December exhibit

I have a single artist exhibit in December-so nice to have them hanging for the holiday season! 
I love having gallery receptions for the opportunity to talk to people about art and get their reactions. And the refreshments are great too!
The Maxwell Library in Camillus is working hard to have a good gallery for local artists to display their work.  It's great to have the extra exposure and nice for the community to experience art as well.
Most pieces will be for sale-perfect time for holiday gifting!

Art Everywhere

I've been very busy with projects since the summer-too many to post all at once!  I do want to tell you where my original framed paintings will be over the next two months-they are spread out to 5 different venues, with several receptions.  Time to find one arty outfit to run around in!
 November-16 paintings at the Seward House in Auburn, 1 at Baltimore Woods members exhibit, 2 at Marcellus Library, and a few more at Imagine Gallery in Skaneateles. 11/3 will be a First Friday reception at Seward House in Auburn from 5-7 PM, 11/4 reception at Baltimore Woods 2-4 PM. All cozy places to escape to during the cold rainy weather!

December I'll move to Maxwell Library in Camillus, with a nice reception Monday December 4 from 6-7:30 PM

Then a fine art and craft show at Plowshares in Syracuse December 2-3 with prints, notecards and some small originals.

It's so nice to see them all hung-they look happy and very at home in the various venues.  They are all for sale with a percentage going to each worthy establishment.  Maybe one will make a nice Christmas present for someone who loves local art!  

Last Lavender Festival

Well, that was a busy weekend! A lot packed into July this year.  Friday afternoon I was setting up my tent for the festival, followed by a reception at Imagine Gallery that evening. I'm doing a group show there for the month of July with two other local artists, a potter and a glass blower.  The display is fabulous-I'll post a pic later.

So.....it's hard to describe how huge and wonderful the Lavender Festival is.  For two days thousands came to this little working farm to pick lavender, shop with about 30 vendors, sample lavender ice cream and lemonade, and take in the perfumed atmosphere.  And there really were thousands. They came from Buffalo, Rochester, Geneva, Ithaca, Syracuse, Binghamton, and our own locals from Skaneateles.  Traffic was backed up for miles, cars were parking in weeds when the plowed fields could hold no more.  Lines to pick lavender were long, but people patiently waited their turn to select a beautiful purply fragrant bunch.

Still more waited in another line just to get into the barn that sold lavender products produced at the farm.

And they shopped. We have all been preparing our wares for months to have enough product for this hugely successful event.  My booth was filled for two days with people buying my original art, prints and notecards. Saturday night saw me hurriedly packing more inventory and matting more originals for the next day as I was already running low.

Those also sold the next day.

As wonderful as it was, it was also bittersweet to watch everyone, from tiny children to seniors with walkers contentedly wandering the fields and selecting their lavender bouquets.  For this was to be the last year.  It has truly grown too large for the owners to handle and I don't blame them at all.  It's time for them to rest and settle into a more normal life and stay healthy.  For 10 years they have spent every waking moment getting ready for this event, as well as tending the farm and sheep and a full time job outside the farm.

I need to thank them, somehow, for giving me this gift of being a vendor at their event.  It was here that I first started showing my art, starting with just a few framed paintings and some notecards in Ziploc bags, and steadily adding prints, and matted originals in proper packaging.  I learned a lot about painting and merchandising, and enjoyed this chance to see people's reactions to the work. I've gained a following doing this show and I'll be forever grateful. Doing outdoor shows also tests your mettle, as weather can range from high heat and humidity to rain, wind, bugs, etc.  One time I had a case of shingles that stripped me of all energy but still hung in there, thanks to my friends pitching in to help.

You need strength, energy and patience to set up a tent shop for the weekend; found out I can handle it!

Thank you Gary and Karen for the opportunity to grow as an artist. Please rest and enjoy your freedom!

At the top you can see the stream of people arriving at the farm.

I was tickled to discover that in this photo, someone is carrying one of my prints!

It's the orange foxes in the beginning of the front row.

Me and my devoted friend/sherpa/agent/merchandiser.  

She loves helping and knows how to sell!

Westcott Art Trail

Last minute entry into the Westcott Art Trail this weekend June 3-4-my first time participating-it's a wonderful springtime walk into artsy neighborhoods at various artists' homes. I'll reach into my stash of prints, notecards and paintings and have a tent with some other artist buds from Gallery 54 and the Wrens Den. It'll be a fun time!
I'm at #6 on the Trail Map-click the link to get all the info
https://westcottcc.org/arts-culture/westcott-art-trail/

Beginners Watercolor Workshop

These are some beginning watercolor exercises I had people do in a recent 3 hour workshop.  The students were pretty much rank beginners or had never tried watercolor before.  It was set up in a local library as part of their learning series with student grade paper and paint supplied, and it worked fine for an introductory class. I emphasized that if they really want to continue to learn to paint watercolors, it's important to get artist grade paper and paints and a few good brushes.  The right tools for a trade make a huge difference!

Below are samples of what I demonstrated on good paper. 

Started with washes to learn properties of watercolor and how it acts on paper, letting two colors fuse together.

I demonstrated four ways to use the washes; clockwise from top-negative painting, salt and cling wrap for texture, dragging spattered paint our from a central puddle, and masking off.

I painted some bachelor button flowers and a feather incorporating some of the techniques- wash, cling wrap and splatter.

Everybody had fun including me! Sorry I don't have pictures of everyone and their work; the time went fast and before I knew it they were packed up and leaving, and hopefully inspired to give it a try another time.

Spring Flower Practice

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Time to rev up the flower painting practice for a couple demos this weekend at Dickman Farms Garden Show. 
https://www.dickmanfarms.com/about-us/events/show/va-va-bloom-garden-show-95 What a great time of year for us Northeasters to get a blast of color!
I really did need to practice as I spent this winter experimenting with other techniques and materials like liquid acrylics, monoprinting, and urban sketching. More about that later.
I always like to see how other artists handle flowers, and I have a few favorites that inspire me like Jean Haines, and Helen Dealtry who does fabric design. Andrew Geeson has some nice videos on Youtube. In the end you just have to get the paints out and spend a few hours here and there to get comfortable with your own style and let the pigments do their thing. Try color combos and washes and write down your favorites. Be patient and let things dry. Become aware of pigment/water ratios for different effects. Most of all give yourself a break from trying to create a perfect finished painting and just play, and play some more. And have fun!  The scraps of wonderful color can always be cut up for little cards, gift tags and collage and origami.  Hmmm, maybe that will be another post.

VaVa Bloom Garden Show coming soon

Getting ready for this spring show in all its glory at Dickman Farms in April.

Click the link on the right sidebar for all the glorious info.

Winter's been long, but soon to be gone!