Category: Art Shows

Feb 02

Rejected and Dejected

Today was a sad day for me….the painting that I did to enter Pop Revolution‘s RED art competition was rejected. Over 100 paintings by 72 artists were entered…..60 paintings were accepted…..but not mine. That puts me in the bottom 40%…not a position I’m used to and certainly not a position I ever want to become used to. 


Okay, none of us like to face rejection…..and in this case I wish I’d gotten an explanation. The painting wasn’t good enough? Didn’t fit the theme of RED well enough?  I’m a lousy painter…WHAT WAS THE REASON???? What’s funny is that I almost never enter competitions like this…..I want to paint what I want to paint and not something that fits into someone’s idea of a good theme for an art show….but my goal this year is to get into more shows and art galleries. And my first attempt was rejected…..

Personally I find this painting to be rather exciting….what could I have done to make it better? I could have put more expression on her face….maybe splattered some paint all over her legs…but I think the over-all painting has a lot of movement in it.I think it reflects excitement and a passion for painting.

So…how am I dealing with this rejection? I went online….typed in how to deal with rejection as an artist and found an article on Joanne Mattera’s art blog. Click here to read the article. Reading it helped a little.……..she has written several other articles regarding rejection, maybe if I read all of them it will help a little more. And you know what’s really sad? I’m an adult, I’m a big girl….but I asked my husband if he’d go with me to pick up my rejected painting. I feel a little embarrassed about being rejected……

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Posted in Art Shows, Life Gets In The Way, The Business of Art

Jan 18

Round Paintings

Robert Lange is one of my favorite artists….his paintings are always fresh and original. For his latest show he’s created twenty round paintings. Yep, 8″ round paintings.

They look as though you’d taken a photograph in a mirror using a fish-eye camera lens. Can’t believe the bold colors and all of that detail he managed to paint into just a small 8″ round canvas. You can see more of this series he’s titled The Observer on his website www.robertlangestudios.com. And if you’re ever in Charleston, South Carolina be sure to visit his gallery in the French Quarter.

This is still one of my favorites.

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Posted in Art Shows, Inspiration, Painting

Jan 10

Painting Red

Pop Revolution Gallery in Mason, Ohio is having an art competition for their February show. It’s a juried exhibition open to artists in all mediums. The theme for this exhibit is the color RED. You can find the prospectus  at www.poprevolutiongallery.com . Since one of my goals for 2012 is to start exhibiting at professional galleries……I decided to do a painting that would fit into my Cincinnati Art Museum series which would also encompass the theme of Red. And how did I get started?

Well….I got started by first putting a drawing on canvas that ended up not having been drawn in the correct proportions. So, I decided to cover the drawing and tone it by painting the canvas with Green. The opposite of Red on the color wheel is Green, so I figured if a little bit of Green peeked through the painting….that it would add a little excitement.

This is one of my very favorite parts of painting….when the figure starts to materialize out of a blank canvas. I love it when the figure starts looking 3-D. This painting is going to be 24×30″…so I’m finding it much easier to paint realistically. Trying to paint figures on 16×20″ canvas is very difficult for me.

I only have two weeks to finish this painting…..hope I can paint under such a tight deadline. Why do I do this to myself?

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Posted in Art Shows, Painting

Oct 26

Gwyn Falo Exhibit at WACC

Stopped by the Woman’s Art Club in Mariemont yesterday.

Gwyne Falo was there hanging  paintings for her solo exhibit October 26-November 1st. The paintings are quite large and very striking. At first glance they looked unfinished…as though 3/4 of the canvas just has a loose charcoal drawing on it with the other 1/4   containing a completely painting figure. On further examination you realize that the juxtaposition of the two styles create a dynamic painting. My favorite was a drawing of three young boys with the only painted portion being one of the boy’s artificial mechanical leg.Very moving and memorable.

These are contemporary paintings of Christian inspiration. Gwyne Falo was very willing to….er…how do I put this delicately….she was very willing to share her religious beliefs with me. While I was uncomfortable being handed a religious pamphlet…..I was glad that I’d had a chance to see her paintings. They really are unlike anything I’d experienced before.

