the shows
"Things With Wings" opening last night at the Three Graces Gallery, Portsmouth,NH.
A bit over two and a half years ago when I started this blog I had just begun to sew in earnest. I was making all sorts of things, but soft toys seemed to be what excited me most.
After sewing for a few months a local baby store began selling my bears and I was thrilled, but when they sold out, that was it - I just didn't want to make twelve more of the same toy.
Then I started selling pieces at Indie craft stores and high end gift shops and that was cool because I could make one or two of each pattern and they didn't expect a dozen of the same thing.
And I did some local craft shows, and quickly learned that I really don't like doing craft shows. The most popular item on my table were the sock monkeys and I began to feel so angry that out of every creative thing I'd made the sock monkeys, which were really nothing special to me, were flying off the table. No more craft shows for me.
In March of last year I had my library show and got a taste of what it was like to put pieces on display in a gallery-type setting and it felt so good, and nearly everything sold. When the show came down at the end of the month, I was a bit at loose ends. What to do next?
And then I realized that I wanted to be free to make things that didn't take just two hours to finish, or six hours even. Things that were really complicated and would be unsalable unless in a gallery (do you remember this crisis? the "gallery or gallery gift shop" crisis? if you do, bless you that you've been readying my blog so carefully and for so long!), but I didn't have any sort of gallery lined up to show them in.
I figured I would plow ahead anyway and I held on to everything I made in the hopes of building up a body of work to show at some later time.
And last night that time came, and it has only just begun. It really was incredible to see things I've made hung on two different galleries' walls in the same night, in two fantastic shows. I feel now like I've figured out where to go. Doing this is what I should do now. I'm an artist. Hurray!
"Ode to Cornell - What Would Joseph Do" juried show opening last night in Salem, MA.
One more picture from the shows here.
AbbyJane, your pieces look wonderful on display! They are beautiful and unique and deserve to be shown.
Posted by: Kay Susan | August 13, 2007 at 02:11 PM
Congratulations AbbyJane, it looks incredible. Continued success!
PS I can relate so much to your feelings on your work in this post too.
Posted by: myra | August 13, 2007 at 09:38 PM
Congratulations! And your work looks so good on display!
Posted by: Emma | August 14, 2007 at 12:09 AM
Wow! I found your blog just now, thanks to Mimi, and think your work is sublime! I really mean that. I see a lot of art on the web and yours really gets me (or I get it!) I've just begun my own blog but have little to show for it at present. Having lunch with Mimi today and will thank her for introducing me to you and your wonderful work! And all while she naps! amazing woman you are! Geri
Posted by: Geri Barr | August 14, 2007 at 10:03 AM
Hurray, hurray! Now everyone in the arty (non-bloggy) world can see how fabulous your work is too.
Posted by: Rebecca | August 14, 2007 at 07:39 PM
Just amazing! Congrats! You deserve it for all your hard work and amazing art!
Posted by: Mary | August 16, 2007 at 11:50 AM
Congratulations! I haven't been reading that long having only found your blog a month or so ago. But I have been schlepping around your archives. I just love your work. You've given me the desire to start creating my own plushies in the near future.
Posted by: Zylo | August 17, 2007 at 12:19 PM
You were always an artist! Yeah!
Posted by: amy | August 19, 2007 at 05:36 PM
I surfed onto your site and fell in love with your birds and your work!!
Congrats on your show!
Posted by: Carla B | August 20, 2007 at 11:33 PM
Okay once again I haven't been around in a while but many congrats to you. This is fantastic - how far you've come and that you're truly doing what you want to be doing. How many people are still hopelessly making the sock monkeys just because they sell? Hats of to you for living a dream. And as for me, I've finally got a blog to link...Kate
Posted by: lpmkate | August 21, 2007 at 09:06 PM
Abby it't so amazing to see all the beautiful birds you have made. I love your work. Congratulations on your show!! :)
Posted by: Lindsey F | August 23, 2007 at 09:17 PM
I love this post and I'm so so happy you wrote it. I'm so happy for you which is a little weird for someone who doesn't know you except through this blog. But really, I am. Your story and work are very inspiring. Thank you for sharing that with us.
Posted by: joybucket | August 25, 2007 at 09:38 PM
well congratulations, you deserve it and OF COURSE YOU'RE AN ARTIST!!!
on a different subject? do live in Salem? I love that place... infact, a piece of my heart will always be there... (I spent some time in Salem back in the late 90s...)
Anyway, good luck for the future.
Posted by: monica | August 27, 2007 at 03:24 PM
what an amazing story, inspiring for all of us who are striving to become artists in our own right. i'm so glad i got to see the pieces IN the gallery. they look truly gorgeous. congratulations.
Posted by: shisomama | August 28, 2007 at 12:36 AM