Again a long time

In the last year or so I have continued to sculpt using stone as a media. I have been selling and displaying these sculptures at my garden shop and home ,Alden farms. It has been a very good experience and I believe ,well received. I have also had a few gallery shows both in yellow springs Penn. and Potomac Md. These shows were a great learning experience and extremely good for my ego.

Today started the same as most, wake up get coffee and get everyone moving, clean kitchen area and dishwasher, make sure everyone really is moving and then put coat and boots on and make another coffee. I call the dogs and we walk past the greenhouses and the shop into the studio and turn on the heat. the ritual doesn't stop there i pick up a little and look at stones in hope that they somehow scream something at me, then its back to the house to get everyone out and to school. I spend the time on the way back from dropping them trying to convince myself that if i just start banging something will come to me and hoping that i will get back down there. Back into the house straighten up a little and call the dogs again here we go , grab the i-pod. these are a few pictures of the are of my studio that I'm able to close up and heat and the rock that will be the next sculpture i hope. greenhouse and yard looking bare till spring

it appears to have been along time since i wrote here, and it appears it was the last time it was cold and i was having difficulty coming up with ideas. It is hard to have the desire to be inspired and not get there. When the ideas are flowing there is no stopping them it seems and you seldom question weather they are right, good or important. Maybe when you produce a lot of work you get a lot of feedback which boosts your energy. Well that's not the case at point . It's winter and cold and the garden shop is closed, the greenhouses empty, my studio although poorly done is closed and semi heated but cold and lonely. Rock and stone is stacked and ready although buried in snow or frozen to earth. New tools and equipment are waiting having been purchased in a need of inspiration and a new book called "art and fear" has been read.

David Therriault - Washington, DC | Facebook

David Therriault - Washington, DC Facebook

Artist's Statement
I do not collect stones from nature for those stones have avoided man’s improvements for centuries. We would do well to just visit those stones and see them for what they are: the soul of the earth, something that our manipulations cannot improve. Let them whisper; it’s what they do.I find stones that have been stolen, asked to change, ripped, chopped, moved, and piled for consumption. I try to tell their stories which always end the same way: the sand turned to glass, the iron to liquid. All return to the rock they began with and all form the silent whisper of a soul unchangeable.That said, really I just like to bang on rocks and it gives people something to say that I do for a living.
David Therriault

moving forwards

I attended a lecture that focused on how an artist would get their work shown by galleries. It was held at Montgomery College in Silver Spring and had some great panelist with some great ideas. I was happy I attended, but there was no magic bullet to be found. The bottom line seemed to be not to haul your stuff to galleries unannounced. They don't like that, it seems, and rejection can be so hard, say after the first 100. But to get yourself out there. Take time off from your work to do your work. So OK, now that we are going to stop working and work on promoting it, what do we do? Their suggestions were first to work on your portfolio, pictures, bio, artist statement, etc. These are the packages that you will send out to galleries or juried shows. OK, this is doable, become a photographer and an effective writer and make a package that appears to show how great you are. Their second suggestion was to network--take classes, go to lectures, go to gallery openings, etc., meet people, get your name out there, and then when you meet the right person at the right time, get them to promote you. Now I'm tired and feel like I've chosen some other career path. This could be a full time job and one that is outside my comfort area. If your successful at this (could take a while), then you could become part of the "art scene." You will know people, be invited to openings and shows, and hopefully be picked up by a gallery that would promote show and sell your art. The problem is they get 40% and they get to be more connected to the people who appreciate your art then you do. So how do you have your cake and eat it too? How do you control your art, promote it and show it and sell it and create enough interest that people find you. OK, this is when I show you why I would make the big bucks if I had a job.

Answer: Promote yourself and your art directly to the public. We spend the same energy on that as we would on getting a gallery and we should be good. What if we were part of a larger group of artists who all promoted themselves, would they get noticed, would the word get out?What if they got together for art shows and sales. Would that get noticed? I'm thinking, yes. I'd like to have an art show and I would like to form a network of artists to promote it. E-mail me! I'm in my studio working.

take time from work to do your work

I find it interesting that it took an injury to get me out of the studio long enough to write a small blog. I've owned and operated a retail garden shop/studio for 20 years. It is and I have been successful with it in many ways. It is my passion, it is my life and besides my family, which it has given me time to be with, it is my comfort zone.

So what's the problem? I think it's human nature and I know it's David's nature to need constant approval and I have found that this is my driving force.

When I can see a customer taken in by the feel of this store, or my sculpture, when I see them leave the real world and just relax even for a sec, I get the reassurance that what I am making whether it's a sculpture or a store is reaching out and affecting the world in a good way.

I have found that I can immerse myself in this creation; that I can exist and be happy. I can feel what I'm doing is right, but unless I leave this comfort zone and somehow get my ideas and creation out there, I may never reach enough people to say I made a difference.

This blog is my attempt to leave my comfort zone long enough to reach out to others for the mutual need of approval in what they do by others and to get more people to attend "Dave's world."