The above is my favorite picture taken at Craft & Craft at the Everson Museum of Art. Taken by my friend Doug from that perch/Juliet balcony of the third gallery upstairs.
It was such a great experience selling artwork at the Everson! My set up was right in front of the spiral staircase.
The amazing architect I.M. Pei designed the building. He also designed the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame –
and the glass pyramid entrance to The Louvre.
It was a beautiful day on Thursday and one that I will never forget. I have always dreamed about doing something like this and so, it was a dream come true. Loved every minute of it!
Thank you to all who attended including my Facebook friends, besties and loved ones. I’m also so grateful to the staff of the Everson who helped me with the set up. Everything was so well organized and it was so much fun.
And a special thank you goes out to my mother who came with me (we got there at 3 pm) and was my greatest supporter! I didn’t get her home until 8:30ish so it was a long day. She is a jewelry designer and had a few baubles for sale as well.
The Arts & Crafts Festival continues today until 6 pm, so if you are a local, please get down there and support the arts. So many talented people to discover!
So far, my entire summer has been a giant ball of butterflies in my stomach. I’m happy – all the time, and excited about all the great things that are happening. That WILL happen.
My little sister is a yoga instructor/interior designer/flea market furniture refinisher/furniture designer/a lot of other things! She let me borrow a bunch of items to use to enhance my display at the Craft & Craft function at the Everson Museum of Art, 401 Harrison St. Syracuse, New York 13202 this Thursday from 5 – 9 pm.
This is what it looks like now all tossed into the trunk of my car. Hopefully I will create a cute set up that matches my modern, vibrant watercolors with these brass vintage bamboo-patterned fixtures.
Dark Magic, 18″ x 24″, watercolor, 2002, $200
I just found out that I will be inside, rain or shine, in the Sculpture Court (main floor), so that is great news. It’s just one table of unframed paintings in all different sizes and it will be a BOGO sale, meaning you will get two for the price of one but no half price onsies. You will have to buy two. And see? It’s a win-win. You get two, and I have to say that my watercolors do look best in multiples, or you can give one as a gift! I get to go home with less artwork, which is the goal.
Blue Star, 10″ x 7″, 2002
Yes, making money from sales is an obvious goal but the one that really tickles me is the idea that people will enjoy my artwork. That it will have a home where it will be loved, cherished, what have you, for many years to come.
Blue Mandala, 18″ x 24″, watercolor, 2001, $200
I’m not sure if I told you about my cat situation, but my two knuckleheads had a falling out. A couple months ago, Georgie got a plastic bag caught around his waist and was running around the house screaming up a storm. He looked like a bull with a rodeo cowboy riding him as he tried in vain to buck off the bag. Naturally, Pablo was chasing him up and down the stairs and throughout every room until I caught up with Georgie and helped him out.
This was approximately less than five minutes of our lives but it took its toll on the siblings’ relationship because after that Pablo wanted to attack Georgie.
It got pretty awful. For three weeks, I was living like the Sister Wives with my pets. One spent twenty four hours living in the kitchen and back porch while the other had the rest of the house and a spot in my bed, and then the reverse. I tried to give them equal time but whenever Georgie was in the kitchen, he managed to bust in using his giant thumb paws – and then the fur went flying. Very stressful!
I tried these $35 calming collars, but Georgie just ate his. Finally, I brought Georgie to live with my sister and they ended up falling in love with each other. I visit him and it really is all good. Georgie just has a new home where he is equally loved, cherished, what have you for many, many years to come!
Just me and Pablo here now. So I am no longer a stereotype! And to add to my sister’s list of attributes, great cat mommy is at the top of the list.
Hope to see you on Thursday, July 23, 2015 at Craft & Craft! $10 for members, $15 non members. There will be food and drink and art – bring money!
And P.S.: for those of you who miss my outfits of the day on Instagram – I will be wearing a new BCBG Max Azria dress at the event. Can’t wait!
I just received the business cards I created through moo.com so I decided to take some over to Natur-Tyme, Dewitt, NY where I am showing and selling the Echolalia series through September 2015. I dropped some off in one of the little cubbies and on my way out, I came across the store’s flier.
Someone had mentioned it the other day but I hadn’t seen it until now. A few months ago, Maria Rizzo, Tom Huff and I did a photo shoot at the store. It was so fun. I felt like a celebrity.
I had no idea what to expect and I am very pleasantly surprised. This is just so amazing. I’m grateful and thrilled to be in the inaugural exhibit!
It’s always refreshing to chat with retired art teachers. Their lives are so full of art – their own art, the business of art, and a treasure trove of excitement and genuine bliss.
Ilene Layow has been retired a couple years now. She told me that in the last year she has produced more artwork than she ever had!
Her work can be seen at the Manlius Historical Society & Museum, 109 Pleasant St., Manlius, NY, through August 31, 2015. They are open Tuesday through Friday from 10 am to 4 pm.
Using Green Lakes as her muse, Ilene has created work in ink, watercolor, acrylic and glass. The glass pieces are particularly sensational. OMG!
