Slated & Showing

It’s been a long month. I have refocused my efforts on products and services. Which means that I have been making a lot of drawings and small installations to share content. My happy place is in the making. I love the process, the repetition of creating the same thing over and over, hundreds of times. Building the structure that will support these small delicate pieces. The pieces that intrigue you to ask the questions, “What is this made of?” “How did she do it?”. Managing the project, budget, and timeline. Finding the most time effective way of constructing each and every element that I have tucked away in my mind. I have been looking at a wide range of color stories, and inspiration. I have been in my art cave pencil to paper writing out what to do next.

Let’s recap August, my month of regrouping, and making progress. I have had several great meetings within the Miami community. Each person I met has showed sincere desire for my work, or has at least been interested in the things I do. No one has made any promises and I appreciate that. I have put myself out into the world, and I will continue to do that. It feels good even if it means I’ve just made a friend, a connection with another person.

At the beginning of the month my post was directed towards my business plan. My 90 days is up and I have learned a lot of about what is working and what isn’t. I believe both sides are important so I can continue to grow Alchemist. Here are a few examples what I know are working. First I know that my series of 30 degree sculptures are working. I have had such a profound response on social media and with curators. The piece titled “My Father’s Shirts” which has been permanently installed was selected for the Bombay Sapphire Artisan Series in collaboration with artsy.net.  I am a regional semi-finalist and will be showing in October at N’namdi Contemporary Gallery in Wynwood. I have also been selected to show at the Englewood Art Center in February of 2018 from a proposal focused on my 30 degree geometric sculptural installation and the possibility of projection mapping. Another positive is that I will be showcasing two large scale pieces at the next Support Local mixer on September 21. I have been invited to share a sculptural installation that will engage the community and foster an experience at the Micro Theater. I’m very excited about this. It is not common for me to produce work for an outdoor setting. I have been given an opportunity to expand the material palette and really think about the elements involved. This is a good thing. These are three major highlights. 

As far as things that haven’t been working as well have been the Magic Flora Workshop at Wynwood Shop. I have been planning and marketing for the last month. Unfortunately, there has not been a lot of interest in this particular event. I lowered the ticket price earlier this week in hopes that more people would sign up to participate. The entire event is planned around bringing community together, and creating coffee filter flowers and foliage, raw material to final object, and showing them all in mass to create an installation. I have been so excited to share process, dye handling, and how to transform everyday materials with the community. This is something new I am trying and it may not work. That’s okay though, not everything works out the way you want it to. 

On Monday I had the pleasure of doing a radio interview with Bree Gordon of Connections by Aria. Our conversation was very stimulating and really warmed my heart. Her excitement was intoxicating as we discussed Alchemist Productions, why I’m a sculptor, and the materials I choose to work with. If you haven't had a chance to listen or watch please do. It may create some extra insight on how I can help your business, inspire your clients/audience, and how you can support the business of art. 

Wrapping up the end of August and working my way into September I am taking these ideas and running towards my goals. I am running towards the community leaders, towards each person that wants to experience what I have to offer, and towards the things that work. I am going to complete a small installation of paper flowers and foliage, start making parallelograms, and my large scale columns for the Support Local event. I am going to keep showing up. Here’s to the next 90 day business plan!

30-60-90

My life as an full time entrepreneur has been built on a 30-60-90 day business plan. We have just past the official 60 day mark since leaving my corporate job. With that being said, it’s also time to pivot, just slightly. I have a few small things slated that will be announced in the next 30 days. I’m looking forward to the opportunities that I am being given here in Miami. It is so different, in a good way. I felt confident with the decision to move here, and work on Alchemist. Now I’m really understanding the ideology of autonomy and collaboration in my daily life.

Autonomy means “independence or freedom, as of the will or one’s actions.” The condition of being autonomous allows a rational individual to make an informed and un-coerced decision. Work culture contains different eco-systems. Each company works differently to explore innovation, creativity, and final product. These categories function to encourage and cultivate talent, collaboration and autonomy working together to achieve that harmony. At Alchemist I use these ideas to develop projects, balance my schedule, and explore opportunities.

The first 30 days I did analytic studies, strategy research, and business plan development. I focused with the mantra “Make and Market”, which served me well. The magic was in the plan and execution of ideas, making phone calls, writing emails, and reaching out through social media. I also moved across the state which delayed certain things I wanted to do. I lost my business planner, with the concise outline of what needed to be done. It was a very interesting month. But I made things happened, I showed up and rolled with the punches.

