Most Popular Pencil Drawing

Whenever I put on an art show for my drawing students, it includes a popularity contest. Anyone who views the show may vote for his 3 favorite pieces. I do this because it causes visitors to spend more time studying the work. When folks say, “How am I supposed to decide?”, I respond with this: “Vote for the pieces that call you back”.

The piece that called the most viewers back was . . .

Kirby’s “Swan”!!

In addition to being the most popular, it sold! In addition to selling to one eager customer, there was another person waiting in the sidelines for the first buyer to change his mind! (And Kirby, it wasn’t a “mercy purchase” because he said it cost too much for that!!)

Congratulations, Kirby!!

Colors, a post event list of thoughts

  1. What a confusing weather day. It was frosty out when I loaded the car, and I was just sure I’d shiver all day long.
  2. I set up in the direct sunshine on Wendy’s porch and was just sure I’d hot to death.
  3. Notice the spacious spacing on the display panels. What do you think?
  4. It was weird to weed through my paintings and figure out which to show and which to leave out.
  5. Many friends showed up!
  6. I met some new folks.
  7. Despite the counsel to drop pencil and focus on oil painting (from Those In The Know About Such Things), more pencil items sold than oil paintings.
  8. The pencil things cost less; is there a correlation between price and sales?
  9. Does Mickey Mouse have ears?
  10. Colors is a beautiful store/gallery/happening place, and this California artist is grateful to be in such a fine artsy place as Three Rivers!

A New Idea

What if 3 people requested reprints of my photos in the last several months? What if I realized that within my photo archives of 15,886 images there are a few really good pictures? What if I contacted my web designer and asked her to add a photo page?

IT IS HERE! Photographs

Autumn in Mineral King 4

A little bit of information about the page:

1. It currently only has fall photos (with one exception).

2. I have to decide how to organize and categorize all the photos.

3. The photos will be ordered for you as you order them from me – they are not “in stock”.

4. They will only be available in 8×10, unframed, and will be $15 each.

5. Thank you Cathy, Melissa and Dianne for inspiring me to do this!

Mineral King Bridge Painting, Done!

(Happy Birthday, Deb! Or was it yesterday??)

When I was a child, my sisters and I had to say “May I be excused?” before leaving the dinner table. This was to signal many things:  we were finished eating; to give our parents an opportunity to review our plates; to teach us how to be civilized;  to consider other people;  to become accustomed to decent manners.

So, now I say to my customer, “Please may I be excused?” This is because I believe the oil painting is finished, because I am civilized, and because I am never finished until the customer is happy!

Books

This weird little painting was an assignment in my short-lived oil painting class. Anyone have an idea for a title?

If you are like me, when you visit a blog you like to see how many comments a post has and sometimes you even read them. My blog doesn’t have very many comments to read. Many of them come privately to me via email, so you all don’t get to see them. (I’m not just saying this so that you will know I have readers.) I’m saying this because someone suggested to me via email that I post a list of books I am currently reading. My first thought was “Why?” My second thought was . . . never mind, such a cliche that you can probably guess it!

  1. Entreleadership by Dave Ramsey. (Thank you, Chris LoCurto!) I love business type books and am always looking for hints and ideas of how to tighten up my own little operation. Dave writes the way he speaks, so this book was easy to read and full of material to mull over. Like most really good books, it should be read over and over.
  2. All Wound Up by Stephanie Pearl-McPhee (aka The Yarn Harlot) Stephanie is one of the few authors whose books I just buy. No question – click, spend, own. All of them. She is a knitting humor writer. This book might be her best so far and includes more than just knitting essays. She is smart and funny and I love her!!
  3. The Sierra Nevada Before History by  (my very dear friend) Louise Jackson. This has been on my stack for a year, and it is time. TIME. Past TIME!! Just finished the intro this a.m. and I can hear Louise’s voice as I read. (In case this is easier for you, here it is on Amazon and it is also available at The Book Garden in Exeter.) I am looking forward to this one, especially if the intro is any indication of how interesting it will be! Here is one more link about this one: my drawings are in it! Two, actually.

What are you reading? I’d love to hear your favorites so I can add them to my list!

A List and request for your opinions

Hope you all enjoyed the week of fall photos! I loved taking and posting them for you. Okay, I did it for me too. 😎

With shows on three consecutive weekends thus far, I feel a little tired. Lists are an easy way to blog choppy unrelated ideas without sounding choppy and unrelated.

  1. This is the last week of drawing lessons for the year. I have a waiting list to get into lessons now so will have to ask the folks who aren’t attending regularly what their intentions are. Sometimes that feels very awkward – “Sorry to hear of your troubles – will you be continuing in lessons?” Or how about this version: “Haven’t seen you for a few weeks. Since you haven’t come, called, or paid, did you quit and forget to tell me?”
  2. The Perfect Gift Boutique was fun for several reasons. I like that little old building, it is a chance to hang out with some artist friends, and it is a chance to see folks who regularly visit Three Rivers over the Thanksgiving weekend.
  3. The Perfect Gift Boutique wasn’t fun for several reasons. It was hard to be indoors for 2 very nice days. It didn’t seem as if we had nearly as many visitors. Sometimes it feels as if shows aren’t really worth the amount of work. (I must be a little tired to be admitting that!)
  4. My husband thinks maybe I cram too many paintings into my booth and it overwhelms customers. He may be right. May I have your opinions in this matter?
  5. The handful of blogs I regularly read often use bold in the middle of their posts. I wonder why. Do you find it distracting?

Thanks for stopping by. I’m glad we had this little talk.


Bonus Fall Photos!

But wait! There’s more! First, remember the Perfect Gift Boutique today at the Three Rivers Arts Center from 10-4. This little building is the first building on the left, just over the bridge on North Fork Drive.