What I Know Now About Art Festivals

This past weekend I was in an art festival, The Queeny Art Fair.  It's run twice each year by the local art organization, Greater St. Louis Artists Association.  I'm a juried member.  This was my fifth art fair and I'm learning a lot.  This time I was able to borrow a professional booth from my artist friend Jean McMullen. Thanks, Jean!

I think this made a huge difference in presenting my work to the public.  I did learn, however, to make better tags next time.  I printed short blurbs about each piece (with the price) and taped it to the panel.  The tape didn't stick very well, so I spent a lot of time putting them back up.  Next time I'll attach the tags with velcro (duh).  I loved this set up and wouldn't change a thing.

Talking to clients - I'm learning about that, too.  I feel much more comfortable selling myself and my work, now.  However, there were a few times I think I could have closed the deal, but I let the client walk away.

Talking to the juror - The juror was very nice and professional.  She only spent a few moments in my booth and asked me to describe my work (in a sentence or two).  Next time I'll have my "elevator speech" ready!  I don't think I did a terrible job but I can do much better and it may make the difference in winning an award (I didn't).

I'm looking forward to the next art festival!  What have you learned?

Try Having An Art Show At Home

I have an artist friend who I see a couple of times each year.  We taught at the same elementary school - I'm a retired teacher - and now we're friends in this new way.  She's a jewelery and fiber artist and she excels at both mediums.  We both juried into the The Best Of Missouri Hands, a non profit artists' organization promoting excellence in the arts.  We attended a conference together which was fun.  She has several small boutiques each year in her home and invites her artist friends to sell their work.  It's low-key and I've met some wonderful people.

Here are photos of her jewelry displays, plus fiber art on the wall.  She's been creating jewelry for quite awhile and has built a large following.

She does Nuno felting and makes scarves and wraps.  Her love of this medium has recently led her to try some wall art. We talk about our art techniques and the business side of selling art.  I've learned a lot & I hope she has learned a few things from me, too.

Here's my set up at her house.  I pulled a few original paintings as well as some prints and cards from the galleries I'm in.  Don't you think having an art show in a home is a great idea?    

Three Art Galleries I Love

I just got back from Seattle (that's why I didn't post last week), visiting my kids and grandkids.  Great time, terrible weather.  But my daughter and I managed to drive out of the city to Edmonds.  This is such a darling little place.  Cute shops and lovely art galleries.  This time, we went to two galleries:  Semantics and Cole.  We visited Semantics last summer for a colored pencil exhibit.

                                                                   Semantics Gallery

                                                                    Cole Gallery

This time we included Cole gallery because Eileen Sorg has a special exhibit of her colored pencil works.  I'm blown away by the talent of these artists!  Excited, too, because she's offering a workshop in October.  Gotta try to go to that.

We also went to the Women Painters Of Washington exhibit, "Encounters".  I'm envious of this group and wish there was something similar where I live.  Their gallery is located in downtown Seattle.  There were various mediums, just one colored pencil piece.  I'm always thrilled to see other colored pencil work up close.

Have you been to any exhibits lately?

Best Free Art Exhibit Spaces You Haven't Thought Of

I just installed ten of my colored pencil art paintings at a local library, the St. Louis county library Daniel Boone Branch. for the month of April.  They were super nice and I love how my art looks among the book shelves!  The Greater St. Louis Artist Association has many opportunities for juried members to display their work in a variety of venues.

Call your local library to find out whether or not you can display your art - sometimes there is a waiting list, but they're very happy to have your work.

Last year I had an exhibit of my work at a local nursing home, Brooking Park.  This was also for one month.  The residents enjoyed seeing original art.  Many visitors came through the show as well as staff members - all potential buyers!  I was able to leave business cards and information about my custom house portraits.

I displayed my paintings in a local coffee shop for a month.  Unfortunately this one wasn't satisfactory for me - the owner took my paintings off the walls to put up another artist's work without telling me.  My paintings were sitting on a back shelf with the coffee for two weeks.  Ugh.  I still think this is a great idea, though.  I'm looking for a little restaurant or cafe next time.

I just heard an idea about showing art in a home - creating a private exhibit - on the Artists Helping Artists radio show with Leslie Saeta.  Sounds like fun, maybe wine and cheese?

So...think outside your art exhibit box...

Sold!

                                             ACEO  "Two Cherries"  Susie Tenzer on Etsy

What Are Your Favorite Things From 2011?

