Nearly two weeks ago I drove a rental car to the Hudson Valley to be a visiting artist and lecturer at SUNY New Paltz. I started the day with my lecture and took some great questions from the audience at the end. After a potluck lunch with the metals department, I did 13 back-to-back crits that lasted 20-30 minutes each. It was intense and awesome! I loved talking with every single one of those wonderful people. They are working so hard and it's obvious in their work and in the way they question it. I try to get to the heart of things right away and give each person something solid to think about, always challenging in such a short period of time. The lecture I gave that day is now available online, too. There are a few minutes of chatter at the beginning so you can hear me talking about all sorts of things with a few people in the audience. The talk begins around the 3 minute 25 second mark.
I also want to share this wonderful Facebook status, posted by Grand Valley State University student, Anna Petlick, last night:
"After Amy Tavern's lecture and workshop at GVSU two months ago I was inspired to create a piece using limited materials in my studio. Although I did not limit my time for the creation of the piece, I'm very happy with how my brooch turned out! The materials include a leg from a teddy bear, fabric from a child's night gown, and pearls. This piece was featured in the Free Radical gallery show in downtown GR. A big belated thank you again to the wonderful Amy Tavern for coming to our school and helping me see creating from a fresh and different view!"
I was a visiting artist at GVSU at the end of September and had a wonderful time there, too. Comments like this are so reassuring and also challenge me to do even better next time. Thanks so much, Anna!
Thanks for reading.
