BEING A "FEATURED ARTIST"
I am going through my available art and getting ready to be the "Featured Artist" at the Beach Art Studio in September. BTW, they are in the process of changing their name and have submitted the request to the state of Florida. If it is approved the name will become ST AUGUSTINE BEACH ART STUDIO AND GALLERY. That's a mouthful to say! I have volunteered to repaint their sign. Actually, I told them their sign is way too small. They have room to more than double the size and they should do that. The building is set back from the road a good distance so it is very important that the sign be highly visible! As soon as the request is approved, I will get to work on the new sign.
Enough of that..as I said I am going through my art to see if I have enough to fill the space and I want to make sure that I am putting my best foot forward, so to speak. In other words, I want to show my best work only. One of the paintings is different from the others, not usually what you want to do, but it is a really good painting, so I want to show it. The space used for Featured Artist consists of three walls totaling about 18 feet. So this painting will go on one of the walls (a shorter one) and the paintings that are similar will go on the other two walls. I have 12 paintings that I am considering, ranging in size from 8 x 10 up to 36 x 48. Most of them are not necessarily the same subject, but are similar in colors and technique as traditional landscapes. That is a good thing as artists come to be known for their particular style and colors. But they do create series of paintings that can be completely different. That is what I have here. I probably will take some of my art that is like the one large seascape to fill out the one shorter wall so that the artwork on each wall is consistent. That way it will show better and each series will be apparent as such. I think I will have the shortest wall display my "PSYCHEDELIC PALMS" series, the middle size wall with my seascapes, and the largest wall with my traditional landscapes. It seems many people do only one type of art, but I can't seem to stay in one genre. My mind is too active and I like many things, so I branch out and have fun! As long as they are kept separate, that is not a problem. Therefore, I show my more traditional landscapes at one restaurant, and the seascapes and palms at the other. I am going to show some of the palms at the first restaurant though, because they have given me two walls, so I will just show the palms on a different wall.
If you are a member of an art association that has a "Featured Artist" area, be sure to ask if you can be featured! That's all it usually takes, they told me. I asked when I first joined and had to wait a few months but it has been worth the wait. I didn't have enough paintings to show at first anyway. So this time has allowed me to paint and build up stock. An artist should have at least 25 paintings available at any given time I have read. That of course means that you must have storage space as well as a place to paint! It seems I have to walk around boxes of supplies and paintings to get to my easel nowadays. I don't like that, I like a clean space to work in, it's much more conducive to doing good work I feel. You may be completely different. It doesn't really matter as long as you are happy with your space. Some have a small corner of a room and others have a two-car garage as their studio, and a privileged few have an entire warehouse! Whatever you have is good as long as you can paint and enjoy it. I have a 12 x 12 room that I share with my husband's office desk. At least I have good lighting. We added spot lights all around the room when we built the house. I would love to glass in my back screened room and turn that into my studio, but that would be too expensive to do, especially here in Florida since I'd also have to add air conditioning.
I also encourage music as you paint. It stimulates the brain and soothes the soul encouraging creativity. I listen mostly to the music from JW.org. They have many songs that make me more creative, I especially love the "original songs." I find myself singing or humming along as I paint. My husband loves classical music, I do too, but not for painting. In art school, that was all we were allowed to listen to.
Well, I have posted a photo of the large seascape below. It is one of my favorites, so enjoy it. UPDATE: This painting just sold, but I got the collector to agree to let me go ahead with my plans to put it in the show for September. ( I gave her a discount in exchange ) Working with your client really pays off. She is happy she will have a painting from a show and I am happy not to have to replace such a large painting on short notice!
Thank you so much for your continued support, my audience is really growing. I now have viewers from all over the world! WOW!
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| "UNSPOILED BEAUTY" 36 X 48 Acrylic on canvas - Gallery wrap SOLD! |
