I am back in the winter wonderland that is the Canadian north. After the two weeks of travel I must say, this time, I was glad to be home. That being said, I type this as i pack for another week away from home but this one is going to be well deserved time away with family.
The lead up to the Paris trip felt very chaotic and rushed with the tight deadlines I had set for myself. This blog will be the reflections of Paris. In the next blog I will show you the trip to Berlins east side gallery. I haven't been very productive since I've been back. I have been catching up on schoolwork, working my day job and dealing with my dental issues but slowly getting back into the swing of things.
Paris has always been a love/hate relationship for me. I enjoy visiting there, the city is beautiful and the people even more so but I am not sure if i could ever live in the city full time. I find it very overwhelming at times. I can see how it would be easy for people to get jaded. Within that mentality though comes a certain energy that is hard to describe. A life lived with Zeal maybe? It is hard not to embrace the moment. Perhaps if I knew the language better it would help the feeling of always feeling lost or alone in the sea of so many people. As you can see I have very mixed up feeling about Paris.
The show ended up not being what I had imagined it would be. The venue was not the normal kind of venue I would show in. I realized this was probably my fault for not communicating fully what I needed. I think sometimes I forget that when dealing with people outside of the art community that they might need further information. I take it for granted, from having dealt with other organizers, they know what is needed.
In the end though it turned out to be the venue I needed to be in. The owner of @le_fokus_bar ,Victor was such a gracious host. He was welcoming from the start and was just a delightful human. He helped me along with speaking to the patrons who didn't speak any English.
The patrons themselves received my collection well. The conversations sparked from them and the feelings it brought out were what any artist could wish for. I met many interesting individuals.
One man in particular touched a special place in my heart. His name was Remy. I had come upstairs from the music venue and he was sitting on a stool before one of the pieces. As i came up Victor told him I was the artist. He started speaking to me in rapid French that I could not keep up with and Victor let him know my French was horrible and started to talk to me in a slow English. He told me what that piece meant to him and how much he loved it. The emotion in his words sent goosebumps up my skin.
As an artist I don't think there is a better feeling in the world then when something you created evokes that response. The piece was already sold. So I had offered to create a piece for him. I took his contact information and have to decide what to do for his piece.
I would have similar experiences throughout the show. In my mind the work that went into this show was all worth it. To me this was a success.
The music side of it also did not go as I had intended. In my head I had wanted pieces composed specifically for each piece. A soundtrack as a background to the pieces. What it ended up being was a jam like event. Musicians of all sorts turned out to support the art and the music they made ended up being beautiful. I will insert a few snippets of video below in this if i can figure out how.
When the exposition was finished I was mentally drained. As an introvert, large scale human interaction takes a toll on me. I find I need a moment to just stop and be quiet or create so I can recharge.
Things I learned:
I need to work on my communication
Success comes in many forms
Leave time for any hiccups that will happen
Take more picture's. I was so occupied I forgot to take more pictures to shares.
Although I am an introvert I enjoy the human interactions events like these bring. I love having good conversations with interesting people.
Operating in a language I don't know can be overwhelming.
All in all this was a wonderful learning experience that I'm glad I was able to participate in.
Jackie ❤️
Wow! Great job putting yourself out there! It would be nice if you posted pictures of your artwork.