As I mentioned earlier this week my first one-person exhibition of my art work in 20 years is now up.  My last one-person show was at Smith Gallery on the UC Santa Cruz campus in 1991.  I moved to Oklahoma in 1994 and gave up being an exhibiting artist for a while.  My first piece in a show in Oklahoma was at Apertures Gallery in 2005, 11 years after moving here.

What that means is that most of my exhibiting art life I have been a ‘could-be’.  Sometimes I have been an ‘are’.  For while there I thought I was a ‘has-been’ wondering about my ‘might-have-beens’.  What I am glad about though is no matter what happens in the future I will never be a ‘never-was’.

There is one, and only one reason, I won’t be a ‘never-was’. Because I made the effort to make something happen.  I made that effort again and again and again.  I took advantage,  I networked, I got things in on deadline , I paid attention and I woke up each morning willing to do it again. Most of all, more important that any other thing, is I kept doing the work.  All the time, any time, I did the work.

It doesn’t matter if I spend most of my time as an ‘are’ – well known with accolades and money, or most of my time as a ‘could-be’, hoping for those things and the opportunities it brings.  What matters is that I did the work. The work is what guarantees I won’t be a ‘never-was’.

Are you doing your work?

© 2025 Marty Coleman | napkindad.com

Quote by Milton Berle, a funny man.