I really enjoy podcasts and one of my favorites is How I Built This With Guy Raz.  If you aren’t familiar with it, the promo statement explains  “Guy Raz dives into the stories behind some of the world's best known companies. How I Built This weaves a narrative journey about innovators, entrepreneurs and idealists—and the movements they built.”  One of my favorite episodes is the interview with Eileen Fisher.  As she tells it she “signed up for a fashion trade show with no experience, no garments, no patterns or sketches – nothing but a few ideas….”  She also goes on to identify herself as a “shy extrovert.”  Well, shy or not, she and many of those profiled helped me to get off my butt and share my art with you. 

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The first time I shared my art publicly was the result of happenstance.  I was reading an online newsletter related to my day job and it included a notice about a non-profit organization that was inviting artists to submit applications for their first annual fund raising juried art show.  This was at a time when I was trying to figure out how to use my art for a purpose other than collecting under the bed.  I had no photos of my artwork, no names for the pieces, no artist’s bio….basically no idea what I was doing except exchanging emails with the organizer as I made the application.  I submitted three pieces for consideration and was stunned when two were accepted.   I was later flabbergasted when one was awarded an Honorable Mention. I sat at my desk re-reading the email, blushing like school girl, wondering what to do next because I had told no one that I even submitted the application thinking that if nothing came of the effort I would be saving myself some embarrassment.