Skipping Painted Stones
An entertaining art blog based in rural Iowa and written by author and artist Haley McAndrews.
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Impostor (or Imposter) Syndrome: a psychological condition that is characterized by persistent doubt concerning one's abilities or accomplishments accompanied by the fear of being exposed as a fraud despite evidence of one's ongoing success Lately I've been more open about my struggle with imposter syndrome (IS). I remember the first time I admitted to having it to one of my closest friends (who is also an artist), and she replied "How can you have imposter syndrome? You're an established artist, known in the area and you are working on so many projects!" You can see Merriam-Webster's definition of IS above - it is, first and foremost, insecurity. I imagine it manifests in unique ways from person to person, as many psychological conditions do. For me, it's not necessarily an insecurity of my own abilities; I don't take on projects I know I couldn't do (hello, photo realistic portraits!) But most often it rears its ugly head when I am in the middle of a large project, making me doubt the work I am doing.  How many bored capybaras can you find? For example, my large drawing "Tree of Life" was a commission by the Putnam Museum and Science Center for a children's book installation called Tails from Tales. The idea for my drawing came to me quickly, I got my first choice of book, and I started drawing on a huge piece of paper. Things were falling into place perfectly. I spent hours on this drawing: sketching in pencil, going back over it in ink, filling in the details and textures... And when I was about midway through it I started thinking, "What if this isn't what they want?" "What if this isn't what they are expecting, and they hate it?" "They are paying me hundreds of dollars for this! Is it really worth that much?" "What if they want it in color, but mine is just black and white?" I reread the call to artists, the application, and all the corresponding emails a dozen times or more, trying to reassure myself that what I was working on, that I'd already put hours of time and effort into, still fit within the descriptions. I remember telling Jon one night that if I spent extra time on it that weekend, I could finish it and turn it in a whole month ahead of the deadline, and that way if they hated it I had a month to do a new one. Let me pause here to share a few truths I have learned in life: One, nobody owes you closure - ever - you have to be okay with yourself regardless. Two, I try way too hard in my first relationship following a divorce. Three, as a parent you will always have a measure of guilt - either from not giving the kids enough attention, or not giving enough attention to other things (lookin' at you, pile of laundry.) And four, my IS is a dirty liar. #unsolicitedlifelessons Recently I was talking to someone about having IS. He asked what IS means. I explained, "It's something that often happens to extremely successful people -" and he cut me off to say, "Well why do you have it then?" To be fair, I believe he meant it as a sarcastic joke. It still hurt to hear. No matter the logic I have, my long list of successes that I can recite, that careless comment was the exact fuel that my IS loves. Guys, I'll be honest with you, I cried later on over the comment. IS is no joke. It can be crippling. It can even fuel anxiety or trigger panic attacks. Sometimes my IS shows up in lesser forms, like my shyness when I talk about my books to coworkers. Or every single time I say, "I won't claim to be a poet" despite having published a haiku book and a rhyming book (with another rhyming book written and waiting to be illustrated.) I try not to be a pushy salesperson when it comes to my art, and part of that is my IS whispering that "illustration isn't real art!" Ok, Haley, so what's the secret to defeating it when IS comes knocking (or whispering quietly, like mine)? ... I'm sorry, but I don't have a secret weapon. I'm still struggling with it myself. My knee-jerk reaction is to defend myself with logic, reminding myself of my accomplishments. But insecurity isn't logical, so that doesn't always work for me. I have learned, however, to just keep going. Work through it. Ignore those whispers and stick to the plan! My IS is a liar. I am an artist and an author. I have been working to grow my skills and business for over ten years, and I both earned and deserve the recognition and awards I have. Do you, or someone you know, struggle with IS? It sucks, but you aren't alone. Here's a Moms Who Create podcast episode on 7 Ways to Combat Imposter Syndrome. Kelli gives some great tips that might help you in your fight. This is a great article from McLean Hospital on the topic of IS, with more information on overcoming it. If you need a dose of encouragement, please reach out to someone! If you don't have someone in your life who serves as your own personal cheerleader, here's an artist pep talk available 24/7. There are many other resources easily found online as well.
Try not to worry, because you're not alone. We are in the same boat together. And despite what IS tells us, we've got this! 🚣♀️
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I'll start this post off with a shout-out to my high school speech teacher, Mr. Brennan. I've written hundreds of press releases over the years (one of them even got me a job running an art gallery,) and will surely be in thousands by the time I die. And every single one I write has the same structure I learned in speech class. Why speech? Because every news article is basically an informational speech, minus the sweating palms and audience staring at you.  I still prefer to do most of my writing by hand with a pencil on paper. There are three basic parts to a press release: an introduction, the body, and a conclusion. Just like breakfast is the most important meal of the day, the introduction is the most important part of the article. It needs to answer the who, what, when, and where. The body is the why, and the conclusion restates the information from the introduction with the addition of how to find out even more. Sounds simple enough, right? The very first sentence in your press release is vital to get right. This is not where you include your hook though - the article title is going to be the hook to grab the reader's interest. The first sentence needs to be to the point and include your who, what, where, and when. This is because there are many people who just glance through articles. If they are only going to read one sentence, you need to get the message across. So for example, if my title is "Local Author Earns 5-Star Review" (there's the general idea and hook,) my first sentence will be "Local author/illustrator Haley McAndrews of Denison, IA, recently earned a 5-Star review from ReadersFavorite.com for her third book, Toaster Haiku." To break it down: Who: Haley McAndrews, a local author/illustrator Where: Denison, IA What: 5-Star book review from ReadersFavorite.com When: recently The when would also come into play if this was about an event like an opening reception or a gallery show, you could add the dates and time in. Or maybe it's about an award you won last week. Then you would add that information in. Your introduction can be one sentence long. It's allowed. If you have more information needed in the introduction, you can add it but keep it direct. If you want to add details, make it a paragraph in the body of the article. Before we get too deep into the body, here are a few essential rules on writing professionally:
Alright, onto the body! Here's where your article gets interesting, and you get to give all your details; the big "why." What do you include in the body?
