A few weeks before my first
exhibition, I had a meeting where all of the
students and teachers talked about the International Festival. When the meeting
finished I was responsible for two different tasks; first, cooking 3 cakes and
150 “brigadeiros”, and second, bringing some Brazilian stuff and a kind of
banner with images of Brazil. I felt like I was in kindergarten, and it is the
fun part to study a new language for me. Anyway I was worried because I thought
what Brazilian stuff can I bring”? This was the moment that I realized and
remembered my bird paintings. Because all of the birds that I have painted so
far are the birds of my hometown, these are very common birds. So, I realized that
this could be what I would show first for my first exhibition and I began the
process, cautious as a baby.
Cheaper Frames
I
called my friend Rowan, who is a great artist, and I asked her if she had some advice about how to find some
cheap frames. She told me some stores, and then I decided to go to Goodwill
with all my paintings. I tried all the old and used frames there. After going
to two Goodwill stores, I finally had my bird paintings framed. I just needed to
make some little adjustments with the paintings sizes and everything was good. However,
I still needed to try to show two more pieces that were very interesting, which
I called “My No Sense”. However, I had already gone to the other 2 Goodwills that
were the only ones that were close enough for me to go to. The others were too
far. So I went to the store “Michaels” which was my last chance. There I found
2 frames that were perfect for two “My No Sense” paintings. However, these
frames cost $80. So my aunt, who is always helping me with these things, said
to me that she had a discount coupon for 50% off any product. She got it on the
Michaels Store app, so I downloaded another coupon, and then I could afford these
frames.
After a full weekend cooking with my
aunt we finished making the four cakes, and 250 “brigadeiros”. I finally got
back to my apartment at 10 p.m. on Sunday night. The event was on Monday. So I
began with the little two frames. I had problems with these two because the
clips, that hold the bottom of the painting, were too complicated. So, when you
are looking for frames, I advise you to check out the kind of clips in the back
of the frame because many different kinds exist. Another point that is very
important is to always take care if any kind of dirty is on the part intern of
the glass, because I needed to reopen 2 times my paintings, because when I hang
its in the wall I found I hair between my panting and the glass. Make the
process with calm and slowly. Also try and enjoy this process; put on some good
music and prepare a table with the necessary materials and work. After 5 hours
spent cleaning and framing another 2 paintings with big breaks which I spent
talking and listening to my friend Hitham, who plays the Oud, it was already 12
p.m. and I began to work on the little flyer. I put some stuff about the Amazon
and one section just for photos of amazon birds, which I had painted. It is very important that you have some
material that tells people about what your work is. This Auxiliary material
will make you a little more confident and help a lot when you get nervous
explaining one panting. You don’t need anything complex and amazing. You just
need something simple because the protagonists of the show are your paintings.
The Exhibition Day.
Four cakes, two hundred and fifty “brigadeiros”, 6 paintings and a ride
to the event made me realize that you need to take care when planning the main
steps of this process, and the transportation of the paintings is one for sure.
So after some calls some good Saudis friends named Hitham, Mujahed and Rayan
came over and helped me to carry all my stuff to the event. When I got there, I
was a little bit nervous, but everything was different that I had imagined. However,
that doesn’t mean that it wasn’t perfect. The festival lasted almost 4 hours. I
just stood behind my paintings to explain them for the first 20 minutes. I
discovered that people who are very close to me didn’t know that I’m an artist.
It’s a good way to have notion if you are doing something to be known, and I
was doing nothing. Great friends and teachers didn’t about my artistic skills. Also,
I realized that I needed to begin working on making copies of my work, to sell
at a less expensive price. Because some people don’t have sensibilities for
arts, and them won’t pay what you want in your “kids”. So finding a way to make
your work more accessible is very important to attract a different public, and
make your projects succeed. After they served food from all parts of the world,
and when everybody were full the funny performances began and we had a lot fun
talking, dancing and singing together. Nobody different came to the party like
I had imagined, there were no teachers of arts or artists students, but it
didn’t make me sad, I was still happy with my first exhibition, and I remember
that sometimes I stopped in the festival and looked at my presentable paintings
and I felt proud of myself. When we spend a lot of energy and time doing
something, the result could not be the best, but you will feel a good sensation
that your mission is complete. Show your work, try think of your paintings like
a family, and when you make one try to make some friends. I think this is a
good strategy for pushing yourself to make some presentations with these
pieces. Most importantly, remember that is isn’t everything to just do what you
want, but enjoying that way that you did it is important too.
Written by: Italo De Déa
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