 I want to wish all of my blog readers a happy holiday season!  Thanks for your support this past year.  I've been thinking about what I loved about 2011.  So much happened to me this year.  My art career jumped to the next level - I entered art shows, sold paintings, juried into two art organizations, joined an art gallery.  I worked really hard to raise the bar.  My bar.  Anyway, there are other things I just loved about this past year.  For my 60th birthday, my kids surprised me with a present.  We don't give one another presents, so this was a huge surprise.  I got an Ipad.  Wow, do I love it!  I lug it around the house, surf stupid sites constantly, check my  Etsy shop way too many times.  Last night I crawled into bed and watched a terrible movie on Netflix.  It's great!  I put a ton of apps on it that I don't really use, like Kindle.  I haven't downloaded any books, but I do like to browse through them to see what's new.  I read the book blurbs and reviews.  Which leads me to tell you about a book I loved this past year by Stephanie Kallos, Broken For You.  What a fantastic story, kind of quirky, lots of levels and metaphors.  It was a juicy book for our book club.  We talked for an hour about the main character, an older woman who lives in a mansion in Seattle.  She has a huge collection of porcelain and meets a younger woman who ends up living in her mansion.  Both women are guarding dark secrets and look for redemption.  Sounds way too serious, but it's also funny and sweet.  Talking about sweet, I love looking at Foodgawker on my Ipad.  I'm addicted!  People post their gorgeous food photos, mostly from food blogs.  I had no idea there's a whole world out there of food blogs!  I'm not a real foodie, but these photos and blogs are amazing.  Well, there you have it, some of my favorite things from 2011.  I'm looking forward to writing more blog posts, creating more art and getting to know more of you.

Why Am I Buying This Painting?

I just sold three paintings at my first art show!  I met so many nice folks and it made me think about the three people who bought my art.  It seems kind of obvious, but the first question you should ask yourself is, do you like the painting?  You'll undoubtedly notice that the artwork has a certain artistic style that's appealing.. It might be brush strokes, a repeated image or a particular color palate that speaks to you.  Now, I've just got to make a personal comment.  A painting doesn't have to match your decor or color scheme - really!  Mixing types of art, contemporary and traditional, is what makes a room interesting.  At an art show, you can usually talk to the artist.  Ask about the piece - what's the process, the inspiration, the back story?  You'll often get entertaining and enlightening answers which will make the artwork more meaningful to you.  I sold a painting of a Koi pond.  I took several photos at a lovely Japanese garden in Seattle.  I spied an interesting looking duck being followed by a beautiful fish and voila, a painting was born!  Ask yourself if you like the artist and if you like the price.  Walk around the show to see if the piece you want to buy is comparable to other similar art pieces.   A note about bargaining - prices are sometimes flexible, especially at an art show.  Be courteous and reasonable, sometimes it works.  I was thrilled to have a successful show!  I'm looking forward to my next one at the Foundry Art Centre.  The Big Red Box holiday art show will be held in St. Charles, Mo. on Dec. 2 from 4pm - 9pm & Dec. 3 from 10am - 5pm.  Join me if you're in the area, I'd love to meet you!

                                                        Here's my booth at CraftOutLoud!

My First Art Show CraftOutLoud!

My first art show - I'm nervous!  I'm preparing to sell my art at a new show in St. Louis called CraftOutLoud! on Nov. 5 & 6.  I saw a note about the show in my friend Carla Mash-Duncan's newsletter.  She makes beautiful jewelry and textiles under the name Duncan Designs.  I've never been in an art show before but I contacted the director and I was accepted (it's an invitational show).  One of the things I'm worried about is the booth.  Wow, some folks make their booths pretty elaborate!  Plus, I don't want to spend much money on this thing.  Myles (my husband) has some metal grid panels left over from shows he did years ago in the custom print industry.

 I have a 4' X 6' space.  The panels are 2' X 8', so we're going to clip three panels together for the back of the booth and one or two panels on each side.  My brother-in-law offered to give me black material (he owns  a hat company) that we're going to use to cover the panels.  I think I can use drapery hooks to hang my artwork.  I bought a card rack for my printed greeting cards and I have a nice basket to hold my art prints.  I'm not sure how to display these, but maybe I'll put them on folding tray tables.  There's so much to think about as I'm getting ready for the show!  If you do shows, what's your best tip?