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<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=4>Friends, I hope you don't mind that I am
sending you another note today. I was speaking with Ann and she thought you
would benefit or appreciate something I had sent to her. So here it
is:</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=4></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=4>QUOTE:</FONT></DIV>
<DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=4>Good Morning, Ann,</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=4>OH, you are so sharp! You KNOW how hard it is to
put together a show and carry it through all the stages from the initial
inquiries with galleries to the final show opening. Ann, I sent out 102 packets
with our information, outline of the show, CD photos of our work - to get TWO
exhibitions. I spent the entire month of October on the phone making contacts
and pitching the show - and helping the other artist with her writing skills and
other details - I was nearly overwhelmed by the beginning of November with the
work I had been putting into this show - I started working on trying to get it
seen in galleries and sending out materials in AUGUST. So, it has been 8 months
since I began trying to get this show to where it is today in the gallery.
</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=4></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=4>This is something a rookie cannot even imagine,
isn't it! It is the reality of what we have to do as artists. We have to
tread back and forth between two worlds and be able to do it simultaneously and
without missing a beat. The two worlds of the studio and art making; the
world of marketing and promotion that puts our studio work before the public. It
is a difficult and hard path, this journey that we take when we are dedicated to
our art and know it is our purpose in life.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=4></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=4>I hope it could be valuable for others who are on
this list and are trying to make art and get it OUT like we have to do as
creative people. The good news is that we are not alone! </FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=4></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=4>Ann, the best part of this opening is that I was
asked to speak to the gathering there about 2 of my works. (we both were to do
this, but the other artist just did not follow the plan and she just rambled on
about her trials with sight loss, a real pity-me kind of rambling, even though
her own losses are very minimal). I chose to follow our plan for the
talk, and selected two works and was very clear about how they were conceived
and created and spoke of the way we can lead a normal life after sight losses.
But, the best part of what I spoke about was a focus on the work of a couple
other artists I have met through NFB - I spoke of Jeannie Nylander's sculpture
(she has had both eyes removed), and Karen Bailey's ceramic sculptures (blind
since birth.) I spoke of the importance of being connected with other
blind people and of the philosophy of NFB that inspired me to be whole
again. The audience loved it, laughed at some stories I told, and they
were just absolutely with it as I spoke of the triumphs of blind people. I began
my talk by whipping down my mobility cane, stood proud and BOLD behind it
and told them it is "MY badge of honor" and that it leads me on journeys and
that an artist is a person who is forever on new journeys. Ann, it was so
exciting to be able to put a very positive light on sight loss with absolutely
no regrets or self pity or "why me" attitude.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=4>Without NFB and my connections to people like YOU
and others I have met through the Writer's Division and the Krafters-korner
Division, I would not be the person I am today.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=4></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=4>I am taking the week OFF to relax and just BE for
awhile - I have worked every day for two years to do the work in this show - and
now, I have earned a little vacation from my work before I begin again to work
for the next shows that will be coming up somewhere in the future.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=4></FONT> </DIV></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=4>Lynda McKinney Lambert, MFA<BR>Artist, Educator,
Author<BR>104 River Road, Ellwood City, PA 16117<BR><A
href="http://www.lyndalambert.com">http://www.lyndalambert.com</A></FONT></DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=4>"Human beings are creatures who conceal an interior
of uncharted chaos which lies beneath the surface reality"James Baldwin, The
Creative Life (1962)</FONT></DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
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