I'm going to tell you about my Detroit trip in bits and pieces. My stuffy head and post-nasal drip keep me from typing at an even keel, so this writer will do what she can with the amount of energy she has at the present moment to begin the story...
It was a total fluke that I got my pieces into Dirty Detroit.
Not just one photo, but two!
The news came a day after Bruce from SEAF called me. He loved my merchandise so much last year, that he "absolutely without a doubt wanted more items" for his store this year.
pleased as punch was I
Although I didn't get into SEAF 07, I wasn't too surprised or disappointed.
One less trip to Seattle
How odd that a year later, this stuff is just starting to sink in. The realization that my art is out there for people to see - and in the U.S of all places!
shunned by her fellow Canadians, erotic photographer turns her sights south of the border for exposure...
Almost a year to this day, my photo was being hung at the largest Erotic art festival in North America, and was also chosen to be showcased during auction night (and due to a administrative glitch, was supposed to receive the Jury Pick of the Auction , but didn't) - but just the mere fact that my shit was there still blows my mind.
In keeping with my title of Ms. Procrastination, I missed the Dirty Detroit deadline by a few days, but decided that I had nothing to lose with an apologetic email as to why I was late, with my bio, artistic blurb, and two pictures. Closed my eyes, clicked send and hoped for the best.
An email from the festival arrived the next day.
Oh, another 'thanks for sending your stuff but you're too late Chuck!" went through my mind, but it was in fact, an personal note from the organizer saying how much they loved my stuff and congrats! I was in the show!
Had you asked me a year ago if I ever thought I'd be hauling my ass out to Seattle last minute for a show, my response would have fallen along the lines of: "You gotta be kidding me? What's there to see in Seattle besides the Space Needle?" but there I was , 365 days later, on a plane to Washington state.
Experience has taught me to roll with the punches and hop on the planes of fate whenever they fly by, whichever direction they fly me to.
This year was motor city - Detroit
A little background to this story:
Stephanie and I had been flickr buddies for almost two years, admiring each other's work and building our own little network of "women who use photography/self-portraiture as healing". Trish was woman #3.
As with all my latest developments, I posted the news that my images (on flickr) were off to Detroit. The next day, another surprise email:
"if you could make it half-way, would a lift there and back sound like a plan to you?"
Detroit?
(and in my best Linda Richmond voice)
Bubbalah? Who knew?!
Steph was offering a ride down and split the cost of gas and Hotel. From where she lived, the trip was a mere 4 hours, and would give her the opportunity to take a much needed break from her work, the chance to see the show and the opportunity to meet Trish who's work we had come to admire.
"all passengers now boarding for Detroit - a trip/experience of a lifetime in the making..."
The next morning, I traded in my casual 9 t0 5 for panic/express mode:
#1 rush print images to lab
#2 find frames and mats
#3 cut mats and then assemble frames
#4 rush to UPS store 4 packing and shipping (I didn't have much time to prepare beforehand because I had to send it ''non rush' - 3-5 days. The $170+ for overnight service was the cost of my buss ticket!)
#5 and then make plans for trip.
My 35th birthday was a turning point for me in many ways, and one of the most important life lessons I learned was without a doubt - trusting my instincts.
You have to take a leap and know that a net will always appear
That now famous line which Samantha Jones shared with Carrie Bradshaw
Well, the results speak for themselves: Cuba, New York City expositions # 1 through 3, my runaway hit play -Sex and La Cité, Seattle, Madame X - my first solo exhibition in April in NYC.
...
...
Holy Crap! That's next month!!!!!
None of these things would have been possible had I not trusted life, and Detroit was no exception. Embracing all the possibilities of this trip, and that fate would take me on some interesting adventures, I surrendered to the universe, because most of the fun happens when you're least expecting it.
Well, this was the creme de la creme of adventures...
in a nutshell:
1) got to steph's after a grueling 8 hour buss ride (can somebody please toss me a grenade to swallow?)
2) slept well and got ready to roll early the following am
3) barreled through Windsor Ontario ( I'll take a side of broken glass with that grenade please...) and had an awkward time explaining to the border guard what we were there for
4) set up shop in some oddly angular hotel with a slanted elevator and hallucinogenic rainbow puke carpets.
Now comes the fun part...
The same day I got the news that my photos had been accepted into the show, curiosity led me to check out the list of visiting artists (the outa my league competition). Some names which looked familiar were photographers from last year's SEAF, and then completely at random, I clicked on the name James Graham , went to his site, was floored by his shit, and decided to email him on the odd chance that he'd be in Detroit for the show.
Well, he would be
Flash forward to Friday night. Arriving fashionably late to the fest, Steph and I began to scout the territory when I was stopped by a handsome gentlemen with great hair and piercing blue eyes waving an inquisitive index finger in my direction.
"I know you! Kathy, right?
(In a thick southern twang: "dear sir, you must be mistaken" , replied Scarlet O'hara ..)
But I wasn't as eloquent...
"Excuse me?"
Turns out it was James Graham - the man himself. Still frazzled from the flight, he was meeting up with some friends, and on his way to check out his latest works being featured on the noteworthy Tashchen wall of fame.
These two ladies from Canada were impressed.
Then we met Chip Willis
and were impressed again.
I can honestly speak on behalf of Steph when I say that we never thought our excursion to this art show would amount to anything more than looking at pretty pictures of naked people doing nasty things, and watching people looking at my work. But there we were - hanging out with two great guys/amazing photographers, in a warehouse full of erotica somewhere in Downtown Detroit.
Truth is indeed stranger than fiction.
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