Well, the last week has been a mixed bag. Some good, some not so good.

A good thing was that I went to Melbourne overnight on Friday to attend the opening of a Small Works exhibition at Brunswick Street Gallery, Fitzroy http://www.bsgart.com.au/ I have six 30 x 30 cm oil on board paintings in the show. Friday night was amazing. 330 artists were exhibiting and I think there were over 1200 artworks hung. I am absolutely sure about 1200 people came to the show on Friday night as it was packed with people coming and going. When I left there was a line of people waiting to get in. The line went up the 3 flights of stairs and out into the street! The exhibition is actually very good too, so well worth the wait for these people. The show ends 19 June.

I have had some really great feedback from my presentation at FEHVA. It is great when people contact you after an event.

Last week saw me also grapple with unprofessionalism from an field unrelated to the arts. I am still reeeling from the shifting sands of statements that contradict, being charged for advice by people recommended to me but I am now told were not up to the task ... and it goes on. Needless to say this is an unwelcome occurrence in my life. However, it makes me think more about what it is to be professional.

I am a professional artist who is in the latter stages of being considered an emerging artist. This state of emergence can take some time! My observation is that the older you are the harder it is to emerge into that stage of an artist's career where good gallery representation, critical writing, major awards, inclusion in curated exhibitions and being acquired by major corporate or institutional collections happen. However, tenacity is the clue and I've got it in bundles. For me professionalism means everything from using good quality materials, spending time experimenting to ensure that my technique and understanding of the medium grows and is revitalised, thinking and researching about ideas, constantly observing myself and my art, being honest in everything I do from material choice to entering prizes, writing about my work in meaningful and truthful ways, maintaining best business practice, responding to people with integrity, and being brave and confident enough to show myself and my art to the world.

Awesome Gouache on paper 30 x 42 cm unframed