Claire Hoch visit

Last week was Claire's third and final week of stay at the VCCA and she came in to talk about her many artistic endeavors and her search for finding meaning and place for her artwork. The very range of things she worked on, such as the seed silo, the moving restaurant, and the side photography showed how much she really is up-ending every possible source to create something different. I think what stuck with me most from her presentation was how supportive other artists seemed to be in response to her cry for help. Always hearing about how artists have it rough and how they are always just trying to make it work is a little unnerving because most artists in school hope to get out and start something, period. At least, I hope to have some clear decision about the direction I'll be going. So hearing her talk about just plopping down willynilly and starting up is cool, sure, but it's not exactly inviting. Hearing her also got me really thinking about internship opportunities and networking so that I am not in her position (not because she's not doing fine, but flying by the seat of my pants in the real world isnt very realistic for me personally). I've decided that I want to try to get in with an illustrator or publisher of children's books and see where I can go from there.