This year I set myself an intention to act upon my creative ideas and connect with other creatives. To that end I promised myself to submit an entry into a juried exhibition for artist books run by From Out of the Blue Studio Gallery, Opunake, New Zealand and to be juried by Toni Hartill, a New Zealand book artist I admire. It is not that I believed my project would be up to the standard of the international book artists that would submit art for the exhibition but rather that I wanted to do it for myself - to commit, to create, to achieve. Closing date was 30 April 2026. I had made my entry, written my artist statement, taken the required photos and was ready to submit the entry as soon as I got home from work on 30 April. I checked and I could not see a cut-off time.
Sadly, lesson learned. Do not rely on viewing important information on your mobile phone. On logging in on my laptop to submit the entry just before 5.00pm on 30 April I could clearly read the cut-off time as being 2.00pm that day. Unfortunately this detail had not shown clearly on my phone. I had missed the submission deadline.
I guess I still largely achieved what I set out to do... I planned, created and completed a project.
Initially I was accepting of it, then I beat myself up a bit for having left it to the last day, and then started to creatively think about what to do with a project that really was created for this exhibition. I have given this some thought and will make another post shortly with some slight 'tweaks' to the project.
In the meantime I want to share the project as it would have been submitted... a bit of a story about my creative journey and process.
The Juried Exhibition 2026 Front View
The quote reads:
To achieve great things two things are needed, a plan and not quite enough time. Leonard Bernstein.
The Juried Exhibition 2026 Back View
On the back I weaved a blue thread representing a river though the orange running stitches I had stitched from the front with the quote:
I would love to live like a river flows, carried by the surprise of its own unfolding - John O'Donohue.
The book is contained in an old X-Acto Knife box I have had in my possession for decades that has housed many craft supplies over the years depending on my current interests. The lid of the box houses an accordian book. The other side houses a miniature scene.
The 150 word blurb I had written to submit with the entry reads:
'Call for
Entries’. Excitement.
Ideas started
to flow. Idea 1, Idea 2…
Excitement
turned into thinking… thinking…
Self doubt
nibbled at the edges of my creative flow. I started thinking about my creative
journey.
This year I set
an intention to act on my ideas and to follow my heart and explore the world of
book arts.
For many years
I hadn't let myself go down that path. Why? Maybe my involvement with other
crafts, expectations of others, money I had invested in other materials. Or was
it an irrational fear or an overwhelm of not knowing where to start.
Creativity and
the power of the mind fascinate me… and slowly this artist book ‘The Juried
Exhibition’ evolved.
On reflection I
realise a little self doubt can actually be motivating if you look at it with
the right attitude.
I hope this
resonates with others.
Do it for you.
The Juried Exhibition is now submitted, albeit just on my blog.
