So… I haven’t been posting much on here lately because I have been preoccupied with what seems like a gazillion other things demanding my attention right now.  This past week has been swallowed up by me working on an artist portfolio.  Ever seen an artist portfolio for a quilter?  Neither have I, but since I have bills to pay and a porch that needs repair, I am trying to sell my turtle quilt.  S.ave O.ur S.eas is the name of my turtle quilt, and here is a picture of it.

This quilt is roughly 7 1/2 feet tall by 8 feet wide, so it’s a bit bigger than this picture.  I love my quilts and have a hard time parting with them, but this one is so big and I really have no place to hang it other than the basement.  The county I live in is building a new community center and in need of art by local artists.  What better place for this to hang than a community center where children from 1-100 years old will get to look at it.  Well… that or a library or museum or…

Anyhow, they are asking for a portfolio with an artist statement, artist bio, artist resume, 3 art career references (I have super references for teaching in the public schools, but nothing for quilting), a CD with 10 images of your item, etc. etc.  I had to think what I’ve accomplished as a quilter and that nasty little voice in my head tells me that I’ve accomplished nothing, that I’m a loser, and that my work sucks.  So, it’s been a rough week as I’ve tried to pull something, anything out to put down as documentation.  This is what I came up with in my portfolio.

All the information is in there, and I added a tri-fold brochure of some of my other work.  I don’t feel like I stand a ghost’s chance in heaven of getting a commission on this, but, like I said… I need the money and I have a 50% chance of them saying yes.  Gotta take the chance!  If I get nothing else out of all the time I put into it this week, I will have learned some marketing skills and now know how to put together a presentation folder.

As for what else has been going on, my quilt guild meeting is Tuesday.  Remember that “Letter Challenge” Quilt I was working on that I didn’t like the colors and didn’t think it would qualify for the challenge and then decided I would quilt our names into it?  Well… I still haven’t gotten it done, and it doesn’t look like I’m going to get it done.  I can’t seem to finish it with the colors in the house that I have there, so I need to swap that out before I can quilt it.  I’ll post pictures IF/WHEN I get that done, but I have a sneaky suspicion that it won’t be in time for Tuesday’s meeting.  I still need to finish that charity quilt I’d started.  Hopefully I will have that done by Tuesday, because our quilt show is coming up before the next meeting, and they need all the charity quilts they can get for the show.  I’ve tied up the loose ends for our last speaker (I’m the Programs co-chair for the guild) and still haven’t gotten back to the Opportunity (raffle) Quilt for 2013.  I’m hoping to finish that by mid-November so it will be ready for unveiling on December 4th.  So, my apologies for not getting back to the blob (I mean blog) lately.

Hope you had a great week!