Beth and Matt Stichter on fri 26 mar 99
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Greetings All-
There have been dozens of posts regarding the NCECA conference, and I have
savored each one and enjoyed seeing the events through their eyes. This was
also my first NCECA conference, and I was overwhelmed- I crammed each day
with as many events as possible, and still missed so much. I was remarkably
lucky that the conference was being held in my backyard (I literally live
twelve blocks from the convention Center in Columbus=21)
I also had the good fortune to be involved in one of the exhibitions in
town coinciding with the conference. Roman Czech at the Elements of Art
Gallery contacted me a week before the conference and asked if I would like
to be included in a show featuring the work of 14 other ceramic artists from
around the country. These artists included:
Jackie Brown Nita Schwartz
Priscilla Hollingsworth Cheryl Tall
Mami Kato John Thrasher
Kathy Koop Cynthia Young
Ceil Leeper-Sturdevant Tom Radca
WOW. It was an=5F incredible=5F honor to have my work in the same show as =
these
other artists, and I hope Many of you who attended the conference were able
to see their work and/or attend the closing reception on Thursday evening.
It was PACKED=21 The gallery estimates that 1,000 to 1,200 people showed up
for the reception, and I felt like a deer caught in headlights. I had hoped
to meet the other artists at the event, but the gallery was so crammed with
people that I was barely able to move through each room. I did get to talk
to Ceil and Deborah, a word or two with Tom and John, and couldn=92t get =
over
how kind and wonderful they were.
Among the few people who I =2Adid get the chance to talk to, I wanted to =
thank
Vince Pitelka, my mentor from the Appalachian Craft Center for attending. I
also was pleasantly surprised to turn around and meet Morgan Britt, a fellow
Clayart-er who had been kind enough to send me a critique of my website when
I posted the request about a month ago. She also paid me the highest
compliment of all by purchasing one of my pieces at the show, =93Bringing =
Down
the Moon=94 (which is on my website
http://www.netwalk.com/=7Estichtbm/bringing=5Fdown=5Fthe=5Fmoon.htm ). I =
was
floored. Other guests at the opening were Paul Soldner, Ruth Butler from
CM, and many many others who I will never get to thank.
I did miss seeing everyone at the Clayart room, though. Primarily being a
lurker, and incredibly shy as well, I spent most of the conference
scrutinizing people=92s nametags and smiling quietly to myself when I saw a
name I thought I knew. Next year I might work up the courage to introduce
myself=85the meantime, thanks to all of you out there who keep me in silent
company.
Beth Cavener Stichter
web site: http://www.netwalk.com/=7Estichtbm
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