My Art featured on Twin Cities Live!

Nicole Kappus Solheid of NKS Artsource asked me for a few things she could use for this feature, and I was delighted. Here's the link to the show segment. My art that got featured is the Fox in the Henhouse set, which I made a poster out of as well. I have a lot of originals for under 200, many of which are at Art of the Holidays at Minnetonka Center for the Arts right now.

Click here to order a print on paper, canvas, or metal!

I really appreciate Nicole and the Twin Cities Live people for not only showcasing local artists, but pointing out that original art is well within reach for most people. I've bought many pieces of original art, and I mean good original art, between $20 and $100.

For the higher-value originals, artists even offer layaway, an option I plan to use when I have my own house -- and thus have a place to display a Josephine Geiger stained glass window.

Four Things Nobody Tells You about Buying Art

So, it's time once again for Saint Paul Art Crawl! As a participating artist, I talk to a ton of people during Crawl, and I notice that there's a short list of things basically nobody knows about buying original art. What follows are the Big Four:

 1. You can afford original art.

At my two shows this weekend, I will have originals ranging from $1500 to $20. I own several under-$100 pieces by other artists. Drawings, hand-pulled prints (if you're not sure, ask the artist if they're hand-printed or reproductions; see Item #2), small paintings, pieces of fine pottery -- there are plenty of options, and events like Art Crawl are a great way to see what's out there.

Art Crawl is the only time I create "on the spot" animal sketches, like this 8 x 10", for $20 to $40 (depending how long you ask me to spend on the piece). If you've never bought art before, this is a fun way to start, because you can watch the whole process.

2. Your questions are perfectly good questions. 

Somehow, people get the idea that there's a yardstick: YOU MUST BE THIS EDUCATED TO RIDE -- and most folks feel they don't measure up, so they leave their "dumb" questions unasked. Such a barrier, if it really existed, would result in a world full of sad, lonely artists who all had to find other jobs.

So what you want to know is super basic? It's okay. The level of art knowledge most artists expect from non-artists, is about the same as the level of chinchilla-breeding expertise we expect from ourselves (Sample question from artist to chinchilla breeder: "But how do you tell which one is the boy?").

 3. Artists (and many galleries) offer layaway. 

I am trying to remember if I've ever met a professional artist who would not happily arrange a layaway plan so that someone who loved their art could afford that piece they really wanted.

... nope, so far I don't believe I have. And I know that a lot of galleries will do the same. It's just good business sense. Asking about it falls under Item #2: perfectly good question.

4. We'll take commissions (as seen in yesterday's post, "I Didn't Know You Could DO That!")

As long as it's in our basic style and medium, most of us are glad to work with you if you need "Something like that, but in this other size" or "That kind of pot, but with a deep red glaze instead of the green that'll clash with my house," or whatever it is. It's also possible we already have exactly what you need, but it's at home, or there wasn't room to display it.

I hope this will put you a bit more at ease before Art Crawl, or that outdoor fair, or when you're standing in front of that little gallery and wondering whether to step inside.  There's plenty I didn't cover here, of course, so if there's something you're wondering ... remember Item #2.

~*~

Here's where and when to find me at Fall Art Crawl 2013. Please note that on Saturday I will be at My Kingdom for a Horse at Stillwater Art Guild Gallery from 4 to 9 -- an unavoidable overlap, so if you have an animal you want drawn that day, arrive right at noon! I'll be leaving for Stillwater at 3.

Workshop in Door County, WI, July 8 - 10

When I'm not painting in oil, I work in mixed media by default. This began in 2008 when I wanted to improve my painting, so I went back to drawing, using dramatic light and shadow to sharpen my sense of composition.

The problem was, I hated shading in all those shadows. So I started toning my paper with acrylic matte medium and some paint, and then working over that in charcoal, pastels, chalk, whatever I had on hand. The results were magical, and I've been happily mixing up media ever since. Acrylic and Prismacolor pencils? Sure! Watercolors, pencils and pastel? Absolutely; that's what the horse in this post is.

These techniques have attracted some attention. The Peninsula School of Art in Door County, WI, invited me to put on a three-day workshop there. I am honored and very excited. Click the link above for their site, where you can find more information and register.

If you're feeling stuck or bored, mixed media can break you out of that and make art fun again.

If you've been drawing, and wondering how to transition into painting, the light/dark layering approach I use is a very good bridge to help you get there.