Gwyne Falo painting
The Woman’s Art Club Cultural Center

Barn Drawing
Welcomes a New Exhibit
“Passport to Heaven”

The Art of Gwyne Falo

October 26th – November 1, 2011

Opening Reception

Sunday, October 30th Noon – 5 pm

All are welcome!

Other viewing hours:

Tuesday – Friday   9 am – 5 pm

Saturday    1 – 4 pm

“The Barn”

Woman’s Art Club Cultural Center

6980 Cambridge Avenue

Mariemont, Ohio  45227

513-272-3700

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Oct 11

How To Be A Successful Artist

I have finally discovered the secret to being a successful artist….and I’m willing to share that secret with you for free. Follow this simple rule and you will be successful:

Do the exact opposite of what I do and you will be a financially successful artist.

Yep, it’s as simple as that. If I do an outdoor arts/crafts show, then you should approach galleries. If I insist upon painting the human figure, then you should paint landscapes. If I paint realistically, then you should paint abstracts. Really now, what was I thinking trying to sell this kind of artwork….

To this type of customer?

The Ohio Sauerkraut Festival features over 500 booths filled with everything from bottle cap jewelry to  wildlife photographs. And there was everything in between….needless to say, mine was one of the few booths selling artwork. And guess which booth sold $40,000 worth of merchandise? The garden nursery selling potted mums for $5.00 each. They had people waiting in line for the next truck delivery of plants. People were going nut-so over the mums. Which means that next year there will be more booths selling mums…heck, do what’s successful.

The show officially opened at 9am both Saturday and Sunday, but there were crowds of people there shopping each morning by 7:30am. I’ve never seen such eager crowds at an actual art show outdoors.

Best parts of the show (for me):

1) The pumpkin ice cream (natch)

2) A woman saying that she’d never seen anything like my artwork before…..I think that was a compliment.

3) I met a Cincinnati Bengal cheerleader..I think her name was Britney. I thought I’d recognize her photo on their website, but she looks different in full make-up and cheerleading outfit. The woman I met was beautiful, but she was wearing jeans, tee shirt, and a baseball hat. She thought it would be fun to have her portrait painted in her cheerleading outfit. Wouldn’t it be great if I could start painting all the Bengal cheerleaders….and players. Wishful thinking. If I were better at marketing, then I might be able to make it happen……

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Posted in Art Shows, The Business of Art

Oct 07

Sauerkraut and Art

What do Sauerkraut and Art have in common? Why the 42nd Annual Sauerkraut Festival of course. This weekend the Sauerkraut Festival will be held in Waynesville, Ohio. There will be plenty to eat and plenty of art to look at. The hours are Saturday, October 8th from 9a.m. to 8p.m. and Sunday October 9th from 9a.m. to 6p.m. Look for me in Booth #506.

For more information go to www.waynesvilleohio.com

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Posted in Art Shows

Sep 28

Hyde Park Square Art Show

This Sunday it’s going to be 65 degrees and sunny…the perfect weather for the Hyde Park Square Art Show. It’s held at the intersection of Erie and Edwards Roads just south of Rookwood Commons. Parking spaces get hard to find…so park at Rookwood and walk the two blocks South to the show.  Hours are 10am-5pm. Look for me in Booth #150 on Edwards. This is one of my favorite shows all year.

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Sep 15

Loveland Art Show

The Loveland Art Show is being held this Sunday September 18 from 11am – 5pm. It’s in Nisbet Park right on the Loveland Bike Trail…..lots of people take a bike ride and stop at the show to see the artist’s booths. This is one of my favorite shows to do because….people who attend are friendly and love to talk to the artists about their work.

I recognize some of the artwork used in this poster. The abstract landscape in the top right is a painting by Shannon Godby who won Best In Show last year. His website is www.shannongodby.com. And the misty photograph of a tree on the bottom right is a photograph taken by Patricia J. Johnson of www.pjcabinart.com. My friend Melanie MacArthur will also have a booth there. She’ll be glad to create a colored pencil portrait of you or your pet…or you and your pet.Her website is www.macarthurportraitart.com.

