Saturday, August 28, 2010

Newest ACEO- Seashell

Friday, August 27, 2010

First cut- new House Finch pattern

Last edition- Portuguese Water Dog

This is the final edition (3/3) of my Portuguese Water Dog pattern P101. Double matted in black and blue to 8x10, $48. Now I need to get moving on the next PWD pattern that I am drawing!

Sunday, August 22, 2010

New Goals for September

Before my next show (mid September) I would like to do the following:

1.) Finish re-cutting the next edition of the 6 pieces I sold this weekend.
2.) Design another Portuguese Water Dog pattern. Seems to be flying off the shelves lately (relatively speaking).. Wonder why? :)
3.) Finish cutting at least some of my new pattern backlog.
4.) Lhasa Apso. Keep getting requests for one, need to finish up a pattern. And a cutting.
5.) Get some more work done on Point Reyes piece. It would be nice if I could finish it, but not expecting miracles here. At the rate I am going, I am doubting it will be complete before next year's circuit.
6.) Look into getting a clear sidewall for my tent. It would have been really nice to have this this past Saturday so I could have kept my BIGEXPENSIVE piece out on the front wall during the rain storm and still kept it protected from getting wet. Water and paper artwork are not friends.
7.) Design a booth layout that takes advantage of the fact that I will have a corner booth for the next show (I don't normally sign up for corners, but I was called off the waitlist and the was the only choice left).

Levis Commons art show, Perrysburg, Ohio

This weekend was my first away-from-home show that actually required a hotel stay (though I supposed I COULD have actually driven back and forth. an hour and a half each way. for three days straight. *shudder*). It was a well-run show, as is usual for the Michigan Guild of Artists and Artisans- they always have great folks working the shows, great organization so everything runs smoothly, and they treat the artists very well.

We got a bit unlucky with the weather unfortunately- rained all day Saturday from drizzly mist in the morning and evening to heavy rains in the middle of the day. At least the rain was coming straight down, so most of my artwork was safe since my newish test doesn't leak! Crowds were a bit light because of the rain, and I and most of the other artists I talked to were suffering low sales as a natural side-effect of that. In general really nice folks coming by, though I did have a couple of shoppers who should have been educated on wet-umbrella etiquette when one is around paper artwork (IE. don't hold the dripping umbrella OVER the works in the print bin, and if you must shake and snap your wet umbrella open as you head back out into the deluge, please try to aim it outside instead of all over the tent) :\ No permanent damage as far as I could see fortunately.

Sunday was GORGEOUS however, perfect weather, high 70's with a bit of a breeze and intermittent little clouds. And the people were out in force! I had a number of times my booth was full with people waiting to squeeze in- very inflating for the ego.. :)

Unfortunately, sales weren't quite was I was hoping for the whole weekend. I came close to breaking even for all my expenses, but that was it. I hope to apply to this show again next year and keep fingers crossed for good weather all weekend (and good economic conditions of course) so I can give it a another real trial! Either that or I can always try living in my car over the weekend to cut down out the hotel costs- just need to find access to plumbing and I suppose it could work.. :)

Monday, August 16, 2010

Goals checklist- final

So, referring back to my 'Goals' post about a month ago...

1.) large cottonwood piece- DONE!!!

2.) Point Reyes silhouette- still not even close.. :(

3.) Contemplation and Stargazer- DONE!

4.) Recuts of pieces sold at last show- DONE!

5.) New stylized tree- scribbled up some ideas, but no final form yet.

6.) Booth setup for photos- Still waiting for right weather and time.

7.) Banner and car-magnets design- DONE!

All in all, pretty good percentage!!

New ACEOs- Mushroom and Splash

Wednesday, August 11, 2010

New pattern- house finch

I have been taking tons of pictures of all the visitors to the bird feeder I got for a birthday present. This handsome boy was sitting on the top branch of the feeder just posing for me.. :)

Thursday, August 5, 2010

Crocker Park fall show

I got called off the waitlist for the Crocker Park fall art show in September. So I will be at this one as well- don't know the booth location for sure yet.

Crocker Park Fall Arts Fest
Saturday, September 18th, 10AM - 8PM
Sunday, September 19th, 11AM - 6PM
Crocker Park, Westlake

First cut- new Zebra pattern

Zebra
Serial: P289
Size: 8x10
$48