A Visit to the Studio of Phoenix Artist, Carole Hanks

Carole with Week #52

Artists for the most part aren't the frivolous lot the media makes them out to be. Part of the purpose of this blog is to give my readers a chance for an inside view of art in the making. And art in the making is so much more than just making art. It's making the time to do it, having the training, putting in the years of practice, making connections with other artists, galleries, maintaining relationships with collectors, marketing online and off, keeping up a mailing list, entering shows. Not to mention needing to make a living.

My friend, Carole Hanks has been working on a project for the past year. She completed 52 weeks of "comics", gorgeous line drawings which were published every Monday for the entire year, 2010. In order to do this, she gave up travel (including visits to yours truly), and most social engagements to stay on her grueling self-imposed schedule. True to her word, she managed to publish one large piece of this series each and every Monday, come rain or shine, in good health and bad. The results are magnificent.

A not so clear shot of three of her pieces hanging in her Phoenix studio. Click on "comics" above to get a clear look at the work and find out what it's all about.

Her next step is to figure out her next step. She already has a show lined up for this June/July, at the Willo North Gallery in Phoenix. And she's getting ready to start her next big year-long commitment. She gave me a few hints, and it sounds just as exciting and demanding as the previous year-long project. You can check out more of her work at her website. And be sure to check back on her blog in late February, for the new series.

Anxiety Attack

Funny thing. I make the art because I love doing it. It piles up in my studio. In order to justify doing more painting, I need to give the finished paintings a home. So I enter exhibits and make sure my work is out there, being seen and being purchased.

In a group show, well, there are a group of artists, who in turn have a group of friends, and friends of friends, and collectors, family members and so on. You can show and still be fairly inconspicuous. If no one comes to see the work, well, whose fault is it?

A solo show is a different kind of animal. It's just all about me, me, me and more me. The questions that arise are: will anyone at all show up? Or will the gallery be full of people (almost as frightening for a social phobic like me)? It'll be a little hard to hide when all the paintings on the wall are mine. And here I am with a solo show, opening on Friday night!

There are a lot of people out there, helping with publicity for the show. I just discovered several wonderful posts by Kristin Shears, owner of Willo North Gallery. Patricia Sahertian has been sending out press releases and doing lots of social media, and my husband, Jim Cowlin, just put me on our (hot off the press) US Route 89 newsletter. Todd Daniel has been schlepping postcards all over town in the heat and humidity.

It humbles me to think of people going all out for me and for my work. It's funny, alright. It would be so nice to just be able to hunker down in my studio and never, ever leave. Of course, then I'd miss out on meeting all the nice people I'll be meeting on Friday evening. I hope you're there, too. I hear the food is going to be great!