"A mentor is someone who allows you to see the hope inside yourself" Oprah Winfrey
To that I would add 'to find the courage inside yourself' ... not only to voice - out loud - your secret dreams but also to act as if they are possible.
That's certainly been my experience of being mentored by Margret Petrie ( check out her "Authentic Obsessions" podcasts of interviews with artists and on Instagram )
Over the past 20+ years my work has been in group exhibitions, sold in galleries, been featured in publications etc. so it's not like I'm a total newbie. And yet ....
This is my first time making solo submissions - which I wouldn't be doing if it weren't for the mentoring.
Most of the artists I know are riven by doubts about their work and go through this regularly.
It seems to go with the territory.
Another common thing is wanting to share what you've created. (once you've got yourself over all the above ) The 'why' is a mystery that I've not yet seen satisfactorily explained although I'm sure there isn't a one-size-fits-all answer.
In a way it's like giving life to your ideas/work. The first step is bringing the idea out of your mind, into a sensory form; the second is putting it out into the world to be experienced by others.
Up in my attic are 20 pieces which took around three years to put together. Sparked by an image seen by chance it is a many/multi-media body of work of grieving. My secret, don't-laugh-at-me dream was to show it in a physical space - for people to have a response to it, to be touched by it in some way.
The process of putting it out there has included hours of looking at gallery websites ... which ones might be a good fit in terms of space, type of work favoured, distance, policies and trying to place myself, as in 'do I realistically stand a snowball's chance there?'
Some websites were just too awesomely high-powered and the Who Do You Think You Are? gremlin jumped up and down loudly, waving with both hands.
Some offered too little information.
A few were encouraging, with clear, easy to find information about submissions.
Margret's belief in the possible is contagious and because of it I am now approaching galleries, doing what seemed impossible a few months ago.
Social media is full of celebration of achievements and sales and success. Even messy work spaces, judiciously cropped, look impressive.
( To buck the trend, below is an image of something that absolutely failed... casting the silhouette of a whale vertebra in plaster )
What's my measure of success for this endeavour? And whose success is it?
I'm thinking mine is putting together coherent, well presented submissions AND getting them in on time. Margret's is making the difference that enabled me to attempt it.
"A mentor is someone who sees more talent and ability within you than you see in yourself, and helps bring it out of you"
Bob Procter
True.
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