My "moment" has finally come. Well, I'll call it half a moment. I think my "Moment" will come when I have my first gallery show, but this is still my "moment."
Matting my images | (c) M.M.Hewitt 2015
Finally received my prints | (c) M.M.Hewitt 2015
I've finally made it in to First Friday here in Spokane! After months of trying to find a venue who wanted to show me I'm in. It's not a solo show, but it's a place that gets lots of traffic and should make for a lot of exposure for my work. If you are unfamiliar with what First Friday is let me explain: on the first Friday of every month local businesses showcase local artists' works on their walls and open up their space to allow for viewers to come in and take in what people are creating in their community. For the rest of that month the artists' works are left up on the walls until the next month's first Friday when a new artist/s will be featured. It's a great relationship between local small businesses and local artists. I'm very proud and honored to be a part of this community.
Getting ready for this show was quite the undertaking however. I had to order my paper for my prints which took a week. Then I had to take it to my printer along with my files, this was on a Thursday. That went easily enough. I then went to my local craft store to buy my frames. I did this all by myself and with two young kids tagging along. So with six heavy large frames loaded as best as they could fit in my cart I went back to my car. Once I had the kids strapped into their car seats I made way to load my very expensive frames into the trunk. As I got to open the trunk the cart fell over breaking every single pane of glass. I was furious but mostly I felt incredibly stupid for letting something like this happen. But the craft store was very kind and replaced all of the glass for free. For that I am so grateful. I wasn't able to pick them up until the following Monday. By Wednesday I hadn't heard from my printer so I gave them a call. They wouldn't be getting to my order until Friday or Saturday. I was starting to panic a little. My work had to be turned in to the venue by that coming Tuesday. I made this very clear to them and they said they would do their best. I was starting to wring my hands with anxiousness so I started to work on what I could. I began to cut out my mats (my first time ever matting on my own). Saturday came and it was starting to get close to their closing time and I still hadn't heard from my printer. So my husband called them up and left a message. Not too long after that we finally got a call back... They couldn't find my files. My gut dropped. So I hurried over there with my stuff and they finally got the ball rolling. However, because it was half an hour to their closing time they wouldn't have my stuff finished until Monday morning. Needless to say I wasn't thrilled with how all of this was going down, but I needed these prints and there wasn't much else I could do. So Monday after a hectic morning of well-child appointments and grocery shopping I was finally able to pick up my prints. And they are gorgeous! It's such a difference seeing your work in print than only on a computer screen. So even though obtaining them was quite the experience I'm very satisfied with how they turned out. Because my children's waking hours are spent with me catering to them I had to wait until they went to sleep to finish off the images. I spent the rest of the evening, about 7:30 until 10 cutting out the rest of the mats, fitting them in the frames, and, with the help of my wonderful husband, cutting and attaching the hanging wire. We got it all done the night before they needed to be turned in. I'm not one who likes to leave things until the last minute so this was all very stressful for me. I had given myself enough time to get everything done well before I needed but things don't always turn out how you want!
My name in The Inlander | (c)M.M.Hewitt 2015
My ever supportive family | (c)M.M.Hewitt 2015
It was wonderful walking into the venue and seeing my work up on the walls right where everyone could see them. It was also something new to see my name in a widely circulated local newsprint. I'm glad I was given this opportunity to share my work with the community. It's been a great boost in confidence, especially since I was told my work was everyone's favorite who works at the venue. So much of a boost that I actually had the energy and desire to go out and shoot last Saturday...though the editing process has been somewhat slow.
Up on the wall | (c)M.M.Hewitt 2015
Some more | (c)M.M.Hewitt 2015
And some more | (c)M.M.Hewitt 2015