My First Art Exhibition

         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