show in the Untitled Art Society’s +15 Window in the EPCOR Centre!  While it looked great when I left, apparently a couple of things have fallen, and so I need to fix them tomorrow, on my way into “work.”  (More photos on the show to come!)

Today was busy as well…. working on a few things, a couple of submissions, getting some stuff together (for some press releases), updating stuff, working on other things.  Really cryptic, I know, but you know I don’t like giving out too many details on things that are unconfirmed/not past the “oh, that’s a possibility” stage.

My photo of the day, for 10AM, is tea!  Earl grey, of course!  (Tea means “work time,” most of the time.)