Beware the Offhand Comment

Dip, Dip and Swing (2015) embroidery on birch bark, mixed media

So, I dropped off the above piece to the Hive Emporium as my token artwork for "Tour Central". All the artists on the tour are supposed to put in one piece so potential studio visitors can plan their rounds. I have shown this work before, and wrote about it a few months back. I admit it's a bit enigmatic without the artist statement, but the last thing I expected the curator to say was, "How sweet."

I could have whacked her.

#1 on the list of things not to say to artists should be "How sweet." It's even worse than "Interesting."

If I had my wits about me I should have responded, "Well, no, actually it's about the way the English and the French exploited the First Nations people to make money for themselves."

But, I was polite (it's still the Canadian way, in spite of that ass of a Prime Minister we are burdened with for the next sixteen days). I just went, "Mmmnn" and forgave the curator on the grounds that she was probably  overworked and overwhelmed at having to fit 59 pieces of art into 40 feet of wall space.

And maybe if the art doesn't speak for itself, it's the problem of the artist. I usually err on the side of the obscure. Maybe this should be a lesson to me.

"Sweet!?!"

As if.