And finally we arrive at the conclusion. Ideally it is one paragraph and it's a twin to your introduction. Not an identical twin (don't just copy and paste) but more like a fraternal twin, definitely. You need to restate the first sentence of your intro, but reword it. Restate your who, what, where, and when. Also mention how people can find out more: a phone or address for the gallery, a website, or an email address. This is also where you can give your professional social media handles. If you have art at local galleries or will be selling at a local event, mention that too. Ok, Haley, I have a fantastic and very professional news release written... Now what? Now you submit it! I recommend getting the email address of as many local papers as possible. You'll want to send it to a community/arts reporter (if the paper has one) or an editor. Make absolutely sure that you are sending it blind carbon copy (BCC:) if you are sending one email to many different papers. This way you won't offend anyone accidentally. More on your email; make sure you include the following information before the article: your name, studio name, mailing address, phone number, and email. This way, if they have questions they have all your contact info. You'll also want to find out when the deadline for submissions is prior to printing, so you can send your release in a timely manner. Don't forget to attach a photo or other image to the email to be included with the article. Remember the saying - a picture is worth a thousand words! Writing a great press release is a skill that gets honed with practice, just like everything else is. If you use these tips when writing, you can take your articles to the next level. Keep in mind that submitting a press release should be free. Be wary of a reporter or paper that wants to charge you for submitting a release. And, they may choose in the end not to run your article, or to rewrite some of it. Try not to take it personally, they could be saving it for a later date, or maybe they ran out of room. Either way, take a deep breath and try again next time, because I believe in you! 😊
8/13/2024 1 Comment Finished! Kiron Train MuralEarlier this year I was hired to repaint a large train mural that had been painted on the side of a metal shed. The mural is located in Kiron, IA, and was repainted for their 125th town celebration! It took me 51 hours total to complete this mural, and I had two helpers at the end for the clear coat: my husband, Jon, and my dad. I opted for adding the clear coat because just about every time I worked on the mural, within 24 hours we would get heavy rain, hail, 60+ mph winds, or even a tornado or two! So I wanted to give the mural extra protection against the elements. It was an interesting experience, working on this mural. It's by far the largest painting I've ever done. After every painting session, I'd take a picture. Those are the photos I compiled to make this video. I also regularly shared work-in-progress selfies on my Facebook and Instagram pages. Oh, and it turns out I have a pretty intense fear of heights! My first time up on the scaffolding (a whopping 5-6 feet high) my legs shook so badly that my calf muscles started to cramp up. The more time I spent up on the scaffolding the more comfortable I became, but even on the last day I was still uneasy being up so high. I was happiest just sitting in one place on the boards. I have accepted that I am only meant to live 5 feet from the surface, and no more.  I've been asked to paint a few more murals, so I might need to invest in some sort of safety... strap... harness... sort of contraption for future use. Unless you think I could get away with only doing murals that are 6 feet or less high? 😉
A couple years ago I tried my hand at a 30-day drawing-a-day challenge. I came up with my own 30 prompts and invited others to join in. I'm ready to try my hand at another art challenge - but this time I want to push myself to try some new mediums/styles! If you'd like to see the results of my 30-day challenge from 2022 (some of them got pretty hilarious!) you can find those posts here, here, and here. The idea behind this year's challenge is to pick one subject and create art of that subject, but in a different medium or style each day. Just like with the drawing one, my goal is to challenge myself; so not all the prompts I chose are ones that I am familiar or experienced with. Who knows, I might find a new art form that really speaks to me. And at the end of it, I'll have a series of 14 artworks completed! Here's the prompt list:
 Mark your calendars because I plan on beginning this challenge December 1st, 2024, but I wanted to put the invitation out there to anyone who wants to join me - after all, the more the merrier! Plus, some of these are going to require a bit of prep work; especially if you are like me and don't already have all the materials on hand (or maybe you do and they are just buried in your studio... also like me!) *coughDay9cough*
So because it's me doing this, I'm picking a toaster as my subject. I already have a few ideas floating around for some of the days (pencil drawing? Easy peasy!) but I think I might need to do some real planning for others. That's right, Day 10, I'm looking at you! If you want to join me this December 1-14, I'll be sharing my own creations daily on both Facebook and Instagram. You can use #RSASartchallenge2024 if you choose to share; I'd really love to see what you all come up with! And of course, please feel free to stick to the prompts or take just the parts you want and leave the rest. I'm not looking to set any strict rules, I just want to inspire and encourage my fellow artists! 😘 |
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