Things Artists Have to Figure Out

I recently agreed to submit 5 pieces to an upcoming show in the Exeter Courthouse Gallery, now called CACHE. (Can’t remember what it stands for). The show is called “Locals Only”, and although I have never lived in Exeter, my studio was there for 9 years, so I qualify as a local.

This means I have to figure out what to submit. There are many things to take into consideration:

  1. Who will the audience be?
  2. Shall I submit oil, pencil, or both?
  3. Do I have any new oil paintings that I haven’t already shown at this gallery?
  4. Are they scanned or photographed, titled, and varnished?
  5. Do I have any new pencil pieces?
  6. How many are new? Oops, that means unframed.
  7. Do I have any frames and mats that will fit the new pencil pieces?
  8. Shall I unframe older pieces that haven’t sold and use those frames and mats for the new pieces?
  9. What shall I say about these pieces for the QR code that will allow a viewer to learn about them?
  10. Can I make the voice recording work?
  11. How will I sound like a knowledgeable confident artist rather than a silly newbie?
  12. How does one send a voice recording?
  13. How many of my current obsession (orange groves with foothills and the Sierra) is too many in the same show?
  14. What shall I title these pieces that all look similar? (Did Monet or Van Gogh or whoever it was just say “Haystack # Forty-eleven” or “Water Lilies # umpty-umpt”?)

These are drying in the sun; sure hope nothing natural befalls them. I’d better move them inside.

An artist could need a nap after all these difficult decisions.

 

Various and Sundry Calendar Thoughts

Matilija Poppies, 5×7″, NFS*

What does “sundry” mean? Various, miscellaneous, separate, diverse. Its use is redundant in the title of this post, but a longer title seems to please the search engines. Maybe I should use all four words. . . but maybe I should just get on with it here.

  1. I took a calendar to a friend in a convalescent hospital, along with a wrapped book. She received the book, but the unscrupulous front desk did not deliver the calendar. When I called to ask about it, my inquiry was met with surly and suspicious defensiveness. Ugh. My friend was scheduled for release last week, so I saved the final calendar for her return home.
  2. A customer in North Carolina ordered a calendar, and it was never received. First Class Large Envelopes don’t have tracking through the USPS.
  3. Since the calendars are sold out, I looked into reordering. The smallest quantity is 10 calendars, which would cost me $23 each. Nope. I told the North Carolina customer that I’d send her a refund check.
  4. Something told me to verify the North Carolina address before sending the check. Sure enough, she had given me the wrong one, and she told me to forget the refund.
  5. If the calendar makes its way back to me, I will mail to her at the right address.
  6. The List of Calendar Ideas now contains nine different suggestions. Maybe I can design for nine years ahead. 

 

*NFS means Not For Sale

 

New Cards

If you subscribe to my newsletter, you learned that I have some new cards for sale, and this post will be a refresher for you.

What do you do when it rains day after day?

Besides being a looky-loo at all the flowing water around Three Rivers, apparently I sit around designing and ordering new cards. Then I fold and package them, in three different assortments.

Bigger than my normal little notecards, these glossy cards are 4-3/4 x 7-1/2″, a package of 4 cards with envelopes for $20.

Three assortments:

  1. Tulare County: Citrus Cove, Citrus & the Sierra, Farewell Gap at Dusk, Honeymoon Cabin (1 each of 4 pictures, with envelopes)
  2. Citrus Groves: Citrus Cove, Citrus & the Sierra (2 each of 2 pictures, with envelopes)
  3. Mineral King: Farewell Gap at Dusk, Honeymoon cabin (2 each of 2 pictures, with envelopes)

If you order, I will pay the postage.

BUT WAIT! THERE’S MORE!

I also put together packages that have four cards with envelopes, all the same design. This is NOT on the website, so if you have a particular favorite and would like a package of just that design, let me know via email or phone or old fashioned mail or catch me somewhere in Three Rivers. Same price.

Solds in November and December

Today’s post is a visual list of pencil, colored pencil, and oil paintings, some commissioned, some sold through galleries, some to people getting in touch via email, and from the one show that I didn’t do. You have probably seen all of these, but not in one big whack that makes me feel all puff-headed and successful.

Christmas in Exeter

Shopping? Not this little gray duck.

But maybe you live locally, and maybe you enjoy shopping.

