How I Spent My Summer Vacation

It has been a wild summer! As I was thinking of what to post for this week I browsed through some other blogs that I know, looking for inspiration. What I realized was that for an artist's blog there is lots of text and few pictures! Anyone else sense something odd with that? I know better! As an artist having your work visible is a major part of your career. SO – I apologize for failing to post pictures and I will fix that oversight right now.

Soon I will have two more works to display. I realized I need to get into my studio more this fall. I have lots of images of my work but nothing I could display in a gallery- everything seems to have found other homes and since I have been busy with commission work this summer everything I have produced has left the studio to go on to other homes – which is great. However there are some art venues and artist run galleries that I would like to be a member of and in order to do that I need to have paintings to hang in shows! Fortunately I received lots of new canvas and paints for my birthday and they are calling my name. So with all this said, here are a sample of the summer 2008 paintings!

Getting Out There: Jurried Competitions and Calls for Artists

Just a quick thought for this week about seizing opportunities vs creating art for a specific venue.

There may not be many "opportunities" in your area that fall into your realm of expertise. So how do you take advantage of shows or calls for artists that are in your local?

If you are going to create something especially for a jurried show or competition, make sure that there is something about the project that genuinely appeals to you. Does the show deal with issues that interest you? Does it challenge you to work with media that you may have been thinking about experimenting with. A show could be worth considering if it deals with motifs or themes that appear in your work (i.e. children, youth, spirituality, death, florals etc...).

There is a fine line between working to get your name out there and doing so much show specific work that your personal artistic voice gets lost. So my advice splits the difference. Try new things that have some relation to your current work, but don't spend so much time trying to meet others requirements that you lose your own perspective.

As a post script here are some sources I find shows and exhibitions online:

http://instantcoffee.org/
www.chatham-kent.ca/tag
http://www.londonarts.ca/

What to Say to a Room Full of Strangers

The Artist’s Life.... Thriving in a meet and greet!

Many people say that the artist’s life is a solitary one, but I am not convinced. We need people.
As an extroverted introvert the subject of people is interesting to say the least. I can spend hours happily alone but I am also learning the art of being a people person. There are still comments I make that flop horribly, and awkward moments but I am getting better. So this week I thought I would throw out a couple of things I find useful when I find myself in a room full of strangers.

Make the first move. I often look for people who don’t seem to be a part of large groups to introduce myself to. This is partly because I like to have a warm up and smaller groups are less intimidating for me, and partly because I wonder if people who seem to be alone or in small groups might feel a little left out. Large groups of people probably won’t notice you standing in the corner waiting for an invitation to join them. That does not mean that they won’t like you when you meet. If they are interested in networking then you should receive a warm welcome. And if not, that’s ok – move on. If you want to gain entry into new circles you have to knock on the door.

Be authentic and really learn to listen to people. It is really easy to nod, and mumble your agreement at appropriate intervals. It is an art to learn to listen. Not a quick fix I know, and it is something I really am working on, but I also think that it is the most powerful networking tool in your arsenal. I recently attended a wedding and was seated at a table with a powerful executive. He was extremely polished and managed to find ways to engage my husband and I in conversation. It was clear he looked for ways to start conversation and that made me feel important. It is obvious when people talk with you because you have something they want, whether that is experience, contacts or just your money. In this case the executive was simply being kind. He had decided that camaraderie between strangers at the dinner table was a perfectly good reason to show an interest in my husband and me. Besides a 20 year age gap, we didn’t have any discernable points of connection. He had little interest in art and I don’t know all that much about big business. His kindness made a real impact on me and I hope to put his example into my daily practice.

If you do exchange contact information, send a little note acknowledging your meeting and express your hope of meeting again. These little courtesies are fading out and by making the small effort you will help the people remember you. After all, when you are setting out to network, your goal shouldn’t only be to collect as many cards as possible but also to be memorable in the best possible light. I am a big fan of old school courtesies like hand written notes and similar small pleasantries. Think about when the last time was that you got something other than a bill in the mail and you will know what I mean.

A Painter's Keys: 3 Tips to Better Paintings

In school, my professors stressed several important aspects of a sucessful painting. Some of those things I put into practice right away, but there were other pieces of advice that I only added to my arsenal much later. Here are my best pieces of advice to painters of all levels.

1. Don't quit half way.
In my first year drawing class I thought I knew what I was doing until I started drawing live models. The one thing that frustrated me most with that class was that we were not allowed to throw out any of our sketches, no matter how bad we thought they were. Prior to this class, and even for a time after it, I had developed the tendency to throw out sketches or paintings that weren't quite right and start over. What I learned in this class was that in order to create sucessful art, you have to stick with your work even through the ugly and awkward stages.

2. Use a sketch book.
I don't know how many professors I had who tried to drill this into me. They demanded to see work in sketchbooks, and some demanded to see a full sketchbook by the end of the semester. I like the immeadiacy that comes with acrylic painting so I rarely sketched (and consequently spent lots of hours at the end of the semester trying to fill up my sketchbooks!). I thought I culd work out any of the compositional problems on the canvas. What I didn't realize is that sketchbooks help you avoid compositional problems and also give you a venue to explore multiple options in a way you don't get on canvas.

