Exhibit: Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology

Happy Fall, Everyone!    If you're in the Terre Haute, Indiana area, you need to stop by and see this show hanging at the Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology from now until December 20.   The show is hanging in the main halls of Moench Hall 1st and 2nd floors. 

I am so pleased to have my work hanging with the work of these other artists.  They are intelligent, articulate and inspiring.   Well worth the trip!

Last week, we attended the artist reception at the show and it was a delight to meet the other artists and many of the faculty and students who came through.  I am pleased to have three new collectors from this show.

One of the most wonderful things about Rose-Hulman is the evident appreciation for art.  They have a spectacular art collection, including one of my favorite watercolorists - D. Omer Seaman - and the halls are always hung with interesting and varied works of art.

Seating is arranged all along the halls and students gather to chat and study during the day, where they have a beautiful view of the current art show.

My work is hanging in the 2nd floor atrium and the light shows the colors to best advantage.  If you get a chance to go, please let me know what you think of the show.  I'd love to hear.

D. Omer 'Salty' Seamon

This week I went to Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology in Terre Haute, Indiana to deliver 22 paintings for an upcoming show there.   [So exciting!].

I knew that Rose-Hulman had been the recipient of the D. Omer Seamon art legacy and that they had dozens of original works by him, but imagine my utter delight when I realized that the room we went to to sign the paperwork was full of these beautiful works - and that I'd get a bit of time to see them up close. 

In the pic above, Christy Brinkman, curator of the Rose-Hulman art collection, is holding one of Salty's rural landscapes.  It's a painting of a small rural cemetery.   I love these places and am thrilled to see them painted in such a warm and peaceful way. 

This is a large painting of some western Indiana barns - some of my own favorite subjects.  I love his treatment of the sky and foreground grass.

One corner of the room is covered with his smaller works hanging on the wall.  Treasures, every single one.  

This tiny painting was about the size of a business card, if that.  Rumor has it that he said the small ones were painted with 'a drop of watercolor'.   

I have a lot to learn from Salty Seamon and fervently hope that I get a chance to spend more time with these beautiful works this year.  

Coping Strategies

Let's talk for a minute about self-loathing. 

You got uncomfortable just reading that didn't you.   Me, too.  It's just not polite to loathe. And to admit you do it, even aimed at yourself, is pretty unpleasant. 

Self loathing is good at camouflage.   It disguises itself as perfectionism, frustration, anger, depression, tough love, despair and narcissism. [Some of these incarnations are more socially acceptable than others.] At its heart is the fear that you just don't measure up.  So you need to try harder.  HARDER!   But you'll probably never measure up, so what's the point of even trying?   And if you have enough gumption to fight back at these ridiculous expectations, then you might find yourself pretty angry at the person treating you this way....which is yourself, so that can get ugly.

It sucks.

After a particularly unfortunate weekend a while back, I found myself mired in despair, convinced I was a bad person doomed forever to live a life of failure. 

It sounded plausible in my head.

It does not sound plausible in real life to other humans.  I know because I asked them.  And they gave me this fabulous list of coping mechanisms:

• Go for a walk.
• Call a friend or connect with someone somehow.
• Listen to music.
• Eat chocolate.  [This one came up a lot.]
• Accept that it's been a bad weekend, but that it's going to be OK.
• Do the serenity prayer.
• Remind yourself that it isn't going to last forever.  'This, too, shall pass'.
• Eat well.
• Sleep well or take a nap.
• Let that one go and start tomorrow with a smile.
• Fake it till you make it.
• Make a mosaic project where you need to break dishes to relieve the stress.
• Confront your fears head on and see what is temporary, what is insurmountable, where you can change course.
• Breathe.
• Remember why you started this path in the first place.
• Do something small that has been nagging at you.  Do it well and celebrate the accomplishment.  That moves a task from the Annoying column to the Accomplished column.
• Those single serving pints of Haagen Daz that fit so nicely in one's left hand with a single spoon in one's right.
• Light a candle.
• Do a short meditation.
• Pull out your affirmations and spend some quality time with that list.

What do you do to cope when you are being unrealistically hard on yourself?

p.s.  Most of the things on this list came from members of the fb group, The Well Balanced Artist.  If you're a creative of any kind looking for this kind of support, head on over and join.  We'd love to have you.