Over the last 30 days my focus has been on relationships, community collaboration opportunities, making small objects, and designing large scale installations. I have worked with Alex of Luma Visual to explore the beauty of technology projected onto the handmade. I have met with Prism Creative Group to explore community opportunities and developing relationships with the greater Miami market. I have been listed on the Support Local FL directory. I submitted a few small art pieces to exhibitions pending acceptation. Through these decisions on how to spend my time, I’ve been making progress towards goals for Alchemist Productions and my personal art practice. That’s probably the biggest challenge, the integration of designing a company with value and purpose while maintaining my personal practice as an artist. 

Progress is important, and so are results. Progress can be invaluable to a business plan, and heed results of goals. My business plan has been mostly outreach to the community, and the progress has been amazing. Although I want larger projects, understanding the cultural insights and desires will influence and inform my next move. Assimilating with my new community is key to creating brand statements and strategy that will deeply connect to the culture. I am looking forward to the next 30 days, the pivot, and restructure of my brands business plan to deliver an everlasting experience for my clients, and the community.

Launching: APxLV

I’m back! The last 3 weeks have been so full! Somewhere between working on this company full time, moving my entire life, and completing a small installation for collaboration with Alex of Luma Visual from Orlando, FL; Jared and I have managed to get our new home in somewhat order. We are adjusting to life in Miami and although this is one of the most important things we’ve done for and in our life thus far life doesn’t stop for us. 

The official move on July 3rd went as well as I could have expected. We had so much help from loving friends and family. We successfully moved my workshop, Jared’s production studio and all of our personal belongings over 100 miles across the state. This is the second time I’ve moved cities in 3 years and before that I was fairly stationary for 10. I am adjusting to my new space much more quickly than I had expected, which is a total blessing. That leads me to tell you all about the collaboration with Alex, a computer graphic artist and video projection mapper. 

Alex and I met in June. Jared introduced us after having a conversation with him. Jared knew right away what each of us do as artist could make magic combined. We hit it off immediately and I asked him within the first 45 minutes of talking if he would be interested in collaborating and/or going into business together. From the initial conversation we began having weekly phone calls, and shared google docs of ideas. Exchanging information from a distance. I did not completely understand his craft but I knew introducing innovative technology to my handmade sculptures would surly be interesting. Alchemist Productions x Luma Visual was born. Alex really loves the way I build forms, and currently use velvet. These are two major themes he suggested for our project. I started building hexagons and stacking them, his response was positive, so I continued making 60 of them to produce 3 columns. 

As our conversation continued he suggested a ribbon form, I knew it needed to be velvet. I mentally processed my plan of action for construction, making drawings and completed the 8” hexagons structures. Then I had to stop working and start packing. I was so excited about this project that it was extremely difficult to press the pause button, but necessary as the moving timeframe crept up on me. Then he tells me there is an annual event by Creative City Projects in Orlando called “IMMERSE”, he forwarded me the website and artist application. We are a great fit for this particular project and plot twist! The application is due July 16…TODAY, like right now. Life is funny like that. We immediately scheduled for the installation to be ready for projection this past Friday, time to hustle! 

I spent the better part of 3 days last week, painting the hexagons, texturizing and painting the backdrop, and building the ribbon form. All while having our first house guest, managing the rest of my life, and no internet. This is my happy place, this is where the magic happens. The installation was staged by the time Alex walked through the door on Friday at 4pm. Ready for him to set up his projector and computer to layer color and movement onto my forms. Until we realized we needed more space between the physical installation and the projector. So we moved the room around and the installation to a different wall. Then we had it! The right orientation for our first collaboration. 

Alex jumped right in. I admire this. He was so excited about the details of the forms, the textures I produced, and the soft nature of the whites and creams. He began drawing the silhouettes on the computer, masking out each form individually. I watched in excitement. Like I said before I really had no idea what his process took from a skill and craft standpoint, I just knew it was going to be interesting. He worked for several hours before we needed to get some sleep and be ready to have a complete collaborative installation by Saturday night for the IMMERSE submission. We were up and working bright and early yesterday morning finishing the mapping, and playing with different projection textures, color, and motion graphics. We needed it to be dark to record video and get the full effect. We took a long and necessary break, relaxing, eating, and filling out the application proposal details. 

As soon as it was dark in the room, we began sorting through footage, and images. Pairing and placing color theory, textures, and movement onto my static forms. Art magic in every way. We recorded each combination we liked, making decisions as a team. This is a beautiful experience. I’ve collaboratively worked with people in the past but not to this level. This project has pushed the art I construct further and Alex says it has done the same for him. The experimentation and exploration of my sculptural installation with his projections have collided in a way I didn’t know was possible. We completed our submission to IMMERSE last night at 11pm. We made it happen on a tight timeframe, little budget, and a lot of hard work. I’m thrilled to share this with everyone and from this experience we have conceptualized more projects for the future. Imagine with funding, more space, and some time what we can accomplish. We are officially for hire! Check out our test/submission video here!