Christmas in Exeter is more than shopping. Every Thursday night in December is an event unto itself. Many businesses offer refreshments, deals, lights, gift wrap, fun and good cheer. There is a tram that runs from one end of the town to the other (along Pine, from B Street to E Street), maybe carolers, maybe Santa. The entire evenings feel very small town, old fashioned, traditional, and just good. 

One place that might be getting a little less visitation than in the past is the Mural Gallery & Gift Shop. This little treasure is run by the Mural Team, AKA Exeter a Festival of Arts. This is the tireless crowd of dedicated volunteers who have turned Exeter into an outdoor art gallery and made the town a destination.

Because this gallery is small, it is often overlooked. An injury was recently added to the insult of being overlooked: the Wildflower Cafe next door closed. Now there is much less foot traffic passing by the gallery. Hence, this advertising blog post.

This gallery is full of art by folks who have painted murals in Exeter. There are originals, prints, and both tchotchkes and useful items featuring murals, in a wide variety of prices and styles.

This gallery has been selling well for me for several years, and I want them to get the attention and visitation they deserve!

I took these photos at sunset when the gallery was closed, so they don’t properly show off the place. Nor do they convey the lively atmosphere of a Thursday night in Exeter. 

If this sort of thing appeals to you, I suggest going tonight and/or next Thursday.

Additionally, the Courthouse Gallery is open on Thursday nights this year, where there is still time to see the show Falling Into Winter and participate in their Thursday night events.

This is the museum part of the Courthouse Gallery, photo courtesy of Dwight Miller.

Juried Show Coming Soon

After my post called “Juried Or Judged?”, one might have gotten the idea that I don’t participate in such shows. In general, I don’t. Lots of artists develop a following by entering shows all over the country, paying entry fees, shipping art, paying to have it boxed and shipped back, hoping for prizes, hoping for sales, and likely, ending up discouraged and poor.

I don’t enter shows that are far away. I am a Central California artist, specifically a Tulare County artist who takes great pleasure and pride in finding the best things of this place I’ve called home for 63 years. (We may not qualify for a Trader Joe’s or a university or even for litter-free pothole-patched roads, but we feed the world and don’t you forget it!)

When there are local shows with nominal or no entry fees, shows that aren’t too much trouble to enter, shows that will keep my work and name in the public eye (where old and new customers can find me, because I came here to earn a living), shows that seek the type of work that I do (realistic subjects based in Tulare County), then I might be interested.

Such a show is coming soon. Artists are allowed to enter 3 pieces. It is juried because they have both standards and limited space. 

The last time I entered this show, my work was small and placed in a dark corner, which did not do it any justice. Many years later, my work is larger, brightly colored, and I have 7 pieces that I want to enter. I don’t know how to decide which 3 to submit. 

Maybe some of these will sell before the show; that’ll help me decide.

What is your Central California artist going to do?? Stay tuned. . .

2023 Calendars Available Here, $20 inc. tax.

 

 

An Invitation

Another Reception at Exeter’s Courthouse Gallery and Museum is coming Sunday afternoon, December 11, 2-4 p.m. This show is Falling into Winter, where I have three pieces, including this one, “Unspiced”, 6×12″. (Don’t you think that name is terrific??) 

Half the gallery is pieces relating to Autumn/Fall; the other half is pieces relating to winter. There is a wide variety of media (that is the plural of “medium”, which is Art Speak for “stuff used to make art”.) All is for sale, except the pieces that already sold. Duh. Thank you Captain Obvious.

Calendars

2023, Mineral King HIKES, available here: Calendars

You’ll need to click/tap on the link above to see the back of the calendar, not shown out of respect for my Most Faithful Blog Commenter who never allows herself to see what it is in it until the appropriate month arrives.

Juried or Judged?

This ornament was neither juried nor judged, although I may have judged it to be too difficult to try again.

Most folks don’t know the difference between these two J words; most people don’t need to know.

Many artists don’t know either, but artists who want to participate in shows need to know.

Juried

This means, “We might let you into our show or we might not. Don’t call us; we might call you, IF we deem your work worthy of our Mighty Event.”

Judged

Judging results in this: “Her piece is the best; we liked his better but it didn’t fit the categories so we gave it First Place instead of Best of Show. Yours is pretty decent, so here’s an Honorable Mention.”

Juried and/or Judged

Some shows are juried because they have standards; some shows are juried because they have limited space; some shows are juried for both reasons.

