Oh, the Wilds & Ways of the World
aka: Why Can’t Stuff Go Down Like It’s Supposed to?!?
I’ve been busy doing nothing. Lot’s of long work days coupled with extreme heat and carting kids around has made room for little else. I did have a chance to ship off my entry for the 20th Annual Louisville National Juried Photography Show.
The Piece that May or May Not Make It Home!
This was the first show I’d entered and was really surprised to see that one of my prints was chosen! No, it won’t sell (probably) and I doubt it will win any places (Wouldn’t that be awesome?!?), but simply entering and getting shown was a big boost for me! I’ve plans to enter a few items into another showing and I’ve been considering contacting a couple of local galleries to see what their application for representation might be.
Speaking of my first experience of mailing an art entry: The shipping part of it was a nightmare. Since the show is two states away and my Challenger, as much as I love her, is a bit of a gas hog, I could not deliver the piece myself. Plane tickets were also far more than it would cost me to ship the bugger and I figured this really was the way to go about it…
I had, in the past, experienced good things when it came to FedEx and their facility was open later than everyone else’s on a Friday night, so I chose them to transport the precious cargo. That ended up being a huge mistake! After a very uninformed and non-tech savvy employee at their facility pretty much told me to shut up and do everything myself from a workstation in the back of the room, 3 hours of dealing with their ill-maintained equipment and trying to get the kids to behave and a lot of frustration and cash spent, my package shipped out the following Monday. Since return shipping was supposed to be included, I did… But I had to create an account with them, then they wouldn’t let me date the return shipment for more than 10 days out!! The gent (ha!) behind the counter said they’d probably honor it anyway and this was echoed by their phone support later that evening… but it caused me great headaches and a worry that I might not get my $150 canvas back when the show is over!
The Stump on Top of One of the Smaller Dirt Mounds
I’ve decided that if I use FedEx again, I’ll just print the shipping labels from home and have them pick up the package rather than stand around in a store with unhelpful employees and dilapidated equipment!! However, I think I’ll try UPS next time and see how that pans out.
Our driveway project at the house continues on. After a phone call to our contractor (read that as “After I called and reamed out my contractor…”) I discovered that he’d taken the money down already paid and used it to aid in the completion of at least 3 other jobs! Yet, mine remains unfinished nearly two months after start date. He hasn’t been paying his employees who are starting to leave him and I have a huge pile of dirt that takes up my entire front lawn pissing off my neighbors and causing a lot of problems. Jas and I have been clearing the rubble and dirt the best we can ourselves and I demanded that the contractor either reimburse us for this service that he was contracted to provide but wasn’t or discount the remaining money owed. So tired of this terrible mess and am unsure just what I should do at this point.
The Girls
The family is doing well. Jas has been attending classes on the company dime to become Mac Tech Certified.This is great news for him and will really help him out. Yay for Jas! The girls are good… They’ve been spending a lot of time with their KC grandparents since school is out and both got their hair cut much shorter!
And I’ve just been plotting my next shoot. Since I have a little time, I’ve been doing some maintenance around my home, both in real life and on the web, and hope that next term I’ll be full of great ideas and projects that will blow the past out of the water!
Until next time,
~Hollie
2 Responses to “Oh, the Wilds & Ways of the World”
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The Infamous Ms H
ART + PHOTO + INSPIRATION + LIFE
Hollie is a rural-born, urban-at-heart, artist, photographer, and writer, dedicated to creating and inspiring with reckless abandon!
Judge me if you must, but try not to make a mess.
Current Snapshot:
+ Documenting slightly altered, partially imagined, and absolutely surreal moments of daily life in a series of landscapes and portraits entitled Current Histories
+ Moving forward with The Fairy Story Field Guide conception and art
+ Finalizing working draft + story boarding for graphic novel The Mother.
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Glad Jas is finally getting to complete that certification…and have it paid for. That is such a wonderful photo too. I don’t know how they judge such things but I’m glad you are getting the recognition to showcase your work in the least. too bad FedEx were such buffons.
Thanks! Jas already had one half of the full certification, but he sat on his hands a little too long and had to re-cert that plus add on this last half. He’s happy with it, although it means earlier wake times for him and the girls for a week or so ;D
As for the judging, each juried exhibition is different… But most are judged by a prominent figure in the photographic world (a photographer who’s made it, a professor, an agent, etc.) or a group of them. This particular exhibition was judged by a internationally published photographer. As previously stated, it’s not a huge competition, but it is nationally publicized and billed as such, so it’s a start. I would like something a little closer to home, but since KC’s art scene has started to really pick up, the galleries around here have become a little more exclusive. There doesn’t seem to be a lot of room for someone with my sensibilities, as they seem to cater more toward younger, scene folks and popularity seems to matter more than talent, me thinks.
Still, I will keep trying. The worst anyone can say is “no,” right?
Thanks again for the comment and kind words,
~H