My First Opening Reception at an Established Gallery in Manhattan!

So the day has finally come and gone. I attended my very first Opening Reception as an artist on view in a gallery at the Chelsea art district in Manhattan!
And believe it or not I think I'm more excited now that I'm writing about it and have had time to process it, than when it was about to happen or happening.

It was very different from what I thought and definitely a learning experience. I've done pop-up shows before and those are a LOT of work for the artists before the show for very small profit and networking. Contrastingly, this as an established, professional gallery made things leading up to the show extremely painless. They recommended the printers (who were super fast and have great quality works) and provided me with framing quotes which helped a lot in making an informed decision as to where to go. I ended up finding framers near me offering a pretty good discount and overall, everything went pretty smoothly and I even gained two NY trips to get everything done and delivered as well as get some more shots and enjoy myself in the Village :)

Arguably, the things I was most excited about getting ready for the show was having family come support me and making lots of sales. But I had another thing coming!
It's never good to have expectations, expectations mean you are living out of your head and ego and not from your heart, which just makes us lose out on the beauty of the present moment.
None of my friends or family other than my mom who is always with me thank goodness, could make it and sales rarely happen the way I pictured it in my head.
     I created so many expectations that I was a bit let down by reality. In my imagination the event was cocktail formal with waiters coming around offering fancy hors d'oeuvres and lots of art critics and collectors were trying to buy everything on site and write amazing reviews that led to movie-like opportunities in just two hours. All this while my family and friends were there beaming with pride at the fact that "they knew me when" lol.
In reality it was a Chelsea reception not a 5th Avenue one in a movie, it was very casual and if there were any critics or collectors I was never aware of it. I did see quite a few people walking around with price sheets though so who knows? People were friendly and I got very positive feedback from fellow artists on view in the same show, as well as the public. There was no food and you had to go to the check-in desk to get your own water and, since it was all about mingling, there was no place to sit. So here's what I learned for next time: NO expectations. Living in the moment is the best gift I can give myself, life rarely looks like the movies, the fact that no-one tried to give me all the contents of their wallet on the spot does not mean I will not sell in the future. I also learned to eat before arriving to the gallery and never wear high heels again when you have to stay standing by your work for three hours straight! LOL

Here's the biggest negative of the night: Having to speak in public and introduce myself and my work to everyone and talk about my inspiration and intentions with my art. I hate public speaking, I have horrible classroom flashbacks with all the bullies whispering and snickering! I have the worst stage fright ever! I've never understood why others love to make authors and artists speak, the point of these creative outlets is for the work to speak for us and for us to be able to express without spoken words. Explaining your work as a visual artist, when your frozen with fear, in my opinion defeats the purpose of showing your art lol

Here are the biggest highlights: Meeting two other female photographers that have also found Spirituality and Nature conservation are completely intertwined with photography. For one is all about saving animals, for the other is all about showing the Divine perfection out in Nature and within each of us! How perfect is that synchronicity? Three female photographers in the same gallery, with work on view at the same time all trying to show a very similar message with very unique voices and techniques. The artist that works more closely with conservation is currently involved in a program to help animals being captive, like in zoos, get better living conditions. The program is currently only in the Mid-West but we exchanged cards and there's hope for a collaboration in the future! And of course the other highlight was sharing my first big moment as an artists in Manhattan with my mom, and all the things I learnt from this experience :D

It was a fun and interesting night once I got out of my head and whenever I could distract myself from my foot pain thanks to those darn heels :P

And now, here's the youtube video for a glimpse into that night:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zWleCT3fMnM 

Hope you enjoy it! And you can check my work on display physically at Agora Gallery until the last of the month or by clicking here.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Thanksgiving is here! After Halloween this is my favorite Holiday :D

It is sadly being overlooked more and more each year and I don't understand why. November's still 100% about Fall, the leaves are still beautiful colors, there's piles of them to jump in, it's not as cold as winter, and harvest is wrapping up while there's still a few more weeks left of the semester and over a month for the year to end. It's a beautiful time to be out and enjoy the crisp air and lovely colors and come together with loved ones to enjoy Thanksgiving as the only holiday of the month!

I love that there is a Holiday that has nothing to do with any religion at all and that is meant to bring people together in gratitude! Gratitude is one of the highest vibrational frequencies there are in the Universe, we should hold this energy every single day, but we all tend to forget. However, we have one day a year when we're reminded to stop and think about what we are thankful for and even if it's just one country for one day, if you really come to the table and hold the intention of gratitude, it elevates the entire planet's vibration to a higher, more peaceful state. It is beautiful and since it is religion free it's the one Holiday that focuses on unity and oneness instead of the illusion of separation.

