Arts Depot, Stop Animation Clip copyright 2009

No kidding, I have been working towards the art opening this Sunday for decades. It has just taken a while to "congeal". The Arts Depot in Abingdon, VA "booked" me a year and a half ago. It was motivation to think long and hard about what it was I wanted to represent. I have included the "E-vite"(electronic invitation) and a way cool stop-animation my friends helped me with below. Enjoy.



Lesson #9 Friends are worth more than gold.

Sages and Sanctuaries II

"Sages and Sanctuaries II" is up until August 6th, 2009 at Carroll Reece Museum on the campus of East Tennessee State University. This is the second of a three part exhibition exploring contemporary art through an Appalachian lens.
The first exhibition "Sages and Sanctuaries I" was held at MECC Mountain Empire Community College in Virginia this past January. It was entirely two-dimensional works.
The second at ETSU combines two and three dimensional works, along with some farm materials like tobacco and old hand tools.
The third and largest will open Aug 13th with an artist's reception on Sunday August 23rd from 2 to 4pm. It will be a walk-through installation, combining projection, 2D, 3D, textures and smells to give context to the origins of my artistic aesthetic.
I received a grant for partial funding for a 28 page catalogue that accompanies these three exhibitions. "THESE TRUTHS the brutal tenderness of appalachia" is available on Amazon and other locations.

Derek Guthrie wrote the introduction, and Kathleen Grover and Venus Zarris each wrote enlightened essays.

Sam Mays did a beautiful job with the graphic design.

Published June 2009

ISBN #978-1-61584-019-9

Lesson #8. Don't burn bridges.

Moving Sculptures

Facebook Val Lyle: "Use the right tool (or forklift) for the job.
I love these guys! It's pouring rain.
I didn't even need to put my leather gloves on."

Public Art - Big Ropes

"Feminine Entwinement" is the first big rope piece that I had all the pieces of the puzzle figured out on. She was juried into Bristol, TN's "Art in Public Places" by Paul Ha of the Contemporary Art Museum in St. Louis. She won "The People's Choice Award" for 2008-2009. made of Tug Boat rope, she stands just over 8 feet tall. I have included pictures of her year round, and at the "Bristol Rhythm and Roots Reunion" music festival where folks enjoyed having their pictures taken alongside her. the location is great, at the Farmer's Market in City Center Park. I built her sturdy enough to take public interaction. I kind of fell into it by accident, but there is a growing need for "temporary" public outdoor sculpture as more and more cities adopt a yearly or bi-yearly juried outdoor sculpture competition to beautify their downtown areas and add art for interest and culture and dialogue. Many of the sculptors I met during this, my first outdoor competition, told me about having a number of pieces that they move around from year to year, each bringing between $1,000 to $2,000 for a one to two year "rental" honorarium. That's good money to a sculptor, and you get the piece back in a year or so. Typically the sculptor delivers the piece, and there may or may not be help when you get there, or a concrete slab to bolt down to, or power tools, or power. Typically installation day is "rain or shine", during the week.

I was so thrilled to be selected I hand-made Thank you cards (see lesson #2) for everyone I could think of involved. Each one was unique, but all loosely based on my sculpture.

This is a great opportunity and I am so honored to be a part of AiPP Bristol. It is a first-rate operation, with lots of help from city workers, hotel accommodations for out of town sculptors, a two-day event that ends with a deluxe reception after the official "sculpture walk that makes everyone feel good! I am looking forward to future participation!

Lesson #7. Start Local.

Do It Yourself Promotion

I use the timer settings on my cameras often as I am frequently working alone but needing images of the artist (me) working in the studio or on site. With everything digital now and instant playback built into most cameras, I can take dozens of shots to be able to select the best from later.
Today I sent eight digital images out to several different press people. Most of the shots I took day before yesterday. My dear husband took some of them for me when I was posing in a group shot.
Don't wait for someone else to do it.
There is no one else.
The beauty is that you can control what is said/written/seen, which is a critical thing to control!

Lesson #6. Feed the Press and The Press will Feed You.

Poster Signing at Virginia Highlands Festival

The Virginia Highlands Festival is in full swing!
Part of my honor as Signature Artist this year is to sign free posters for the pubic!
I involved myself from the beginning in every aspect I could of the presentation of my sculpture, both "in real" and on the poster. If you leave details and designs to others, the only thing you can say is Thank you.

I had tested a number of pens already, and settled on a silver metallic felt-tip as looking great on the poster background. I brought a number of the pens with me. Half an hour after the start time, the posters arrived, and I realized the next missing piece of the puzze was no rubber bands to roll up the large posters that tourists were going to carry around the festival all day. Forgot a hat for the sun, but a kind soul loaned me one.

Then we drove back home for a moment before heading out to Johnson City TN Barnes and Noble Book Store for an Author's book signing event to benefit the Carroll Reece Museum on the Campus of ETSU and the Center for Appalachian Studies. There was live music and craft demos along with kids activities, and when customers mentioned the museum at checkout a portion of the sales went to the museum. It was a whole lot more public interaction in one day than I am used to, but it was all good! My little art catalogue may be carried by Barnes and Noble Bookstore because of this benefit effort!

Lesson #5. Assume nothing.

Scale Model of the Gallery

For the large Arts Depot installation in Abingdon, VA I've decided to make a scale model of the gallery and all the artworks that will go in it. This really helps me envision the whole space. I like to use one inch = one foot. Here I am easily able to print out the actual paintings and drawings to scale to fit inside the long space, rearrange them by any method I might want, experiment painlessly all before installation day. With this method I am able to take accurate measurements from the model on location for efficient hanging time. I have several small boxes of my artwork models from over the years.

The doors open for the exhibition on August 13, closing September 26th, with a reception on Sunday August 23rd from 2-4pm, and an artist presentation and talk September 14th at 7:30 pm.

Lesson #4. Embrace Murphy's Law.