24 April 2012

art of the month club

whew!  this month has been packed with arts stuff.  i've finished up the spring session, put on a performance showcase, set up a gallery exhibition, held auditions for emergence project, and almost have the summer session stuff ready to get out there.  that doesn't even include any of the things i've supposedly been working on for myself.

my script frenzy maiden voyage has stalled at about thirty pages so far.  as satia told me, the fact that i've even committed to an attempt makes me good for it.  yeah, that's right... i'm a weiner!  if only i can churn out the other seventy percent in the next week, then i'll be totally golden.  on the other hand, i have made some effort to start entering into short play contests.  if i can get produced, how many pages does that count for?

so, i'm also the project director on ep for the third year running.  i can't honestly see how i'm gonna get burnt out on this anytime soon, because each year the kids who are involved keep me so excited about the project.  are they neurotic and making some creative mistakes?  that's what is called a new director in my book.  the writers are being great about lending moral support, and my bevy of emails to the whole crew (which should really count as another ten pages or so for me!) is keeping us all with it on the details, including me.  it's really an ideal production for me - i get to help train a new set of peeps, i have staff support, and it's awesomely fun to see how they envision the plays.

speaking of art, i've had the good fortune this year to hook up with some amazing talent on the visual side of things.  all you need is one right person to point you in the right direction and it's suddenly raining cool-ass people.  summer session is gonna rock, and i feel like i'm starting to get an idea of what the hell my function is in this... kind of... sometimes.  that means i'm doing well, doesn't it, if things can stay flexible and yet still evolve while being fairly organized?  wait, is my program like jell-o?  i like jell-o.

and another thing, i'm realizing once again just how separate that different types of art seem to be if you don't make an effort.  i mean, i'm not the best visual artist in the world, but i take a decent whack at it.  i've been performing and directing for a while, and now i'm seeing what i can do as a singer.  if i weren't willing to make an ass of myself on a regular basis, i would've missed out on a lot.  as my favorite saying from ken robinson goes, "if you're not prepared to be wrong, you'll never come up with anything original."  it's not that i'm not just as self-conscious as the next dufus; i'm just willing to live with a little more humiliation than most people in the name of expression.

if i can wrangle all my wild art sticks in the flame, maybe i'll try some more new stuff over the summer.  hey, i've never done any sculpting before!  if it makes a mess, i can totally do it.

this week's big shout out:  happy birthday, my zillion april peeps!

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