3. When you start to paint, the goal is to put something down on canvas.
Put the paint on - don't be afraid of marring the pristine whiteness of your canvas. Do something so you can react to it. You will either love it or hate it, but either way you have given yourself a course of action for your next step. If you hate it then nothing you do to change it will be worse than where you are now and that is increadibly freeing.

I can't believe that a month has passed since I posted last! If you are still out there, gentle reader, I appologize. Hopefully the info in these articles helps. Next week I plan to continue with the best pieces of advice I have found for fostering a life as an artist.

Until then!

How a Mat Can Save an Artwork

There are hundreds of colour options for matting, but the reasons for matting aren’t just decorative.

A Mat keeps your art or photo away from the glass. This is important because changes in the humidity of your home can cause artwork and photos to stick to the glass. Not only can this cause unsightly air bubbles on your art, but it also makes it difficult if not impossible to reframe your image later on since “unsticking” your work from the glass often damages it.

An acid-free or archival mat and back board can prolong the life of your picture. Along with UV glass an archival mat helps keep the colours in your art and photo from discolouring with age.

Acids in cardboard mats and backing eat away at the original colour in your piece of art, discolouring it in a similar way to how newsprint ages.

If you have pictures in frames with cardboard backing a quick fix is to give the cardboard a good coat of acrylic paint. The acrylic acts like a plastic barrier and retards the acids. I am not sure this is ‘archival’ but it will help to protect those photos.

Check back next week for tips on selecting matting...

ReUsing a Frame Part II

As promised last week, here are the remaining 3 points of my 6 point inspection list for finding and reusing quality frames at yard sales or second hand stores.

4. Scratches and scrapes. Are there any visible signs of damage to the frame? Scratches and scuffs may be repairable but indents and chips are much more difficult to work with, unless you can find a way to incorporate it into the character of the frame. If there are scratches on the frame where paint has come off look for products like Rub and Buff at art supply stores or framing shops to patch up the imperfections.

5. Glass or plexi? If you are shipping your work, plexiglass is much better since it is less likely to shatter in transit and damage your work. Some competitions and galleries only accept work framed with plexiglass for that reason. What is the condition of the glass? Is it chipped or antique or specialty glass (convex)? Could you replace it?

6. The Easy Method. Look for a frame that has a framer’s sticker or business card on the back. These frames are likely good quality frames and it is possible that you could reuse the matting. A quick test for acid free mats – check the bevel. If the bevel looks discoloured then the mat is not archival.

With a little creativity and some minor touch ups here and there vintage frames can be great ways to affordably hang your work. It is also a good idea to work in standard frame sizes when planning out your next art piece. This makes finding a second hand frame more likely and keeps the costs lower at your local framer shop if you decided to have your work professionally framed.

6 Tips for Reusing a Frame: Part One

The last two weeks have been a whirlwind, and I have decided to give myself a little bit of grace in regards to the promise of blogging weekly. Two weeks ago our family was gearing up for a move to our new home in London. Hopefully this will be the last move for quite awhile. Although moving is a great way to purge all the junk that you accumulate! I spent last week unpacking and setting things up here. And just now I am finally feeling like things are getting settled. Things have homes!!! This is so exciting. I hate having to go look for things, and now I know exactly where most things are.

Today we got our modem – finally! Who knew that two weeks without an internet connection could be so long! I am looking forward to posting this tonight and starting to catch up on all the correspondence I have waiting in my inbox.

I know we have been talking about wiring methods. I explained the “H” frame method and a simple way to hang 16 in x 20 in paintings and smaller. In the next week or so I want to talk about how to reuse a frame, as well as tips on how to spot a good frame at yard sales or second hand stores.

Here’s the teaser to come back next week. I will give you 3 of the top 6 things I look for in a vintage frame….


1. How deep is the rabbet? The rabbet is the inner lip of a frame. The glass, matting, art work, and archival backing all need to sit inside the rabbet, without sticking out past the back of the frame. If you are using the frame to frame a canvas you need a rabbet that is between ¾ of an inch deep to 2 inches deep depending on the width of your canvas.

2. What do the corners look like? If the corners align cleanly and the seam between them is tiny or almost invisible then you likely have a quality frame in your hands. If the corners have gaps in them, put it back on the shelf.

3. Is the frame wood, plastic or metal? Plastic frames are harder to reuse if you need to present your work with gallery backing. (ie. Black paper covering the back and a professional wire hanging system.) By the way, saw-tooth hangers are generally frowned on in art venues. If you find a frame you like that has a saw tooth hanger on it, pick it up. Saw tooth hangers can be removed with a pair of needle nosed pliers. Wood and metal frames lend themselves much better to recycling since it is much easier to install the proper hanging and backing systems on them.