Hello again! Another busy week to report here. i got several paintings done, went to the First Friday Art Walk and participated in the Jacksonville Beach Art Walk! Whew, no wonder I am tired!
As I said before, I figured I wouldn't win anything with my entries in the Black, White, and Shades of Gray show and I didn't. Actually, my graphite drawing of the lady, "GRACE" was juried out of the show. Meaning, she wasn't accepted into the show. I actually thought she was the best of the three because she had the most expression in the fewest lines. But it just goes to show that beauty is in the eye of the beholder. I guess they wanted more lines, not less. In other words, more shading, etc. My gentleman 'DISTINGUISHED' did have more of that and he was accepted. It boils down to basically being a guessing game of what do they REALLY want to see. Your guess is as good as mine in many cases. That is why I always go look at the winners and take pictures. It helps me to ( hopefully) figure out what the judge is looking for. But then, it is after the fact or after the judging if you will. Maybe soon I will get the sense of it or just happen to have what they are looking for. Who knows?
On another note, I was told by my daughter that Jacksonville Beach has a monthly Art Walk. She happened to see a poster while up visiting. I looked it up and applied to be a participating artist. It was quick and easy and best of all, FREE! It is held every month on the second Tuesday from 5 - 9 pm. They send out an email to all approved artists and it's then first come first served. So you must reply quickly by email to get a spot. There are apparently 650 approved artists and only 105 spots available each month. January 10th was my first time going and I really enjoyed it! I hadn't done this before so I had to buy a table, get all my work ready and load everything into the car. My husband was a BIG help. It was a lot to do on short notice, but we managed and had fun in the process. I thought perhaps each spot would be marked, but they weren't. I ended up asking another vendor about it and she helped me figure out my location. She then gave me a pep talk about being patient and not expecting too much on my first day. I sold one painting, gave out several business cards, and received LOTS of compliments on my work. I thought that was a great first day! The painting covered my expenses+ and several people asked if I would be back next month so they could see more work and hopefully bring their money. I hope they do too! Give it a try for yourself, it's fun!
I don't think that large paintings are necessarily the way to go, but I will always take some to showcase my work and you never know, right? Smaller, more contemporary paintings seem to sell best, I think. By contemporary, I mean abstract, simpler or unframed gallery wrap paintings. Any of these three qualify. Especially if they are brighter colors. At the beach, seascapes are always a hit too. BTW, this leads me into another discussion along this line.
There is a new GENRE of art called NIAVE art. You can google it, but simply put it is art that consists of bright colors that look almost childlike. It is very popular, but it is definitely an acquired taste for some. I don't much like it. except for the bright colors. That I DO like. But the childlike qualities are not my taste at all. I worked too hard to "get it right" to go backwards in my opinion. BUT, that is just my opinion. Many people LOVE it! So, if that is what you want to do, go for it! You might get famous quickly, who knows, right?
I finished my 'FIFTY SHADES OF GREEN" painting, and I love it! It truly takes me back to Ireland. That is a beautiful country and there are so many abandoned cottages and castles begging to be painted, or moved into for that matter! The economy there is not good so many leave the country every year looking for a better life elsewhere. There are so many properties that have no owners anymore and are just setting empty and have been for many years. It is such a shame. But I digress. Ireland gets tons of rain annually so the land is VERY green and is actually called fifty shades of green. So, naturally, I named the painting after the slogan. Also, as I said before, I painted several new smaller paintings for the Art Walk. I have pictures below so you can see them. Enjoy! And also a picture of my booth. Thanks for Looking!
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| "FIFTY SHADES OF GREEN' 8 x 10 Acrylic |
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| "JACKSONVILLE BEACH ART WALK" Notice how many small paintings I have compared to the large ones I didn't put all of them out as I didn't want it to look crowded Sone of the paintings I took to the Art Walk |
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| "VENETIAN STEPS" 18 X 24 |
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| "HARVEST MOONSHINE" 8 x 8 |
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| 'SUNRISE SURPRISE" 8 X 8 |
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| 'These four mini paintings are 4 x 5 each and sold on an easel Perfect for small spaces or display shelves |
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| "PEEK OF THE MORNING" 8 X 8 |
