It’s been crazy how shows, for me, come in waves. I had a piece sell at Maryland Art Place’s silent auction (which was a surprise). I had great feedback and sold two pieces at this fantastic event called New Collectors (which was really fun and I got to watch the person who bought my one piece holding it like someone was going to steal it from him... and the fire department showed up!). And now I have my own opening May 1st in Federal Hill. So, now I’m slammed, working on pieces I need to have for this May show – it’s a bit nerve-wracking. For a while there I didn’t have anything going on. I was just standing around mumbling to myself about how I should paint more etc. Then BAM! BOOSH! I start working, the shows start falling into place and people seem to be “getting” my new work.

New Collectors – it’s a great concept started by “Jamie” here at Virb/Baltimore. She gathers work from different types of artists and has an open show in someone’s home. What makes it great is that the home setting seems make the art and the artists more accessible to the audience and well, the wine don’t hurt.

My show in May should be bitter sweet. I like hanging a show and seeing how it all looks together as a collective. Usually I can’t get an idea of how it’s going to look because the pieces are usually just leaning up against a wall in my studio. So I really enjoy hanging a show. Having the general public look at my art is the part that makes me want to curl up in a ball and sing Air Supply. It’s that weird feeling of being judged. I mean, it’s unavoidable to have people have an opinion about your work (and that’s one of the reasons we do this, right?) but it just feels really awkward at times. I think my main problem is that I never know what to say when people ask me questions about my pieces. Generally I just want to say “I do what the voices in my head tell me to do.” And want to leave it at that. “What does the number 8 mean?” "Well, Lisa, that’s a great question... umm it's the number after 7". I have found that people seem to come to their own conclusions or find meaning to understand my work and that’s fine by me. Just as long as they don’t think it’s crap and I’m a hack.

So, back to the studio…