Exciting Juror for the ACGA Clay and Glass National Juried Competition

The juror for the upcoming ACGA Clay & Glass National is independent curator, historian and author Jo Lauria. Ms. Lauria is the recent author of Craft in America: Celebrating Two Centuries of Artists and Objects. This book accompanies Craft in America, the PBS television series, as well as the traveling exhibition of the same name, which is also curated by Ms. Lauria. She is the author of Color and Fire: Defining Moments in Studio Ceramics, 1950 – 2000; and is a former curator of decorative arts with the Los Angeles County Museum of Art.

ACGA is excited to have Ms. Lauria as the juror of our first national competition. Her knowledge and expertise should combine to create a stimulating survey of current American glass and ceramics. This is an excellent opportunity for artists to have their work seen by a nationally known curator, so now is the time to think about the type of work you would like to submit. Go to www.acga.net and scroll to the right side of the homepage for the prospectus, and remember, entries are due October 30th.

Letter from the President

Hello all ACGA members,

Spring is always a busy time of year for me and for any artist gearing up for summer shows and the Palo Alto Clay and Glass Festival. In the best case scenario, us artist types are inspired by the upcoming shows and are working hard creating our best work. But being an artist is an extremely challenging job, and finding inspiration can often be the most difficult aspect of our work.

I realized a long time ago that I am at my very happiest when my work is going well, and I'm at my lowest when my work is not going well, which usually translates into a lack of inspiration. Earlier this year I went through a few months of absolutely hating my work, and resisting the work that needs to be done on my production pieces, which pay the bills. While I was wallowing in my dark little place, I kept returning again and again to thoughts about what it means to be inspired, how you get inspired, and why inspiration is so elusive. I believe that one simply cannot be inspired to create all the time. In fact, it is essential to go through unproductive periods so your creative "well" can be replenished and you can fight your way back to that happy, inspired, productive place.

Still, knowing all of these things doesn't make the dry, uninspired periods any easier to suffer through. And there is no cure, other than to just get through it. Finally, after weeks of dragging around, I lit on an idea that made me excited to get into the studio, and I've been happily cooking along since. Here are a couple of things I came away with from this experience:

• It's okay and normal to be uninspired at times, and being angry at yourself about it is a waste of energy.
• Taking time away from the studio when things are not going well in there is a good thing.
• Complaining to yourself and others about how uninspired you are is not helpful; doing something completely different with your creative energy is. (I took an 8-week writing class and a paper cutting workshop.)

I would love to hear from some of you how you deal with your own uninspired times and how you regained your creative flow. You can post your thoughts about this letter on the ACGA blog and share some of your ideas with other ACGA members. There's no sense in suffering if you can't gain a bit of wisdom from it and pass it along to others!

Letter from the President

Hello ACGA members,

Don't let the weather fool you, summer is on its way, and with it the Palo Alto Clay and Glass Festival! It's not too early to start making plans to make this a successful show for yourself. Now is the time to start thinking about the exciting new work you would like to make, any changes you need to make to your booth set-up to make it more enticing and inviting, ordering business and post cards promoting your work, and planning your marketing campaign. And by marketing campaign, I mean sending out your postcards and emails to your customers and fans.

I've been known to send out postcards just a week ahead of time, which is probably not very effective in giving my customers time to clear the date and make a plan to go to the Palo Alto Festival. I've learned that planning is the best way to get myself to do things in a timely way, and yes, I learned that all by myself. Nowadays, I mark the dates on the calendar when the postcards and the email needs to go out. I add to my calendar any other thing that I need to do to prepare for Palo Alto, like repainting my display shelves, making special signage, ordering extra bags and tissue, and making sure my drape and curtains are not covered with spots and stains from whatever last event I dragged them to.

Next to making your best work, a beautiful booth design is probably one of the most effective ways to bring in new customers. A great booth with well-displayed work takes time and effort to create. If you aren't 100% comfortable with the way your booth is functioning, spend some time using your creativity to solve some of the issues, and don't be satisfied with the same old same old. Think about what you like to see in a booth, what draws you in, and apply some of that magic to your own space. The creativity that you apply to your clay or your glass can definitely be utilized in a 10' x 10' space. It's your space, you paid for it... make the most of it!

