Y’all, what a night. What a week. What a journey these few months have been. I went from a strong concept for a photo series to creating the images and knowing in my heart that it didn’t work. So, I tweaked the concept, made new images, and it failed even worse.

Then I took a step back and rethought the situation again, this time only taking into account what spoke to me and not what I thought I should be doing (why haven’t I learned by now?). And, in the past 10 days, I have produced some work that I am most proud of in all my portfolio.

But then the time came to share it with my gallery. In all these months, even as the days quickly tick by to my exhibition in June, I hadn’t shown them anything. That’s some foundational trust right there. But today I decided it was time. With 7 images nearly complete and a few more on the way, I sent it.

I shared the individual images as well as composites of how they would be exhibited. I hit send on that email and held my breath, literally refreshing my email every few seconds to see if a response had come. I was so anxious, my heart beat out of my chest. The waiting is the worst part.

What if they hate it? How will I make a whole new series in a month? How will I produce something worthy of a NYC solo exhibition? Will I have to do a retrospective of my current body of work instead of showcasing something new? What if they cancel the show?

And then all of those questions fled. The email came in. She loves it. They all love it at the gallery. And with a few words, I remembered that these relationships, while fundamentally business, are also family. JoAnne, Tayler, and everyone at the JoAnne Artman Gallery support me like I am family. They have for almost 8 years.

They took a chance on me as a baby artist. Only 23 years old with extremely little experience. They not only gave me a show with them, but they chose to represent me. To bring me up as an emerging artist and showcase my work. They believed it was important. They still do.

And that gives me chills. There are days that I can’t believe I have support like that. Mornings I wake up and doubt my vision, times I think no one cares. But then nights like this come along, where I get so much support from someone who never had to take a chance on me, and I remember how incredibly supported I am.

I can’t wait for this show. I think it’s going to be beautiful. I really do.

If you want to come to the opening, here are the details:

JoAnne Artman Gallery
511 A West 22nd St.
New York, NY 10011
Showing: June 13, 2019 – August 31, 2019
Artist’s Reception: June 13th, 2019 from 6pm-8pm
RSVP: http://www.joanneartmangallery.com/exhibits/previews/begin-again/