An Art Exhibition of works by : Michelle Wolfe (aka : dreamsosweet)

When I learned that dreamsosweet was having a art exhibition locally I was extremely excited. Since it was local to me in Atlanta, GA I would have the pleasure of attending in person. I have always admired dreamsosweet's work and to see it in print was a fantastic experience. The exhibition is at the Centerville Community Center from June 17th, 2003 through August 15, 2003. dreamsosweet just informed me that it has been extended until mid September! I attended on June 19th with my wife Lillian, a very close friend Carrie and her daughter Jazzmine. We arrived at 7:00pm and were greeted by dreamsosweet and her daughter Lydia. Dreamsosweet's artwork graced the walls of 3 hallways and was drawing a lot of attention. There was a real nice food spread as well! I hope you enjoy dreamsosweet's interview and a few of the pictures I took. Is this your first art exhibition? In real life, yes - I've got pictures in several different online galleries, but this was my first venture into a print showing. Was it hard to organize? Not as hard as I was afraid it might be - the people at Gwinnett Parks and Rec have a very good info package that explains everything they need and when they need it, and they were wonderful about answering any questions I had. The hardest part was trying to decide which images to use in what sizes, I wanted to present a good cross-section of the type of work I do, and also show the wide variety that can be achieved digitally....that and writing an "artist statement" - art's just what I do, I never really stopped to think about my "philosophy" and put it into words. Where you happy with the attendance? I wish there had been more people at the reception, but some of the initial publicity went astray....but the people who were there were the ones who really mattered to me, and I was very happy with the feedback on the images! Who does your printing? They looked fantastic! LOL! This is almost embarrassing - I did the 8x10s and 5x7s with the "print it yourself" machine at Walmart, it uses heavyweight Kodak paper, the color is just incredible and the price is reasonable! I burned the images onto CD at 300 ppi in CMYK, followed the directions on the touch screen and stood there while they printed, I did about 35 pics that way, and they all came out perfect - I will definitely use them again. The 6 poster size prints were done by CafePress, they took about 10 days from ordering online to the time I received them, and again, I was very happy with the price, and the quality and color in comparison to the original digital image. What programs do you use to create your artwork with? Poser 4 and Paint Shop Pro 7, primarily. I use Photo Shop Elements for painting hair and a few effects, and for some resizing and saving - and I'm learning Bryce, but I'm still pretty much in the "click and hope I get lucky" stage with it. I've got 2 Olympus digital cameras that I use for my photography, all the manipulations are done in PSP or PS Elements. Your exhibition was very inspiring. Do you have any advice for artists who might want to have their own exhibition? All those corny cliches - "go for it", "just do it", LOL! Put yourself out there, carry cards with your online gallery url, carry samples of your work....if you're somewhere and they've got some kind of exhibit space, ASK how to get shown (that's how I got this one). Look in local papers and online for Call for Artists in your area and submit your stuff - the worst they can say is no, and they just might say yes, but you'll never know if you don't try. Above all, don't let anyone tell you that "digital" isn't "art"....as those of us who spend hours and days and pints of blood, sweat and tears on our images know, it's every bit as much art as any other medium, it's just not as well recognized.....and it never will be recognized if even those of us who create it get sucked into the "it's not really art" mindset! Overall were you pleased with the exhibit? Absolutely! It is a truly awesome experience to see your own images printed, matted and framed for the first time, and to hear people you don't even know say things like "Wow, this is beautiful" - that sounds really egotistical, but it's not meant that way, it's more like having a baby, and someone says "what a cute baby".....I think we all have bits and pieces of ourselves in all our images, and feel in a way like we've "given birth" to them.....mounting this exhibit was one of the scariest, and yet most exhilarating things I have ever experienced. (And it's also addicting, I am definitely going to be trying for more shows - having gotten my feet wet with this one, I am ready to jump in the lake, LOL!)

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