If you're still learning to draw, that same approach can help build your confidence in a way that will surprise you.

Bloomington Theatre & Art Center News

Saturday, this is where I was, at Bloomington Heritage Days with BTAC, doing a drawing demo:

 

The dog's name is Charlie and he belongs to Gail Weber of Twin Cities TOSCA. I'll post photos when the portrait is fully finished.

MY DRAWING WORKSHOP is on Saturday, Oct. 6th, and you can sign up here. One-day workshops are great if your schedule doesn't allow for a regular class. We'll be doing the same dark/light on tan paper method you see in my animal portraits. A very old technique and easier than you'd imagine.

 

I was at the event to publicize the BTAC's art classes. There are a lot of them, and we have excellent instructors!  Go check out the catalog

Motley as a Pup, and the Trouble with Free Art

Motley at Rest, 11 x 11" mixed media on cotton rag paper

So, yeah. It's been a busy, busy few weeks! And now I'm gearing up for Fall Art Crawl at JA Geiger Studio, (note that, as of my writing this, the site hasn't been updated; Fall Crawl is October 12 - 14 and the hours and address are all the same as for Spring).

Meanwhile, there's a discussion I'm following about a well-known musician, Amanda Palmer, who has landed in the middle of a controversy for asking professional musicians to come play in her band, on her tour, for free. Except, she's going to pay the ones in NYC because the show there has to be top-notch.  Some musicians (and visual artists like myself) are deeply bothered by this.

Here's Amanda's blog post defending herself, and another person's take on the situation.

When and why to work for free is a constant question in the lives of professional artists. My experience is that if everything's about the money, about survival, it kills me; and so I do give out of my art to support causes I believe in. I have donated art to:

Enchanted Makeovers
Northern Lights Greyhound Adoption
Arts for ACT
The Bridge for Youth
Home for Life

and there are more, but you get the gist.

But Amanda Palmer is not a charity, and work donated by artists is not "free" for the artists. It is time, materials, and study. It is an opportunity cost.

I've lost track of how many people I have shocked by telling them I had to work for my gift. An innate aptitude for art was only the beginning, and the rest has been decades of study and practice, a constant quest to gain new skills. This shocks people who assume that if you have talent, it all comes easily.

Amanda Palmer, an artist herself, knows how hard it is for artists. She of all people ought to be finding ways to make it better, instead of perpetuating the same old toxic ideas we already have. I totally understand the reasons people will play for her for free, but it breaks my heart that she'd ask them to.

Hellooooo, Blue Moon!

 

Okay, the cat is unrelated (except that I like him), but I have news!

Back in mid-November I got a call from a marketing firm in Colorado, looking for artists to be part of a community campaign for Blue Moon Beer. This was exciting for many reasons, one of which is that Blue Moon has been a favorite of mine for years. But it was hardly a done deal; I still had to audition, as it were.

And then, as one might expect, I had to wait and see. Well, the waiting is over:

I'M ON THE BLUE MOON TEAM!

I'll update with more info when I have it, but essentially what this means is, I'll be at local events at local establishments, helping regular folks paint a large and very cool Blue Moon painting which will stay in that bar once the event is over. I love to teach, love to talk to people, and have found beer to be a wonderful means of getting folks past their fear of picking up a paintbrush, so I think this is going to be really, really fun.

They're flying me to Denver next month for a day of training. I can't wait. When we start to schedule actual events, I'll post them here, on Facebook, and on Twitter.

Things on the Horizon?

Several days ago I got a call about an opportunity to be part of a nationwide community-level campaign for a product I happen to enjoy.

I won't know for another two or three weeks whether I've made the chosen team of artists for the Twin Cities, and until then, I won't be talking too much about this project or naming any names, but it feels really good to be in the running at all.

Meanwhile, I am making dog portraits like a madwoman, due to the rush of Christmas commissions! Here, in progress, is a 12" square drawing that'll be shipped to the UK on Tuesday. Yellow Lab puppies, so adorable. This is pastel and carbon pencil, watercolor, and pastel on Rives BFK Tan paper.

I am Bound for Broadway, Baby!

The past few weeks I've had some fantastic media exposure, beginning with this article at:

Click the header to go to my article at CreatedByChicks.com!

Next up, on Sunday, August 7th, look for me in the HOME section of the Minneapolis StarTribune! I was interviewed by the delightful Lynn Underwood for a feature on the ways artists can solve design problems for homeowners. I'll post the link when it's up.