Thanksgiving is also a lovely holiday since it's not centered around gifts. It hasn't been commercialized yet and therefore not ruined, except for Black Friday but that doesn't really count, at least I don't count it. Sadly, because actual Thanksgiving day hasn't been commercialized more and more people ignore it and start celebrating a single religion's Winter holiday halfway through October!! This drives me insane, why not live in the present and enjoy every second instead of trying to push time forward and have it be the last week of the year already?! And what's worst is that they encroach on other Holidays so much and take over everything so early, that by the time the Winter Holidays do arrive, it feels overdone, over commercial and not special at all :( . Instead of ruining two or more Holidays at once and focus on the material goods we should all give time to enjoy the beauties of each month and Holiday and be grateful for the present moment. 

This year has seemed particularly bad about skipping over Fall and on to the next thing, because even in high school, much worse everyone beyond that, people are upset about politics and so they seem to throw themselves harder at something that might distract them like gifts and drinks depending on their age. But since this is a time for Gratitude, despite what is going on in the world this is what I am grateful for:

Have a roof over my head, a bed, blankets, etc.

Have healthy food and water available

Have indoor plumbing

Have clothes, shoes and accessories

Have a TV (from which people are watching the things that upset them)

Have a conscious mind (which helps people vent and complain or decide to be happy)

Have access to internet and technology (from which people are venting and arguing or trying to spread Peace and love)

Have an able body to enjoy the things mentioned above

Have people I care about with whom to argue, disagree or lecture, etc. And to love and enjoy life with

If you have all of the above as well, I invite you to shift your perspective starting today and realize we have more to give thanks to, than a lot of people in the world, and even though it sounds impossible, just by being grateful about these things you help those who haven't tapped into their abundance. 

If you lack any of the above, then you have bigger issues than to worry about what might or might not happen in the world of politics or holidays and I am sending higher energy to you so you find your way to much better things and have all your needs met through gratitude <3

I am very blessed and have many, many more things to be grateful for and do not take any of it for granted, from the fact that I can breath and hold my arms above my head to the fact I have a Wii U and loads of stationary to write to friends with and everything in between. A day to hold the energy of gratitude is so needed for our world right now and should not be overlooked. 

Hope you all have the most amazing Thanksgiving yet, and have an infinite amount of things to be grateful for.  And now, I'm off to have a wonderful vegan dinner, because cruelty-free foods and happier, freer animals are things I'm deeply thankful for as well :)

Love and Light

New Creative Adventures = Etsy

Hi Everyone,

This is just a small post to share with you the opening of my brand new, first ever Etsy store!!

I do firmly believe that as long as you're open to receiving and trust in the Universe, abundance will always come to us infinitely, but as the co-creator of my own reality, I've decided to help the Universe out by sending this new energy into it so it manifests things faster. :)
With the thinning of the veils that just happened and this Fall energy of transition in the world, it's an excellent time to put things out for the Universe to help us manifest.

I'm in the midsts of very exciting times right now with my first ever, Manhattan Gallery show opening this Thursday, some possibilities for adventures "cooking" right now and trying to successfully launch my store! :D
I'm both nervous and thrilled! But I figured creators have to create right? I'm usually jumping around so much between different craft and Fine Art projects anyway that the results just end up forgotten, left somewhere to collect dust or when people show interest, just given away. But I've decided, by some gentle and the occasionally not so gentle, nudge from friends and family, that these projects deserve a chance to see the light of day and be part of an energetic exchange of abundance. So this is what I'm focusing the Etsy project on now.
     There's not a lot on the store yet, but I'm hoping to continually add products and slowly branch out as inspiration strikes. I'm also working on infusing some of my products with Reiki energy so they're not only functional/decorative (depending on the piece,) but also bring their new owners an influx of good energy into their lives :)
I'm very enthusiastic about this project and the creative chances outside the Gallery world it can provide, as well as the liberty to sell some of my open ended prints at very affordable prices and the opportunity to create up-cycled products which is super important to me, to make something beautiful out of something that would otherwise end up in a landfill polluting more... So without further ado here's the store!

https://www.etsy.com/shop/coliBreeMultiFantasy

Hope you check it continually as I add more options and find something you like <3 And if you're familiar with my work at all and would like a specific print to be added feel free to let me know!

Until next time, I leave you all with this lovely affirmation we could all use :)