She has a kiln in her studio, Eye Studio at 126 Doll Pkwy in Syracuse, near LeMoyne college. She’s there virtually every day either creating or teaching classes to other art teachers, friends and children. There is a summer art camp for kids – $85 a week and the next one starts tomorrow. For more information on this, her email is iteachart@twcny.rr.com. Find her website here.
You all know that Green Lakes State Park is my happy place – and as I strolled through her collection, I felt like I knew exactly where each landscape existed on the path around the lakes!
She said she takes loads of photographs then works from them in her studio. She is really an inspiration. I absolutely love her passion for her work. Love her mastery of all media!
Rune 1, 18″ x 18″, oil & collage, 2005Rune 7, 18″ x 18″, oil & collage, 2005
Bet you didn’t think you’d see me here again so soon. I’m sure my Facebook friends will all end up blocking me because I’m posting so much.
Echo 6, 18″ x 18″, oil & collage, 2005Rune 6, 18″ x 18″, oil & collage, 2005
But it is summer and I am in full-on art marketing mode!
Echo 1, 18″ x 18″, oil & collage, 2005Echo 11, 18″ x 18″, oil & collage, 2005
The Natur-Tyme show has only been up for a week. No sales yet. My thought is it is something for customers and the area to need to warm up to. Art seems to be not in the forefront of the average Syracusan’s mindset these days.
Echo 10, 18″ x 18″, oil & collage, 2005
Since they are small (18″ x 18″) and they are paintings of cats, and they are ten years old, I decided to go the way of the SPCA and other animal rescue shelters and price them the way they would an older cat who needs adopting.
Echo 9, 18″ x 18″, oil & collage, 2005Rune 11, 18″ x 18″, oil & collage, 2005
This morning I changed my prices to reflect that. Each painting is only $75! A steal by any standards. It’s dangerous to price paintings so low. In the eyes of anyone, it may appear that I don’t believe in myself or that I may think my art is not of high quality and therefore not valuable.
Echo 7, 18″ x 18″, oil & collage, 2005Echo 8, 18″ x 18″, oil & collage, 2005
The opposite is true. You must know that about me by now. But making a living off my art is a dream, not necessarily the only reason I do it. It’s really about sharing myself – sharing my hopes and dreams, and all that emotional stuff with an audience. Artists are formalists and create their own versions of the world with detail but above all else, we are emotional creatures filled with this unquenchable desire to be loved in some way. Our personalities, our quirks, our talent. We are pretty needy people.
Echo 2, 18″ x 18″, oil & collage, 2005Echo 4, 18″ x 18″, oil & collage, 2005Rune 5, 18″ x 18″, oil & collage, 2005
And so, I am trying to compromise. I want people to enjoy my paintings. I want them to take them home at a price point that makes them feel like they didn’t overspend – I certainly don’t want anyone to experience cognitive dissonance after purchasing a final sale item.
Rune 12, 18″ x 18″, oil & collage, 2005Rune 4, 18″ x 18″, oil & collage, 2005
The Echolalia series is a piece of me. At its core, it’s really about how the past shaped me into who I am. I cannot run away from it. I can only move on from the dark stuff, own up to it and say – wow, you have really come a long way.
Rune 3, 18″ x 18″, oil & collage, 2005
You assume these frolicking cats are about happy thoughts and in reality they were created out of despair. They are all about me looking for ways to find happiness in a time when nothing at all was going my way. Now things are so different and I see how I found and still find solace in these works. How now, they represent a lifeline to the future world I’ve found myself in and everything is okay.
Rune 10, 18″ x 18″, oil & collage, 2015Rune 2, 18″ x 18″, oil & collage, 2005
Is that too heavy? Sorry – for me, as you know, art is about exposing myself. But in a way that works, like the game board in Concentration. It’s not spelled out for you but sometimes you can still decipher it.
Rune 9, 18″ x 18″, oil & collage, 2005
The goal is to sell all of the Echolalia paintings so that I can start moving this massive inventory of work. Either that or start looking for a bigger house. I will put both out into the universe and see what sticks.
Rune 8, 18″ x 18″, oil & collage, 2005Echo 3, 18″ x 18″, oil & collage, 2005
Here is the link to Maria Rizzo’s article about the venue.
Blue Mandala, 18″ x 24″, watercolor, 2001, $200Dark Magic, 18″ x 24″, watercolor, 2002, $200
Another day of packaging art! I had framed about six of the 18″ x 24″ watercolors several years ago. Two are hanging up in my home. I sold one to a friend from high school and the others are stored in the teeny closet in my second bedroom. To get to them, you have to open a little munchkin door. It’s very cute and one of the reasons I fell in love with my little bungalow.
Happy Tears, 18″ x 24″, watercolor, 2002, $200
The rest of the paintings are here – I finally packaged them, labelled and titled them, and they are ready to be sold. If I don’t sell them at the Craft & Craft event, I might put them on my Shopify.com site. I love that people will finally get to see them/buy them/enjoy them!
