Googling myself this morning as I occasionally do … to see what I’m doing,
I found something
new. This became a habit during the five years that I operated my gallery in Charleston’s French Quarter. Competition for the “written word” in publicity was great, and I felt a responsibility to the many other artists that I represented over that time. I was also dedicating myself to following the advice of my aunt Willoweise, a successful watercolorist, nationally known. She had told me, "get your name out there."
The new thing this morning was the history page of Aiken Artist Guild, where we lived for a number of years. I saw something that, as my mother in law says, I used to know (it sounds so much better than “that I had forgotten.”
I remember the guild fondly. I learned much from older, wiser artists. I enjoyed the opportunity to share and participate in my chosen field in a time when we artists were not much considered at the local level. Here’s the quote from their website,
The AAG officers in 1977 and ‘78 were listed as: Nancy Porter, president, Catherine Donovan as V.P., Cecile Cothran as secretary and treasurers were Dot Dyches and Peggy Jo Lambert. An experimental project offered by the Chamber of Commerce, to exhibit art work, was called, AIKEN'S MAKIN' and opinions differed on the feasibility of that project!
That first Aiken’s Makin’ was great fun. That type of thing was a new concept in those days. There were not a lot of us on the sidewalk for that first show. This is certainly not the case now!
