omg hiiii
I was fighting for my life yet again. Last month I had the second L Train Art House show but in like a legit venue this time - so cool, will chat abt it in a bit. During this set up I was organizing a move. My roommates let me know mid may that they wanted to move out, and I wanted to push myself a bit and try and find a new spot. And of course, it all lined up on the same weekend. All month was shenanigans - from building catalogues to organizing movers, I was truly outside. Its been too hectic, but I’m getting used to these moments of everything happening. Its not something I’m happy about but I’m used to it.
We started discussing the show in march - from finding a sponsor, and getting our art together. The artists I worked with with were my first roommates I had in the city, Molly McCutcheon and Macy Gettles. Its been a solid minute since we could get together and do something but they have such a fire to them and it’s rly such a learning experience seeing how artists operate. While I was doing a lot more back end stuff, they fully took the reigns of finding a location, communicating with the venue owners, finding sponsors, and more. While we def have different time commitments as they are full time artists and I work my 9-5, its always cool seeing what is possible for when I have more free time. I did what I could, but time was restrictive asf for me.
The show went really well - a bunch of friends and coworkers came by, and I was just chatting non stop. I gave little tours of the works, and introduced people to each other. Also met/reconnected with some collectors which was super cool. I showed some stopmotions on a projector in the back and it was so cool seeing everything in a formal space for it. I had a sculpture up too, and this was the first time I displayed some works on paper, which everyone loved. I came into the show with wanting to have items for sale, and the sculpture and works on paper (graphite drawings) were up for that. While I didn’t sell anything on the spot, I was able to sell one of my animations as an NFT and the sculpture a week ish after the show. There were people interested but not much follow up - its expected at shows, and these things usually are much more long term for emerging artists too. I still need to figure out when people eat during these shows too - I was there from 10:30am doing set up - 11:00pm closing the show and I had a late breakfast and lunch at 5pm, then dinner when i got home at like midnight.
Another issue during the show was that I was trying to find movers in the middle of it. I secured an apartment like 4 days before the show and I couldnt really do anything until the show ended. My roommates moved out the day after the show and left some stuff cuz we weren’t sure if I could extend the lease or not. I found a spot, and confirmed everything legit 24 hrs before they needed to come. It was rough - but everything was packed with no real damages. It was just so busy I didn’t have time to be annoyed. I was just hungry and tired by the end of the day. 11pm rolls around and I get there with the last of my stuff. There was no AC but that was expected. I get some water, thinking I can finally relax after all the shenanigans, and lo and behold: a r0ach on the floor. Ofc i call the landlord, and shes also freaking out but nobody has any raid bc apparently there was never any roach problem. I hobble into bed, too sweaty to deal w everything.
The next day(tuesday) its still hot, I get to work, get back home and the exterminator gets there later in the night. He plugs all the gaps in the wall and leaves, but its still insanely hot. Im squeamish asf so I’m j poking everything with a broom before I go into anything. I get to the kitchen and the r0ach is on the ceiling. ofcccccc. I send the landlord a video and crawl back to bed. also the last tenant moved out in a rush and left a bunch of stuff so im wondering if they left bc of r0aches. I need to clean all their stuff too like they left condiments in the fridge and religious stuff in the cabinets and clothes in the laundry like wtf
The exterminator returns in the morning and seals the tops of all the cabinets, and lays out traps everywhere. I go to work, come back (do note that nothing has been unpacked and i’m still living out of the luggage) and find the dead r0ach in the kitchen. finally. i’m still stressed over it and Im checking every corner, and my eyes keep playing tricks on me too. Alas, its too hot to do anything bc theres still no AC. I go out to get some pizza and I call a friend, and it was too stressful and hot to stay so I j went to a friends. After picking up an AC on thursday I was finally able to toss the roach out and actually live a bit.
Its my first time living alone and theres more stress than expected. The r0ach trauma left me scared of everything thats not brightly lit so unpacking into cabinets has been tough. I forgot to move the electric company address so I lost power on monday(7/7) at 5am. I’ve only had takeout for the past 2 weeks and I had to throw some leftovers away. And I have an art print I want to hang but its “main character” is a cicada and its just too soon to be around that lol.
But, everything else is set up - plates in shelves, clothes in closet, art supplies in desk, and I’m starting to get ready to rest. I think thats all I want to do now - rest. The hardest part of this was that it just felt endless. and I’m someone who has constantly had these pressure points of every deadline happening at once, and when that happens (besides being stressed) I feel like I black out. It still hasnt registered that I had my show, made sales, and moved. And I still have to go to work lol. Everything feels so endless now which is the hardest part. I had a moment where I realized that yes I do get a lot of success from these moments but its at the cost of my own health and body. I want to take care of myself more in this new place. I hope to.
Theres so much art to come too - from sculptures to drawings, animations and short films. This new place is more expensive, and art is gonna be how I grow from it. I bought an art rack too so thats gonna b hype. Well thats all i have to say so ill see yall around lmao
ily,
Faraz
ps im trying to figure out how to make this a biweekly newsletter again. I started these back in utah where I had hella free time but now its pretty tough finding even a few minutes. alas, lemme try again.
pss thoughts on an online studio hours? I wanna figure out better ways of connecting w ppl abt my art so maybe?
piss ummmm i also wanna clean my website and connect my art book to tiktok butttt ehhhh im sleeepyyyy
yes theres a website link fr