Oh, by the way…I’ll have a booth there, too….so look for the booth with the really large figure paintings in it. Stop by and spring for one of my new laminated bookmarks. For $6.00 you can’t go wrong!. You need a picture of my friend Myrtle hanging on your refrigerator…..

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Sep 12

Indiana’s Nicest Day

The Penrod Arts Fair bills it’s self as Indiana’s Nicest Day. And on Saturday it almost lived up to it’s billing…..we noticed that the attendees actually seemed very excited to be there. The show is held on the beautiful grounds of the Indianapolis Art Museum….it was as if we were in the gardens of some magnificent mansion. That said, it’s also a very large show, very spread out, and it could get confusing when you ventured onto the garden paths looking for other sections of the show.

I tried out a new booth set-up. Large paintings on one side and prints on the other. Not completely successful.

I loved the way my paintings looked hanging side-by-side…it looks as though they’re hanging in a gallery. Normally I would have hung them a little higher with other smaller paintings underneath. I like this uncluttered look, but it doesn’t really maximize wall space. I’ve read that Mid-Westerners prefer being in a booth that’s crammed full with stuff….maybe the clean lines of an art gallery intimidates them.

I probably need to buy several more print racks. I’m now selling original paintings, large prints on canvas, smaller prints on fine art paper, and very small laminated prints. Those are suitable for bookmarks, refrigerator art, or to hang on a bulletin board. Wow, I’m actually developing a product line!

I was told that the crowd was only about half the size it usually is……which surprised me because I thought it was a pretty good sized crowd! The weather probably kept some people away…it started out damp and humid, then it turned cold, and finally the sun came out….I really should have packed several outfits to change into during the day. The show stared at 9am (the earliest I’ve ever done) and there were people there and shopping even before it officially opened.

The show closed at 5:00, but we weren’t out of the park before 8:30….which is a very long load-out time. It was due to the fact that the roads within the park are very narrow and only a few cars were allowed in at a time. Thank God for the Penrod Boys. The Penrod Society is a non-profit, volunteer organization established for the support of cultural and arts educational activities in central Indiana.  There were well over 100 Penrod Boys  directing traffic and helping the artist to load up their vehicles.

One of the exciting parts of the day for me was seeing people rushing from the opposite side of the show directly into my booth. My large paintings do attract attention and I enjoyed talking to people about my artwork….that doesn’t happen at every show. One person who liked my work promised to talk to a friend who owns a shop/gallery in Indianapolis. I liked the fact that she said my artwork isn’t mainstream…..that explains a lot. I know that there’s a place for my art….but I haven’t quite found it yet.

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Posted in Art Shows, Tools of the Trade

Aug 24

What was I Thinking?

I’m really tired of hearing the phrase “during these tough economic times…”. However, due to these tough economic times Tom and I decided to stay in town and do as many local arts/craft shows as possible this Summer. It’s hard to make a profit doing out-of-town shows when you have hotel and food expenses. Makes sense, right?

It was damp and very foggy at 7am Saturday as we drove across town to set up for the Covedale Arts and Crafts Show.

By the time the tent was set up it was hot and sunny…the temperature was in the 90′s for most of the day.

We tried to stay in the shade as much as possible.

Really now…who ever decided that trying to sell arts and crafts on a black topped parking lot during the miserable heat of Summer was a good business idea? The exhibitors were miserable and the crowd was thin….as in not many people showed up.

I need to start selling my artwork in higher class venues…..we had a row of stinking garbage cans right behind our booth. This show did me in…..I’m no longer going to waste my time doing small shows where the attendees are more interested in buying dish towels and strung beads. My artwork isn’t selling because I’m trying to sell it to the wrong people. ‘Nuff said.

Gratuitous cute dog photo….hey, I had to keep myself amused somehow……

My next show is Penrod in Indianapolis. It’s held on the grounds of the Indianapolis Art Museum and is one of the top rated art shows in Indianapolis. We’ll see if a better venue brings better sales. If it doesn’t then…..maybe I need to start making better art….or hamburgers at a fast food joint.

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