A paying gig, gallery visits and my old friend the raccoon

I don't know what I'll do when they become fully grown.

~~~

The good news: A paying gig. The less than good news. It is only a two month contract for about a dozen hours a week for a job that is a few weeks behind (the previous person who had this gig had to quit for health reasons) and doesn't pay tremendously well. So though I'm very glad to be able to do it, it means the job search doesn't let up either. So I have a job and am still looking for one.

Tucked my portfolio under my arm and finally visited two Seattle galleries. At one I got a very good response and an openness to helping me find the right representation. At the other, well, here's how I wrote about the other gallery visit in my journal:

Afterwards, I headed to the other gallery. I’d been to this one before and had been brushed off with the canned reply to give her my website and she’ll call me if she sees anything interesting. I watched my webstatistics for a few weeks after that encounter and registered no State of Washington views of my website. Today, I arrived with the sample print pamphlet I’d carefully prepared on the Behemoth. I walked in, chatted with the gallery rep (the owner was not there.) After talking a bit about the work on the walls, I said I’d like some advice. I explained I was new to Seattle. That I had a body of work – work that has sold very well in the Bay Area and also in Houston, primarily in health care settings - and I was hoping to find a local representative for this work. Would she be able to recommend someone? I handed her the sleeved portfolio with the sample print pamphlet in it. She did the most magnificent job of taking the thin portfolio from my hand without accepting it. As disappointed as I was by this gesture, I had to admire it. She managed to entirely avoid even glancing at the image prominent on the cover. Despite this careful obstruction she built, I persisted. She said something about not knowing anything about commercial dealers. I said I was sorry if I gave the impression this was commercial work, because it was not. She softened ever so slightly. Acknowledged she’d misunderstood me. And while she returned my portfolio, she gave me a brief explanation of how these sorts of purchases are made in Seattle (very different than the Bay Area.) She made a few suggestions (nothing new) but then gave me the name of the curator at a major local medical center. And then – and still clearly retaining the distance she established at the outset - she welcomed me to Seattle. I thanked her and left. As difficult as that exchange was, it was probably the best outcome I could have hoped for. I now have a name to send a mailing to.

Along with all this I find myself in the busiest time for TTA publicity/graphics/photography activities - while everyone else is 'on break'. Makes for a challenging time.

My (now favorite) Phinney Ridge plant:

I photograph it every chance I get.