Fun Holiday Bazaar

11-x-14-2016-bazaar-poster-final-final

This is always a nice event – lots of interesting merchandise, plenty of raffle prizes, pleasant people, beautiful location and good weather.

I will bring the iPad and the Square. Perhaps you will bring your checkbook or cash, because so far I’m 2 for 2 in that technology not working.

mem-bldg

Save

Save

The Season of Donations and Fund Raisers

‘Tis the Season of Donations and Fund Raisers, asking artists to give away their work.

I have a strong policy about this*, and it includes donating to an occasional cause.

The policy came after the year that I donated more than I sold.

This year I am donating an oil painting of an orange to Exeter’s Courthouse Gallery. They will give me one ticket to their event, but I won’t be attending. I don’t want to buy a second ticket for someone to come with me. And I don’t want to be there while my painting is auctioned, because if no one bids, I might just die of complete and total mortification.

But, I hope this oil painting of an orange brings $60 at a minimum, because that is what I would charge for it if I sold it myself. (And the IRS would allow me to write off the cost of the canvas, the metal hanger on the back of the canvas, and the oil paint. Pray tell, oh wise bureaucrats, how do I calculate the cost of the oil paint??)

Orange #130, 6x6", oil on wrapped canvas
Orange #130, 6×6″, oil on wrapped canvas

*Perhaps it is time to reprint that policy. . .

Backyard Boutique Report

I found the location of the Backyard when Trail Guy and I took my stuff down on Friday to set up. Then we covered it all with drop cloths against the morning dew.

The next morning I left home in the dark, parked far from the Backyard and hiked in through the dawn’s early light. Like that phrase? Sometimes these shows feel as if I am preparing to do battle. Such is the business of art. (And it was a hike – I had food and water with me.)

HEY! There was a sign proclaiming Pop-Up Market in the driveway! I’m still liking the name Backyard Boutique. It was damp and coldish on the grass at 7 a.m. and I was amazed at the organization of all the pop-up tent tops in the Backyard. There must have been 30!

 

img_4730

img_4734

img_4736

The sun was a welcome sight. The doors opened at 8 and the steady stream of people began.

img_4737

This is the booth of my friend Brenda who invited me to join the show. She makes felted purses and iPad cases, and they are beautiful. BEAUTIFUL. She sells them for $60 (I think that’s the price), and having made a couple myself, I know this only barely covers the cost of the yarn.

Speaking of iPads, I took one to the show so I could accept plastic from people using the Square. I tested it on Friday and it worked! I tried it on Saturday and it wouldn’t. That’s 2 for 2. . . instead of buying a device to further my sales, I seem to have bought Trail Guy an expensive radio, weather and Mineral King webcam checker.

img_4738

My booth was in the back under the trees on the dirt. I chose this location because the trees provided shade, since I don’t have a pop-up. I usually don’t do outdoor shows, so haven’t needed one.

Sales were steady all day, I met many nice people and reconnected with old friends. Then I came home and reconnected with this friend. Please excuse the blur and enjoy the cuteness of Samson when he isn’t biting.

img_4722

 

Backyard Boutique

Please forgive me for bothering you on a Saturday. It seemed prudent to remind you of this backyard boutique today.

Today I am participating in a backyard boutique at a home in Visalia along with about 30 crafters. As far as I know, I am the only painter, or “fine” artist or perhaps you could call me a “2-dimensional artist”.

People are sensitive about such things.

Me? I am an artist, not an “artiste”. WHY do people insist on saying it that way?

But I digress. Stop by if you are in Visalia from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m.

2016-craft-fair-flyer-2

November is the Busiest Month

Tomorrow begins the busiest month of my business. November is the month of boutiques and bazaars, almost every weekend.

The first event is this coming Saturday in someone’s backyard in Visalia. I think of it as the Backyard Boutique. Yes, I know it is obvious, but the alliteration is too fun to pass up.

The theme of this boutique is ONLY ONE. This means there will only be one person with each type of item. It won’t be one of those shows where there is mostly jewelry or nothing but those boring old oil painters. . . ho hum. . .

DON’T WORRY! I won’t be any more boring than I usually am. I will have 4 different coloring books and my new calendar, The Bridges of Tulare County, along with oil paintings, The Cabins of Wilsonia, notecard packages, and probably some other things I am forgetting right now because there is a ferocious little cat wreaking havoc in my space.

Here is the official flyer. Mr. Google can help you find the place. I certainly hope he helps me find it too.

2016-craft-fair-flyer-2

Save

Sequoia Art Show Reception

The art reception for the Sequoia Art Show was well attended. It appeared that everyone had a good time. I did. Thank you for coming!

IMG_4260
Hey, Kelvin! Look left – Nadi’s art is fabulous!
IMG_4261
Look at all those people having a nice time.
IMG_4262
A lull. . . it is a privilege to have my work in the same room as Nadi Spencer’s paintings.
IMG_4263
All spaced out like that on white walls. . . if the floors were shiny, I’d feel as if my work had truly arrived.
IMG_4265
Lauren, a friend and drawing student – she and I both got haircuts, and she donated her locks to Pantene to make a wig for cancer patients.
IMG_4267
This is how Trail Guy attended the show – in the place of honor right in the foyer.

