It amazes me how distressing life gets when your computer dissolves to a corrupted disk error. Or, should I say how "interesting"? I could not believe that daily survival without my computer could produce such anxiety. Something has changed. I've recently developed a routine (check email, send email, check websites, check email, work on current web project, etc.) that got disrupted just when things were moving smoothly. I couldn't type emails, letters, or contact anyone.
Instead of the telephone, I rely on email to an extent I hadn't quite realized. It's my link to the world these days. Without a functioning computer, I actually had several things fall behind 4-5 days. Once it was fixed, the anxiety went away. I even thought of having two computers so that if one broke I'd have another one to use. What a crazy thought.
Meanwhile, on Saturday we went to the photo show at Ft. Mason in San Francisco... one of those shows where galleries have their wares displayed in tiny well-lit booths, walls double-hung with framed photographs and crammed with portfolios on tabletops and racks. In the process of meeting up with friends there, I got into a good discussion about my drawings and getting them out to galleries *now* ... that it's a perfect time. Funny, I've never had anyone say that to me about my tapestries.
So, what is going on here? I think the word 'tapestry' draws a blank in most people's minds. Well, either they draw a blank or a musty old medieval hanging... or (here's my suspicion) an old-fashioned, crafty thing -- in other words, not a new artsy thing. I wonder what they would say if I said "I work with thread," and left it at that. Or -- this might be fun -- say "I'm a sculptor." Of course, I still might not get the "send the slides out now" response, but I'd get more than just silence. You'd think I'd have learned this lesson by now, but sometimes I'm just not thinking.
On Sunday, I went to a friend's birthday party and was introduced to another person as "...this is Christine, she weaves big tapestries." I didn't know how to carry that thought along from that intro... should I have elaborated on "big" or on "tapestries" or have countered it and said "I love the sculptural possibilities of tapestry." In any case, at the time I had no effective take-up and the conversation turned in other directions. All that this reveals, to tell the truth, is how much out of practice I am at conversational tapestry gambits. Except that it also reveals how blank a response can be to the mention of tapestry.
We'll see if I can improve on my skills in the conversation department. My social calendar slowly gets busier as I emerge from my funk-years.
Instead of the telephone, I rely on email to an extent I hadn't quite realized. It's my link to the world these days. Without a functioning computer, I actually had several things fall behind 4-5 days. Once it was fixed, the anxiety went away. I even thought of having two computers so that if one broke I'd have another one to use. What a crazy thought.
Meanwhile, on Saturday we went to the photo show at Ft. Mason in San Francisco... one of those shows where galleries have their wares displayed in tiny well-lit booths, walls double-hung with framed photographs and crammed with portfolios on tabletops and racks. In the process of meeting up with friends there, I got into a good discussion about my drawings and getting them out to galleries *now* ... that it's a perfect time. Funny, I've never had anyone say that to me about my tapestries.
So, what is going on here? I think the word 'tapestry' draws a blank in most people's minds. Well, either they draw a blank or a musty old medieval hanging... or (here's my suspicion) an old-fashioned, crafty thing -- in other words, not a new artsy thing. I wonder what they would say if I said "I work with thread," and left it at that. Or -- this might be fun -- say "I'm a sculptor." Of course, I still might not get the "send the slides out now" response, but I'd get more than just silence. You'd think I'd have learned this lesson by now, but sometimes I'm just not thinking.
On Sunday, I went to a friend's birthday party and was introduced to another person as "...this is Christine, she weaves big tapestries." I didn't know how to carry that thought along from that intro... should I have elaborated on "big" or on "tapestries" or have countered it and said "I love the sculptural possibilities of tapestry." In any case, at the time I had no effective take-up and the conversation turned in other directions. All that this reveals, to tell the truth, is how much out of practice I am at conversational tapestry gambits. Except that it also reveals how blank a response can be to the mention of tapestry.
We'll see if I can improve on my skills in the conversation department. My social calendar slowly gets busier as I emerge from my funk-years.
