As far as photography, things seem to trundle-along smoothly. The Bright-Tank Gallery idea was both enlightening and exhausting. If anyone tries to sing-a-song of sweetness-n-light about the work a Gallery demands…..be sure they’re humming on-key! My shooter-buddy Ted and I worked our butts-off. And we had lots-n-lots of fun in the doing. We were able to engage photo-artists from a wide geography (Oregon & Washington State), representing a large swath of creativity in the photo-world. We even made sales, too!
Our Gallery was situated in a nice little side-room of a local restaurant, and the room was used by numerous civic groups during the month; service-clubs, hospital-auxiliary, school-groups, etc. So our monthly show received good exposure, for fixed periods of time. And, there were walk-ins, and drive-byes as well, of course. The part that was very stimulating for the two of us, in addition to the photo-creativity of our own material, was meeting, and then helping other artists present their work to the public. It was great fun…with food-n-brews right there in the midst of things!
After a couple years, my health began to decline, and Ted agreed to continue on his own, conscripting outside help as needed. There’s a lot of work to mounting and dismounting a show! Don’t be discouraged! It’s a creative act deciding which pieces fit-together in what-formatting. But.…it IS work…and lots of it!
After plying the skies solo for a while, Ted tied to enlist others from local photo-groups to engage, and take some responsibility and initiative. Again…remember…it’s a lot of hard work! So gradually, as the enthusiasm waned, so did the quality of the shows, and the viewership as well. Management of the restaurant that hosted us began to unravel…and our creating-fabric finally tore.
Now, we have wonderful memories of energies-devoted….new friends-found….and a couple years of experience under our belts!
Onward…Upward…toward bigger and better imaginings!