by TASI Executive Director, Greg Busceme, Sr.
The Alternative Show is specifically directed to the novice, outsider, and beginning artists along with the myriad of creatives, young and old, skilled and not-so-much, who grace our walls with art. Not only is it a positive experience for everyone, but it’s also a chance to exhibit in a collective of works by people who share the love of art in all its joys and aberrations. As an exhibitor, here or anywhere, you have joined an amazing community of like-minded people who are erratically different.
Entering shows is a trying process. Filling out forms, measuring the work, giving it a title, applying a price! What year did you make it? Did you show it before? Where? Your work should have the details of its provenance (where and when it showed) along with your name, address, phone, title, and date when the work was made. These are the mechanics of the art process, and it is standard procedure to get in a show or gallery. Your biography, resume, artist statement, and portfolio should all be accurate and up to date.
As an early or mid-career artist you should be producing work on a regular basis and exhibiting at every chance you get. Each creation you make should be a more advanced version of the previous work. If you paint in only one spot you will never cover the canvas. In other words, keep moving forward! Realize that your arc of learning is a trajectory for the rest of your life.
An instructor told me ‘Art is not fun, it’s enjoyable’. Be your best critic and find your faults before someone else does. If you are young, don’t settle with your work being close enough. Always drive toward improvement. You have a lot to learn and a lifetime to learn it. Enjoy your journey, it will show in your work, and we will see it too.
