The Gallery Date: Episode 1 - Yes, Little Engine!
SHOW NOTES
Welcome to The Gallery Date, a weekly date with Jenn Singer to chat about art and life and perhaps the art of life, all in bite sized, not-at-all fancy, but definitely savory episode nuggets!
In this mini episode, Jenn has selected 3 questions viewers sent in since the announcement of the launch of the video podcast. She reveals the 3 books that are always on her desk, discusses crazy art world news and she dodges a question from her big brother, Mike. Nope, she's not gonna dip her toe in that water, people!
Books mentioned in today's episode are linked below:
The Little Engine That Could by Watty Piper
Work Like A Woman by Mary Portas
The Big Leap by Gay Hendricks
Crazy Art World News Featured: Squidge the penguin is Cornwall’s next up-and-coming artist
TRANSCRIPT
Welcome to The Gallery Date. I'm Jenn Singer, founder of Jenn Singer Gallery. Thanks for joining me for our weekly date to chat about art and life and perhaps the art of life, all in bite-sized, not at all fancy, but definitely savory episode nuggets. Let's mingle my friends!
Well, hey there. Thank you so much for joining me for our Gallery Date. Today we're diving in with some questions. We received over the past week since announcing the launch of this video podcast, andI am loving these! So thank you so much for sending them through.
Let's just get started... Question number one: what three books do you always have on your desk?
So good. Well, to start within eye shot from...this is my desk...I always have to have within eyeshot "The Little Engine That Could".
Yes, the children's book.
Because when I'm feeling discouraged or like I just can't anymore. Like I just can't. I take a deep breath and I spot this book and then I and then I just know... I know that I can.
Sometimes I have to literally say to myself "I think I can, I think I can out loud, but also for those moments of victory when something exciting happens when I've overcome a challenge I look at this book and I am like, yes Little Engine! Yes, you can. Yes, you did! So I have two year old little boy named Maddox who has his own copy of this book because Mama isn't sharing this one baby and I have to hide it when he comes in my office because it's one of his favorites, but he has his own copy, which he's totally destroyed. I don't want him to destroy my little mini copy. This I need in my office. I need to... I need to see this in my life.
So, the second book that I always have on my desk is...
...Drumroll...
Mary Portas' "Work Like Woman". I love this book. I'm not sure if my American friends know about Mary like the Brits do, but her nickname in the UK is Mary Queen of Shops. She is a powerhouse and I find this book is very inspiring and actually she lives nearby in a village where we used to live in the same village and I'm a bit obsessed with running into her, um so we bump into her once in a while at a favorite local pub and I try to play it cool. But inside I'm like, “oh my gawd Mary your book is on my desk and I love you and teach me everything, you know”, but I don't do that. I totally try to play it cool and I'm like, “oh heyyy”.
Anyway... that brings me to book number three "The Big Leap" by Gay Hendricks. Holy moly this book is a game changer. I've read it about 250 times. It is currently NOT on my desk, as I loaned it to a friend recently when they were describing a feeling of...a feeling of being a bit stuck in their thoughts on the next steps and their career and life. And if you ever feel like you've reached like a big goal or received something that you really wanted and then all of a sudden doom and gloom stories come into your mind and immediately dampen that joy of accomplishment. We were feeling well, it turns out that this is just our minds "upper-limiting" us and it happens everyone, it's totally normal, and it's a daily practice to push through these upper limits and this book is everything it tells you all about it go get it. It's amazing.
Links to each of these books are in the show notes, tho you may be able to dig a copy of 'The Little Engine That Could' out of your parent's basement or your kids room. Oh and speaking of kids books, have you read 'The Snail and the Whale'? Do not even get me started. I can hardly get through it sometimes without absolute tears. Totally verklempt.
Okay. So here's question number two: "What is the craziest art world story you've read lately?" haha Good question because there are many crazy art world stories. But here's one that is so random and kind of sweet that I saw recently in the Metro News in the UK.
The headline reads "Squidge the Penguin is Cornwall's Next Up and Coming Artist".
Squidge the Penguin?
Uhh quote "when people think of artists they tend to think of the grand works of Leonardo da Vinci, Vincent van Gogh (or Van Gogh if you live in the UK) or Pablo Picasso, but one Cornish penguin pushing, all the conventional boundaries is Squidge whose chaotic paintings are taking the art world by storm.
Pause: you definitely didn't read this in the New York Times. Okay continue. The article goes on to say that being an artist is part of Squidge's daily enrichment activities with his care team at the Cornish Seal Sanctuary in Cornwall.
Quote:
"Squidge's artwork is even expected to raise 1.3 million pounds at auction as part of the Sanctuary's Fund Our Future Campaign, which will go towards four new pools at the Sanctuary and his brand new home. Awww, Squidge!
The article continues to say, and I quote:
"If you've never seen art by a penguin before..."
Have you ever seen art by a penguin before?
Probably not.
"If you've never seen art by penguin before, it's just as beautiful and chaotic as it sounds and absolutely captures Squidge's cheeky personality."
"Squidge is known on site for his cheeky and fun personality and always delights visitors to the sanctuary." I continue the quote by saying "members of the team claim. They always knew Squidge had it in him to be a creative genius and now he really has shown this true colors.
One of his caretakers Polly said quote: "watching Squidge unveil, his inner artist has been truly inspiring. They say creativity takes courage and we've loved seeing Squidge embrace this side of himself.” This “new side of himself”.
So there you are! Talk about "big leaps"...if Squidge can do it, so can you!
I think I can I think I can I think I can I think I can
I forgot to press record again. It's happened again.
All right. Here we go. Our final question for today comes from my brother Mike.
"Who is your favorite sibling?"
All right. All right people, this is a loaded question and not water I'm gonna dip my toe in because 1. I have quite a few siblings and 2. there's a longer story here as to why I have so many siblings. Nope, not gonna go there today.
All right, so that's a wrap. Thank you so much for tuning in to this very first episode of The Gallery Date. It means so much. Meet me for our date every Wednesday on thegallerydate.com or jennsingergallery.com/thegallerydate. Thanks again for joining me and I'll see you soon..