Bring it on!

I just confirmed with Art Central... not only am I in the Art Loop Gallery for the entire month of March, but I'm also going to be in a studio in the Art Loop (lower level) for the three days surrounding First Thursday in April!  http://www.artcentral.ca/tenants/44-art-loop-gallery.

come & visit
April 4 & 5 & 6
Hours 11ish-4ish, Thursday- noon-ish til 8ish
(First Thursday is a bit of a party-time celebrating the Arts from 6-9pm on April 5th)
Art Central
100 7 Avenue Southwest
Art Loop - one of the studios, wander through & find me!
lower level, by the koi pond

turning 40

I turned 40.  And I had a fabulous time doing it.  And pretty much I've had a fabulous day every day since turning 40.  My 30s had quite a bit of suckiness throughout - I guess every decade does.  But I figure I've had a bit more than my fair share of suckiness.  So my 40s are going to be nothing like my 30s, dammit.

I started off the celebration by having a one woman show (that would be me) at Art Loop at Art Central in Calgary.  It was pretty tough curating my own show, all on my own, but well worth it.  I called the show 40@40 so I had to limit my paintings to only 40 - which was tough.  Given the space constraints, it would have been easier to go with all smaller canvases and pack the walls with them, but I think the limit of just 40 pieces kept the walls nice and clean.

A few days after the show, my friends and I went to Death by Chocolate at the Palliser.  It was a blast.  I think I stayed awake all night due to the amount of chocolate I consumed.  I also received not one but two Coach purses, and not one but two dozen roses, along with another two deliveries of flowers.  My house smells like a greenhouse and I love it!

So here are the 40 paintings, along with the other photos I took on opening night of my show.  Hopefully the podcast a cute couple recorded goes live at some point, and I'll get even more coverage.  Yup, so far the 40s have been fabulous!

common thread?

Recently, I was in a little pop-up shop in Art Central along with two other artists, Diane Kinahan and Darlene Beck.  We originally planned to be there for 3 days, February 1st - 3rd, with February 2nd being the big First Thursday event Art Central always hosts every (you got it!) first Thursday of each month.  We were so successful that day, we ended up staying for an extra two weeks!  Shaw TV even interviewed me for our little group of three - Quite the Spectacle - getting up close and personal with abstract art. 

It was a long haul though, even though I only did 5 'shifts' actually manning the store.  You see, I had laryngitis from a cold I got just days before the opening, and I pushed myself to do the interview, be 'on' for the First Thursday, and muster the energy to get through the rest of the time we were there.  It's not like it was strenuous being there.... if I was well.  But I was not.  So I got really tired.  Eventually we came to the end of our stay, and I've taken the week off from speaking (pretty much whispering really) and have taken to carrying a wee whiteboard around with me to communicate with people. 

Which means I've had a lot of quiet time to sits and thinks.  And what I'm thinking about is... what sold what I sold?  What are the elements that are appealing of the pieces I sold.  The photo above is a set of three wee paintings I did on one of the days in the studio when Diane and I worked together getting messy with paint.  They were hung for Monday morning, and sold in the afternoon.  I think the other ladies and I were thinking larger pieces would sell, as an instructor talked about large art a lot.  But the pieces that sold were all small.  One that Darlene sold was I think about 12 x 16, but it was a realism piece, not abstract (yes, she snuck that in there!)  All the ones I sold were 12 x 12 or 8 x 8 or smaller.

I do think price point was a factor, as other artists and gallery owners said I was priced too low.  But was I?  I mean, pieces sold.  Perhaps if I was higher pieces wouldn't have sold.  I don't know.  I'm really looking for some insight on what it is about pieces I make that sell, and those that stay in inventory for quite some time.  Here's all the pieces that sold during those two weeks.  What do you think?  (oh, and I don't usually do hearts, but it was Valentine's Day and I was encouraged to do them... and they sold.)  I'd really appreciate any insights, as I'm about to do another show at Art Central - for the entire month of March!