I have spent this semester polishing and starting to show The Real Americans series. Prepping for and presenting at the Research Showcase was a great experience and gave me a chance to see what people who are not necessarily in the Fine Arts thought of it. Speaking with many Ph.D.s, grad/undergrad students, WSUV employees and faculty members about it was amazing and the fact that they loved it proved to me I am doing something that speaks to them. I am always passionate about what I am doing, but I have not really experienced direct feedback like that.
I also presented the work to Alexis, who has watched my progress over the years, and her encouraging me to start submitting the work prompted the week I showed the work at Blue Sky. She told me it was the week of Photolucida's tour as well, so I feel that was great exposure for me. I guess in the end I am getting more comfortable with showing and talking about the work which is necessary. In the past I feared rejection and I'm sure I still do on some level, but this experience has made me feel more confident in what I am trying to say.
I additionally have worked on processing the medium format photos from December 2008, before, during and after my dad's funeral. It is a surreal process, but a good one.
kellykeigwin.com is up on the web with changes made since the last time you viewed it in December. I still need to change out the bio and resume with cleaner, more professional versions and am going to add more content to the portfolio page (including the collages from FA363). I am glad to finally have an on-line presence though and when it is completed I will feel better about giving out my business cards.
I have spent this semester refining my work and presenting it in more professional settings. I plan on continuing my growth as well as The Real Americans work. I have lists of places people have suggested I visit and some others I have meant to include. I also plan to do some collaborative work with Rhoda now that I will hopefully have more free time. As part of that I want to get into grant writing, which I have spoke of before. This is crucial if I want to travel outside of the area to capture more images.
Dene has also offered to work with me to get the completed work published as a book. I am not sure about this as I only have representation of the west coast, but perhaps if I can head up toward Seattle and a few more places in Oregon I will feel better about it. Either way, I am flattered that she feels so strongly about the work.
In conclusion, I am very appreciative of what this 499 has helped me to develop in one semester. I have only completed two sections with you, so hopefully I can sign up again, even if it a one credit section. I really value your opinion and feel that your level of expectation drives me to hit a higher mark each time I work with you. Thank you for that. I will keep in touch and will definitely see you in the Fall, even though I won't be in any of your classes. Have a good summer break!
-Kelly