Whitney

Letter from the President

Blogging, and Facebook and Twitter... oh my! This trifecta of social media has become ubiquitous in our culture over the past 18 months, and ACGA has joined in this networking revolution with our own Facebook Fan Page, a Twitter feed, as well as a regularly updated blog. While it may seem like a lot all of the sudden, it's actually just a first small step in making the ACGA a more easily accessible resource for our members.

So what can blogging and Facebook and Twitter (oh my!) do for you? While all three portals are going to be sources of new information for our members, the ACGA Blog is a great place where you can comment on posted topics and have your voice heard. There is also regularly updated bits of new information on shows opportunities, short member profiles, and of course, the letter from the President every month. The Facebook Fan Page is a great place for our members to post bits of their own news and useful links related to clay or glass. And our Twitter postings will have a lot of overlap from what you can already find on the blog and Facebook, so it's more useful for what you can find from the people we follow, such as the Archie Bray Foundation and Craft Magazine who are posting their own "tweets" and links.

So please, take some time to get familiar with the ACGA social media presence. Your participation and feedback is vital, so let your voice be heard... people are listening!

Whitney

SoCal Report - La Quinta Arts Festival

Here are some photos of ACGA members at the 2010 La Quinta Arts Festival in La Quinta, CA. They supplement the April SoCal Report in the ACGA newsletter. For more information about the festival, or for a link to the application, go to www.lqaf.com.

Chris Bing and Jan Wax have been exhibiting at the La Quinta Arts Festival for 15 years. They find the crowd to have traditional taste in artwork, which is not necessarily what you would expect in a desert community. Many people in the area come to La Quinta from Canada for the winter.

Cheryl Costantini and Mikio Matsumoto of Nichibe Pottery were first time exhibitors. They took a double booth and were very impressed with the quality of work at the show.

This is the third time at the LQAF for Michael Hermann and Gina Lunn. Their Venetian cane technique glass really sparkled in the desert sun. They believe that the high quality of artwork at the LQAF makes it the best show in southern California. But it can also create a little competition for sales.

Michael Adcock and wife Christine have shown at the LQAF many times and feel that it is always an honor to be selected.

ACGA Clay and Glass National Juried Competition - 2011

The prospectus for the ACGA Clay and Glass National Juried Competition is now posted at www.acga.net On the homepage scroll to the right to find the link under the red announcement image of a glass blower and a potter. This competition is open to all US artists over the age of 18, with submissions being due the end of October.

The 6000 square foot City of Brea Art Gallery is the site of the exhibition. This beautiful, light filled gallery can accomodate approimately 100 artworks. Brea is located in Orange County, California, very near to Los Angeles. The show will open January 22, 2011 and will run through March 4th. All handmade clay and glass entries are welcome: sculptural, functional or decorative. Artists may enter up to three pieces.

Letter from the President

Hello all ACGA members,

A little over a month ago, the Board hammered out the new 2010 ACGA budget for 2010. You’ll be happy to know that the ACGA budget is balanced and in good health. I am continually amazed that the ACGA keeps such a solid footing when it comes to our finances, and grateful to the members who make sure it stays that way. The ACGA Treasurer, April Zilber deserves much recognition for her hard work.. She certainly goes above and beyond the call of duty in making sure our money flows in the proper direction, and always has her finger on the pulse of our bank accounts. Thank you April!

This year we allocated more money to our website budget to continue to make improvements and keep it updated and fresh. Our website, now more than ever, is the “face” of ACGA and often the first stop for people who are interested in our organization. As ACGA members, you are entitled to a page on our site, which also can link to your other web pages. My own recent perusal through our ACGA website shows me that there are many members who have not yet set up their page, and other members who have set it up, but have not updated it in over a year! May I say, with head hanging low, that I am guilty of not keeping my own page updated.

All of us have busy lives, and may already have multiple portals on the web to keep track of. For myself, the ACGA site has been an afterthought, and I have not made it a priority to keep it current. But when I look at all the ACGA members have invested to get this website up and running, and keep it running, I realize it’s time to make my member page part of my regular online routine. If you have not set up your member page yet, make it a priority to do it this week. Email Candise Flippin for a username and password, and spend 30 minutes putting up your best images, an artist statement, and all of your contact information. I’m doing it, and I challenge you to do it too!