Jes Lee

Made Here launch and on to summer

The Made Here MN launch party was Wednesday night…and it was amazing!

I enjoyed meeting the other artists, catching up with a few I have known. We went on a walking tour of all the installation sites, ending with a lovely continuation of the party at the new Mayo Clinic Square. It was so much fun! I loved the chance to catch up with friends and fellow artists I have not seen in a while, meeting new, interesting people, and seeing a slice of the creative energy that exists in this city. I have said it before, but being a part of this installation project has been amazing and exciting for me!

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photo taken by Shannon Hady!

 

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Photo taken by a lovely tourist walking the bridge at the same time!

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We parked on the other side of the river, and had a lovely walk back to our cars at the end of the evening. I love the view of our city, and especially our river at night.

Escapes, the site-specific image I made for my Made Here installation is now up in my Etsy shop in print form.

This was one of the last big events I have planned for this summer break from work. I have thought a lot about the directions my work is going in, and what is next. More musings about this in another blog post. I still have a lot to work out in my head…but the future is bright.

 

Contemplating

I am wondering if I can create an ‘art retreat’ for myself. Pick a week and take time off of work, limit my social networking time, and just work on artwork, on creating. Would a week work? Could I do this one day every week? Is it possible? Would it help with the creating of artwork for shows coming up?

Today I am collecting things for a large photo job tomorrow. Charging batteries, collecting camera cards (yes it is a digital photography job), washing backdrops, testing my new backdrop stand, and getting things in order.

My mind is wandering a lot to the art retreat idea. I still have gallery shows coming up, including a new one at the U of M that I just found out I was accepted for. That one is in October, which really isn’t all that far away, and isn’t far from next year’s March show.

I am trying to not turn on the tv at all today.

Just me, thinking and listening to music.