Today I met with my mentor, John Ross Palmer, to talk about my upcoming solo show. It took very little brainstorming to come up with a title: The Platform. It’s a nod to my love of trains and train stations. Though the show is inspired by travel in a broader sense, the idea of the platform appeals to me in both an aesthetic and a philosophical sense. When I think of train platforms I think of waiting, which to someone as impatient as I am is a troublesome concept. I do not like to wait. But there’s more to it than that. Waiting is not always done in airports or train stations or traffic. Sometimes people get into the habit of waiting: for the workday to end, for the next happy hour or weekend, the next promotion, the next house, the next vacation, the next sale. A lot of life is squandered waiting. The Platform is an invitation to stay present for all of the journey, not just the landmarks highlighted in glossy tourist magazines.
Also, today I made a decision: I will not build panels or stretch canvases or do anything of the sort. My Escapist sister, AVM Hawkins, whose fabulous show, Love Life, is already hanging (come see it tomorrow 6-8 at 1218 Heights Boulevard) stretched all of her own canvases. Which is so freakin’ awesome! Inspired by her, I decided to buy wood and build my own panels. John helped me mount one of my paintings today, creating supports for it in the back, and you know what? No! Just no! No no no no no! I’m not cut out for that and that’s ok. I went online and ordered an assortment of 40 ready-made canvases and panels. They will be delivered directly to the studio so I don’t have to schlep them all over town in my car.
More power to my sister for stretching her own canvases, but we are all different and we have different skills and different needs. Apparently one of my skills is giving myself the freedom to pay people to do things I do not want to do. I’m good for the economy and proud of it! And I can’t wait for my panels and canvases to arrive. I’ve never ever had so many all at once. It’ll be a feast! No waiting, just painting!
Though some creatures, I must say, know very well how to wait and still be happy. 🙂
You go, girl! Good decisions. And I like the name, The Platform.