P.S. These 2 sold:

1501 atwellFour Guardsmen

Sequoia Art Show Details

Would you like to spend an hour or so in air conditioning, looking at art of Sequoia National Park, drinking wine and noshing on “or derves”? (You don’t really expect me to spell that word, do you?)

Bridge at Lodgepole2On Sunday, August 7, 2-4 p.m., Courthouse Gallery in Exeter, 125 South B Street, you can do exactly that.

At least four artists will be participating: Nadi Spencer, Shirley Keller, Anne Brantingham, and me. There might be others, but life is full of unknowns.

Sequoia, particularly Mineral King, has been my main subject for many years, and I am ready to share those pieces in a fine gallery. At last count, I had TWENTY-ONE pieces to show, both oil paintings and pencil drawings!

I’ll bring coloring books – Heart of the Hills, and Heart of Mineral King. Exeter and Sequoia coloring books won’t be ready yet. . . that will give the colorists among the crowd something to anticipate after the post-show letdown, if they are prone to such emotional swings, and assuming there will be “a crowd”.

I hope you will be there too. I’d hate to get all gussied up and and then have to hang out by myself. (I have a somewhat hassle-some new haircut.)

Save

Show on Short Notice

Told you it was a busy week! So busy that I forgot to post.

I received a “Call to Artists”. This is ArtSpeak for “Hey, wanna put your art in a show?”

The point of the show is to celebrate the centennial anniversary of the National Park Service.

The duration of the show is August 1 – September 30.

The location is the Courthouse Gallery in Exeter.

The deadline for entry is JULY 14!! Tomorrow!

The entry process was a little vague and somewhat complex, and with the short notice, I was scrambling. I have plenty of art of Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks, probably enough to fill the entire Courthouse Gallery all by my lonesome, but it has to be framed, the size determined, a price set, titles assigned, and photos or scans taken. This is part of the business of art.

Suddenly instead of working on the Exeter coloring book, I was pulling drawings from drawers, taking frames from storage and off the walls, digging through a box of mats, retouching drawings and occasionally reshaping them so they will fit in available mats and frames.

Bridge at Lodgepole2 Roaring River Falls2

Tomorrow I will describe my framing process. Prepare to either laugh or start snatching yourself bald in frustration.

Redbud Report Continued

Heart of the Hills

Yesterday I told you that fifty-eight coloring books, Heart of the Hills, sold during the annual Redbud Festival in Three Rivers.

Lest you think I could have just skipped the booth set up and plopped myself at a card table with a stack of coloring books, plenty of other items also sold. I even had the privilege of seeing some new friends from Fresno who came specifically for pencil drawings, which I had to race home and retrieve. So glad I live close, and that Trail Guy delivered my car to me, since I had walked to work that morning.

Cards, small oil paintings and tee shirts remain popular. But the coloring book stole the show.

My booth was busy almost the entire time, and sometimes I’d see someone sort of hovering around the edges. While I’d be talking with someone else, I’d just pick up a coloring book and pass it over the the hoverer, who invariably said, “How did you know that is what I was looking for?!”

I lied and said I had read her mind. (I hope no one got freaky about that.) It was just obvious to me, taking into account the tremendous popularity and publicity the coloring book is receiving.

Besides, I’ve been doing this show off and on since 1987, so I can read people pretty well.

Wow. It was a busy busy weekend, and I am so thankful to have had this pleasant and peaceful walk to work each morning of the show.

It is truly a blessing to live in Three Rivers.

IMG_2818

Redbud Report

Redbud is shorthand for The Redbud Festival, an annual arts and crafts fair in Three Rivers. It happened this past weekend. Because I live nearby, I was able to set up my booth on Friday afternoon with the help of Trail Guy and the trusty Botmobile. (That is his 1986 Toyota pickup with 300,000+ miles. If you need a fabulous mechanic, I HIGHLY recommend Foreign Autoworks in Visalia – Toyota, Honda, and their derivatives only. 559-734-8285.)

IMG_2817

I purposely brought fewer oil paintings than usual. Just wondering and experimenting with how the booth looks to see if less is more or if less is a bore.

IMG_2816I knew that coloring books would be the big deal, so I hung the somewhat cheesy sign where it could be seen from each entry. And I brought the finished commissioned painting of the Three Rivers house, along with the in-progress version of the Oak Grove Bridge.

IMG_2815

I liked the uncluttered look of the screens. Along with oil paintings and coloring books, I had Mineral King tee shirts (now sold out enough to be removed from my website), notecard packages, and Wilsonia cabin books.

It was all mostly a backdrop, a little gallery for the purpose of selling coloring books.

FIFTY-EIGHT COLORING BOOKS SOLD!

Heart of the Hills is available here and at Kaweah River Trading Co., Three Rivers Mercantile, and the Three Rivers History Museum, all in Three Rivers.