I just received a really nice email from a fellow artist here in town – Angela Bonten. Some of you may know Anjy from the Arts Council, or as the Artscape Director. If you don’t know her personally, visit her website (will open a new window). She is one of the most amazing personalities I have met here in Kelowna, and I always listen to what she has to say – the reason is she speaks from a space of impartiality and objectiveness. I appreciate that tremendously.
We were talking about the erotic show the other day about how there are artists who are super interested in showing and who “get” where I am going with the show, and then there are the others who are nervous or afraid of having their name associated or concerned that the venue is the wrong one. Without further comment, I’m going to copy and paste her email.
Thank you Anjy for taking the time to write and for giving me permission to publish your letter on the blog. I am sure we can all agree that one of your first challenges as an artist is to make the decision to even show your work. Remember how much confidence that gave you, your first showing, then your next and your next? What if, back then, you listened to some of the people who tried to protect you by saying, “oh please don’t” – not that they didn’t believe in you, they were afraid your feelings would be hurt or worse. These decisions, to listen and be safe, or not, are all part of the growth as an artist. You can make safe work, in safe settings… or do you want an adventure: to create and show work that challenges others? and more importantly, do you want to create and show work that challenges yourself?
Julia Trops
Julia Trops is an international artist having sold over 1000 artworks worldwide since 2004. Retaining the discipline, work ethic and integrity from her 12 year career in the military, this decorated artist maintains a studio in the Rotary Centre for the Arts with three other local artists. Her work is vibrant, dramatic and expressive, and she does accept commissions. While other writers have selected her artwork numerous times for publishing, Julia is close to completing her third book. View her online gallery http://www.rubylane.com/shops/canadianartist or for works under $100 http://jtrops.etsy.com. Julia is one of the original organizers of the Okanagan Erotic Art Show and has carried on the event on her own since 2009.
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