Last year began with my speaking at the Self-Employment in the Arts Conference in February.

Elaine Luther speaking at Creative Expo Chicago

In March I gave my Blogging for Artists talk at the Creative Expo Chicago, put on by the city and held at the Chicago Cultural Center.  This was my second year giving talks at both of events and I really love sharing what I know with college students and fellow artists!

In 2014 I pulled back a bit from applying for juried, group shows, partly because they tend to have fees, which can really add up, and partly because I’m setting my sights on solo shows.  I was delighted to have two solo shows in 2014, both at libraries, the West Englewood Branch in Chicago and the Dole Branch in Oak Park.

Our Lady of Perpetual Homework Copyright Elaine Luther 2013 Photo taken during the install.

Exhibit of Elaine Luther’s Our Ladies of Perpetual Housework at West Englewood Library

West Englewood Library

Here’s a picture of the installation at the Dole Library in Oak Park, IL:

Display case at Dole Library with art work by Elaine Luther, copyright 2011, 2013

Exhibitions are a great reason for newspapers and blogs to write about your art, and I had three lovely stories about these pieces:

Elaine Luther in the Forest Park Review

This one in the Forest Park Review, and I was interviewed at The Library as Incubator Project and profiled at the Arts Business Institute blog.

In addition, I got to do two guest posts!  One at the Art Biz Coach Blog:

Guest Post at the Art Biz Blog

and one at the ReUse Diaries, where I did a tutorial on silver leafing.  While I was hoping that this would drive traffic to my silver leafed Our Ladies… and my Red Bubble shop, where I sell cards and products with images of the Our Ladies, it didn’t.  It was still fun to do and I enjoyed working with my photographer-husband, who shot the tutorial with me. We hadn’t shot a tutorial in a while and that was fun.

ReFab Diaries Silver Leaf Tutorial by Elaine Luther

I spent the summer with kids at the art league, teaching art day camps.  The fall, starting in October, was quite full, since joined the collaborative project, Pilsen Derivas, and I decided to do my first craft show in many years.

Moon Over Pilsen Copyright Elaine Luther 2014

Elaine Luther’s Jewelry Display at Revolution Craft Show

In continued to sell my jewelry at the Illinois Artisan’s Shop and Woman Made Gallery.  My goal for this year is to add 3-5 more stores.

The exhibition for Pilsen Derivas was my final art show for the year, the group of us showed group and personal projects and screened a film about one aspect of the history of the neighborhood.

Pilsen Derivas Map by Elaine Luther, Copyright Elaine Luther 2014, uppermost photo taken by Pietr Buttelman, used with permission

Re-discovering old family photos, plus seeing plenty I’d never seen before was a real joy. As a solo artist, getting an opportunity to work collaboratively on a project that was about place and history was just really cool.

In November, we kicked off the 20 Neighborhoods Project at Woman Made Gallery, where not-for-profit organizations bring folks who don’t usually get to do art, from all over the city, to meet and make art together.  Working with the teaching artist and participants and staff on this project is just terrific, I love being part of a team.

And finally, I taught a workshop at the Harold Washington Library on Artist Trading Cards in November.  Then the holidays and then the year came to a close!

Between my various part time jobs and the holidays and my craft show, plus extensive home repairs, the third quarter of the year was not a good time for studio time.  I’m looking forward to the repairs being finished (almost there!) and getting back to consistent studio time!

Want to review your year?  Alyson Stanfield at the Art Biz Coach Blog asks some terrific questions, here.