This week’s goal was a small one, but took up a lot of head space. I’m really thankful to my accountability partner for forcing me to write up this proposal to speak at Mid West Craft Con about my work process, and send it off. Their form was pretty straight forward with just a few questions:
Who are you? – I’m a dad, illustrator and story teller from Saint Louis, Missouri.
Have you presented at any conferences or taught workshops before? Tell us about it. – I have! I’ve done classroom presentations for High School art classes in the Saint Louis area about being a working artist. I’ve peen a presenter the last four years at the Saint Louis Science Center, talking about creativity, and the creative process. I also presented as an outside partner with the Saint Louis Science Center at the 2017 American Alliance of Museums conference on being a member of their Active Creative Community.
What would you like to talk about at Midwest Craft Con? – “The Breakdown” is about breaking down dream projects into smaller, goal oriented activities and weaving them together in a schedule. Some of the smaller activities work as components of the dream project, while others are designed to develop skills that can be used toward completing the dream project. As I’ve been developing this working process, I’ve realized that I approach new ideas like I’m putting together an independent class curriculum, which makes sense, because I’ve been joking for years that my work is a lot like being in college.
We hope to include some of our speakers on panels discussing big-picture issues in the craft industry. Who else should we invite to present at Midwest Craft Con? – April Tate of Riley Construction was the head of the Saint Louis Craft Mafia for many years. She has a lot of great ideas about the state of craft, and how it fit’s into the fabric of third wave feminism and society in general.
if you’re interested in hearing more about the breakdown, I’ve started putting it together as a series of posts on my blog, http://www.redherringjeff.com
The second goal this week was getting my application in for Queen City Craft Show in Springfield, MO. Again, this was only difficult because of self-doubt, and feeling like I need to update my website first. In the end, it’s better to have the application in and not get around to updating (which I’ve started) than to not get it in at all.
Often on show applications, there’s a question that asks me to tell about myself and what I make. It’s always kind of a pain in the butt, but gives me an opportunity to check my course as it were and make sure that I know what I’m up to. Here’s where I am today:
The stories we tell about ourselves and our world are what define us as a people. My Illustration work focuses on stories from and about childhood and family, as well as fairy tales, myths and legends. I will be selling original illustrations and reproduction prints, as well as books (comics and story books), enamel pins and postcards.
I’ll be vending at the World’s Fair this weekend at Forest Park in Saint Louis. It looks like it’s going to be beautiful and I’m hoping to get some painting done. Hope you all have a great weekend, and I’ll talk again on Monday!
Take care and be good
Jeffrey