Some shows are judged because ribbons or prize money might bring in more artists and/or better sales. (I think ribbons make good bookmarks.)

Judging is extremely subjective, even when there are guidelines that the entrants are supposed to have followed. I watched a judging demonstration once, where the audience got to see the give-and-take that happens among the judges. Because of this negotiation and trading of favorites, an ugly piece got first place. I found it to be disappointing, but it certainly explained why award selections at art shows seldom make sense. 

The lesson was helpful, and pushed me to decide to not participate in most of those types of shows. My work is for my customers, regular people rather than those in the Art World Who Know Better Than Most. 

Gotta admit though, it is nice when one of those folks acknowledges my work. Still, it is better when I can satisfy customers.

Using pencils, oil paints, and murals, I make art that people can understand of places and things they love, for prices that won’t scare them.

(I’d rather get a check or cash than another bookmark: a satisfied customer is the best reward.)

2023 Calendars Available Here, $20 inc. tax.

Experimenting with Alien Pencils

As a professional artist, it is important to keep my work consistent and to meet deadlines. This doesn’t leave much room for experimenting, something that I view as a luxury for hobbyists. Hobbyists can do anything they choose, whatever inspires them, no deadlines, no need for a signature look (called a “voice” in Art Speak).


A number of years ago, a drawing student/friend gave me a super generous gift of some pencils that I had never heard of. “Graphitint” by Derwent are water soluble pencils, described as having “a hint of earthy color”, but are neither graphite nor colored pencils. After making a chart to see what this “hint of earthy color” looked like, I tried a bit of water on the swatches, drew a small picture, decided it was hideous, and just put it all away.

Recently my friend Carrie Lewis asked me to write another article for her digital magazine, Colored Pencil Magic. At first I told her that I had already written everything I knew about colored pencils. Then I remembered my Graphitints, right there in my stack of colored pencil boxes and tins.

I couldn’t very well write an article stating I had tried them ten years ago and then shoved them aside. 

So, I decided to learn more about these alien pencils. I chose a photo to work from and started another chart to pick the right colors and get a feel for them.

What alien creatures – soft like 6B graphite, but still different than colored pencils. I thought back to a great drawing teacher I’d had who only let us use 6B pencils, keeping a super sharp point. That gave me the confidence to dive in here. After all, it’s only paper, and I do know how to draw.

It was enjoyable, because I listened to Peggy Rowe read from her book Vacuuming in the Nude and Other Ways to Get Attention, (on her son’s blog “The Way I Heard It”). And it was enjoyable because I love to draw, even with alien pencils.

Enough. Many layers, like colored pencils. Lots of ad libbing, along with severe editing, and this little 5×7″ drawing with alien pencils was finished.

Eight Things Made November the Busiest Month

Many responsibilities and opportunities in November

  1. Little Bucky
  2. Online Painting Seminar: I gave this an entire day during my busiest month and learned things that you probably don’t care about. However, this palette, made up of only 3 primaries and white is impressive. (I use 6 primaries and white, and thought that was simple!) Besides, it is pretty.
  3. Website Repairs: my designer helped me get it a bit more functional. She told me that there are things to do to improve the readership, and I told her that I don’t want to try to get strangers to find me. The people who are interested in my art and my life are people that I either already know, or people who I will eventually meet, because we care about the same things and places.
  4. The art emergency pencil drawing, which I showed you yesterday.
  5. New commissions: one pencil drawing, two large paintings all needed before Christmas
  6. Holiday Bazaar: New paintings needed, finished paintings gathered from Kaweah Arts, new cards ordered, calendars ordered. Even though I was a no-show, everything had to be packaged, priced, boxed up, hauled to the Memorial Building, set up. 
  7. There were a few more items, but they’re private, because after all, in spite of being read only by people I know, this is the World Wide Web.
  8. New Murals Coming! I bid on and designed three, was “awarded” two, and now await further instruction as to when I can begin. This is St. Charles of Borromeo, the largest Catholic Church in North America, located in Visalia, Tulare County, California. Yep, right here in little ol’ Too-larry County.

 

Calendars

2023, Mineral King HIKES, still available here: Calendars

I’d show you the back of the calendar, but out of respect for my Most Faithful Blog Commenter you will need to click on the link to see it. Sharon buys a calendar every year, and never allows herself to see what it is in it until the appropriate month arrives.