Very busy yesterday. First a meeting to select participants in a craft show scheduled for April. It was a great experience, as there were some really wonderful applicants. Somethings that I had never seen before, but also some "same old, same old" assembled jewelry. It was great to have more applicants than there was room for, but, at the same time, sad to have to turn some applicants down.

Then my stitchery group met here in the afternoon. We haven't met for awhile and it was nice to see the ladies again. One of our members has been quite ill over the past three months. Finally she appears to be bouncing back. I've been concerned about her, but I have to remember that it takes longer and longer to recover as we get older and older.

Then I had to take my three pieces in for Manitoba Crafts Council show at a local gallery. This is going to be a new experience for me. I saw some of the other stuff that came in, and I worry that my stuff will suffer in comparison. This will be the first time that this group has seen any of my work, and I would have preferred to have "knocked their socks off", but I saw some glass mosaic/raku collage work that had a real "WOW" factor. There was also some small hand-built (?) sculptures that were very appealing. Anyway, I get to go back this afternoon to help hang the show. This is an experience that will be invaluable when the EMAC show comes up in June. It's at the same gallery, and I'll be in charge of hanging it.

Finally, last evening I went to a presentation at MAWA on writing artist's grant applications. this was somewhat informal, but very interesting. I'm not sure I'll ever actually do anything like this, but it's part of an artist's life.

So, over the past year my goals/objectives have been to transition from crafter to artist. I had wanted to exhibit locally, while continuing to exhibit internationally, and I had wanted to explore the art scene in Winnipeg, so as to gain some understanding of what's involved. I had wanted to be around, and better understand other artists. Now all these things are starting to come together, and I feel like I've just reached the highest peak on the roller coaster ride. Now the adrenaline kicks in and it's "hold onto your hat"