Thankful for Friends

OK, so, I'm still thinking about the Ann Arbor Show... One of the things I'm most thankful for are my friends and family who made such an effort to drive over and find me at the show. I know some people came who have never been to the art show before! I'm sure I'll forget someone when I try to list everyone, but I want to try to remember.

On the first day, first thing, while I was still in a daze, my good painting buddies Sandia and Mary came! That started my day out right!

I remember Michelle and her husband showing up- and said it was hard to find me, I wonder how many other people had trouble too. I had given post cards to a lot of people with the initial location that the Guild gave us, then right before the show they changed our location... I'm so glad they found me- what a great surprise! I heard Judy was there when I was away from the booth:-(, sorry Judy.

Our good friends Doug and Vandria came, I even got to sneak away and have dinner with them thanks to Lauren. So many of our longtime favorite friends came-Steve and Becky and Laura! and I got to spend some time looking around with them, yeah! -Dawn, Vern, and Brittney! It was such a fun surprise to see you! -Joan, Chelsea, Carol, Cathy! You were all so sweet to make the trip over. I wish I would have been there when you showed up, I would have enjoyed it so much. Patti and her sister Terri came out for a fun sister day! Happy birthday Terri! Jen, You're the best! You are such an encouragement and a blessing to me! I hope you had an awesome day with your girlfriends.

My dad and Becky even came! That was a huge surprise! We were taking a break and eating dinner when they happened to walk by!

Of course my favorite visitor and helper extrodinaire was Jamie!! and my favorite girls Cara and Jena. Thanks everyone for your support! and my family for your patience and help while I was concentrating on this for so long- you know I love you.

What's next?

Here's a photo of our shared booth. The sign above our booth said "Art as a Living". That was the name of the workshop that the Guild sponsered for teachers. Michigan art teachers could participate in the workshop then send in slides of their work to be juried. 5 of us were selected to share the booth. The Guild provided the tent and display units, and guidance from professional artists. It was very generous of them. This gave us the opportunity to experience what it is like for professional artists firsthand. I know this experience will benefit my students.

Now that the Ann Arbor Fair is over, I'm on to thinking about what I should do next. I sent some prints up to a local coffee shop for display today. I need to get more work up around town. I have a lot of original work for sale, and quite a few prints in a variety of sizes.

My artist friend down the street stopped by today to invite me to a workshop she's giving on Aug. 14th. That will be fun! I'll get to spend the day painting. She also invited me to participate in a small show at her house with a few of her other artist friends. That will be in Sept. Sounds like great fun to me. I'll get to meet her friends and try to sell some more work! So, I have to get ready for that now. I'll need to send postcards, and work on some display racks. Hopefully, we'll have good weather! Can't wait!

The Ann Arbor Fair was a good experience, I'm so glad I had the opportunity. I can't help but be disappointed however that I didn't sell enough to cover my expenses. Hopefully, I will get back the money through later sales. I have a lot to figure out on the business side of things... It would be great if I had some sort of manager to do all that for me. I need a rich patron!

I'm also thinking about the direction of my painting. I'm in the middle of 2 paintings that are barn scenes. They are off to a great start. I need to get back at it. We'll be camping next week, so I'll probably get some drawing done there- although, I am bringing along Harry Potter... that might be all I do for the whole trip, read and relax. My daughters just finished the book and loved it, it is sad that it's the last book... I'm going to take my time and really savor it. Talk to you soon.

details, details, and more details

There sure are a lot of little things to take care of. Today I took 5 more pictures in to have professionally photographed. I left postcards advertising the fair at a few places. I bought some more mats and frames for the prints I had made. Spent time matting and framing. The prints look great in the black mats with black frames. I'm really pleased with the way they came out. I hope I have time to frame the snow crab pictures, they would look really good framed the same way. The beach pictures look great in the black mats too. I priced some more things today too. My costs are really adding up! I hope I make some money back!

Getting Organized

I keep dabbing around on this one, still reworking the lace hankie... These things belonged to our Grandmas. Grandma Z's hankie, Grandma M's flower pin, Grandma J's pink earring... everything has a memory...

Getting organized. Last night I labeled, numbered, and wrote the size on the back of each piece. I made an inventory list. I'm working on labels to put next to each piece- gallery style. I bought foamcore yesterday for the backs of the labels. I'd like to get that done tonight.


I'm working on pricing. I'm thinking the smallest pieces at $150, mid size $300, and large will vary $500-$800. The gyclee prints will be $75, small photo copies $8, and postcards $1.50. I think these are very reasonable prices considering the time I put into some of them.


I actually do think that time-wise I would make more money this summer if I would have gotten a part time job at Walmart. Last fall I made $150 one day working at Walmart- all I had to do was stand in the school supply aisle with a Crayola apron on and hand out free markers to kids. I used that money to buy a new mattress- our old one was killing our backs. That was more money than I will make on one of my paintings- bummer... I don't want to be a "starving artist"! but, I do love to paint! I love playing around with color, I love how surprises happen in the process, I love how one color can look so different depending on the colors you put under it and around it, I love how mediums can change the whole effect, I love my brushes and my pallet, I love the feel of the canvas- especially bumpy canvas, I love the beginning of the painting when anything is possible, I love the struggle of knowing how to procede at each step, I love it that I never really know when I'm done, I really do love the whole thing!

prints available

I just remembered to tell you that I had gyclee prints made of 4 of my paintings that I guessed would be the most "sellable". The titles are:
"Jena and Mickey", a painting of my daughter holding our black cat. It was in a show at Ella Sharp Museum a few years ago. It won an award of $250.00!
"Back to the Field" (that's the sunflower painting I posted earlier), this painting was in a MAEA show.
"Last Bouquet", I think this is a very likeable painting. I did it last winter. I noticed some pansies and rosebuds still blooming in February in my garden on the dining room side of the house! I hope it's not another global warming indicator! Yikes! In honor of their accomplishment, I stuck them in a little vase a did an a la prima painting of them. I love the memory of it.
"My Backyard" was also in an MAEA show. It won an honorable mention. This is my backyard, you can see the afternoon shadow of my house in the foreground.
I'm really excited about these prints, and I'm especially hoping something sells. This gives me another pricepoint. It really is difficult to price things.