Royalty, 18″ x 24″, watercolor, 2002, $200Paradigm Shift, 18″ x 24″, watercolor, 2001, $200Paradox, 18″ x 24″, watercolor, 2002, $200
In addition to these pieces, I readied a gazillion more paintings in sizes 14″ x 20″, 12″ x 16″ and 9″ x 12″. I will add them into this blog soon. I am just so tired right now! Sorta kinda giddy-tired, like I’ve fallen into a magical world and don’t want to escape giddy-tired.
Sky Creature, 18″ x 24″, 2001, $200Tunnel, 18″ x 24″, watercolor, 2002, $200Lifeline, 18″ x 24″, watercolor, 2002, $200
I went on a bunch of errands this morning – to school to borrow my favorite yardstick and the table mat, to the vet for Pablo’s “wellness visit”, to do my walk-about at Green Lakes, to Empire Vision to get my sunglasses fixed, and a bunch of other things. I’ve been working on this art business since…I want to say 2:00 pm and now it is after 11:00 and I’m not finished.
Heaven Sent, 18″ x 24″, watercolor, 2002, $200Riches, 18″ x 24″, watercolor, 2002, $200Feathering, 18″ x 24″, watercolor, 2002, $200
I really need to wrap this all up and put everything away. Am having guests over this weekend and the dining room table looks like the aftermath of a tornado at the moment.
Rainbow Trail, 18″ x 24″, watercolor, 2002, $200Magma, 18″ x 24″, watercolor, 2002, $200
Aside from the mess though, I am in love with life right now. Things seem to be happening in the way I have always wanted them to happen. I’m grateful to my old self for having a giant prolific period because I have all of this work to share now in a time where a blog post is possible. I’m grateful that I have a reason to prepare this work and it isn’t going to sit inside a veritable tomb any longer.
Hue – Intensity, 18″ x 24″, watercolor, 2002, $200
These are happy paintings. They make me so happy and I love being surrounded by this much positive energy. See, yeah. Really giddy.
Basket Case, 7″ x 10, watercolor, 2000, $50Force, 7″ x 10″, watercolor, 2000, $50Treasure, 7″ x 10″, watercolor, 2000, $50The Castle, 7″ x 10″, watercolor, 2000, $50
I spent the bulk of the day preparing more watercolor paintings to sell. This required price tags, inserting them into plastic sleeves and adding a piece of foam board for stability. Plus photographing them and giving them all titles to make everything easier to inventory.
Mandala Rising, 7″ x 10″, watercolor, 2000, $50Primary Juncture, 7″ x 10″, watercolor, 2000, $50Sunlight, 7″ x 10″, watercolor, 2000, $50Solar Vortex, 7″ x 10″, watercolor, 2000, $50
I will be selling them and paper collage works at an event at the Everson Museum of Art in Syracuse, NY on July 23, 2015 from 5-8 pm. It’s called Craft & Craft. I’m one of twenty-plus vendors (crafters) and the other craft is beer. So it is a beer fest with art thrown in.
Gusto, 7″ x 10″, watercolor, 2000, $50Atmosphere, 7″ x 10″, watercolor, 2000, $50Vision Board, 7″ x 10″, watercolor, 2000, $50Isle, 7″ x 10″, watercolor, 1999, $50
Hopefully, the revelers will bring pocket cash to buy art. I am going to do a BOGO sale – buy one, get one free, although I am against doing one for half price. The idea is to come home with less than I brought there – a lot less! Customers will need to take at least two, lol. I have a lot of paintings. I mean, I didn’t realize there was this much stuff tucked away! The bulk of these paintings were done between 1999 and 2002.
Really?, 7″ x 10″, watercolor, 2000, $50Maze, 7″ x 10″, watercolor, 2000, $50Destiny Tuning, 7″ x 10″, watercolor, 2000, $50Energize, 7″ x 10″, watercolor, 2000, $50
The paintings in this post are 7″ x 10″ watercolors. I also prepped larger pieces – tags and titles, but I haven’t cut the foam board for those yet. I will share them soon!
Gossip, 10″ x 7″, watercolor, 2001, $50Violet Outburst, 10″ x 7″, watercolor, 2001, $50Escape, 10″ x 7″, watercolor, 2002, $50Explode, 10″ x 7″, watercolor, 2002, $50
It’s funny how labor intensive this business/hobby is. I’m not a fan of this busy work but it all has to be done, holiday or not. Actually, it’s kind of therapeutic in a way. A chance to reflect on the process of mark making and the pure joy I felt while making them. #feelingexcited – and that feeling is like abstract expressionist fireworks exploding inside of me on the 4th of July. <3
Galaxy, 10″ x 7″, watercolor, 2002, $50Wormhole, 10″ x 7″, watercolor, 2001, $50Internalize, 10″ x 7″, watercolor, 2001, $50Inferno, 10″ x 7″, watercolor, 2001, $50Fly Away, 10″ x 7″, watercolor, 2001, $50Earthling, 10″ x 7″, watercolor, 2001, $50Starlight, 10″ x 7″, watercolor, 2001, $50Echo, 10″ x 7″, watercolor, 2001, $50Swim, 10″ x 7″, watercolor, 2002, $50Deep Blue, 10″ x 7″, watercolor, 2002, $50Brown-eyed Girl, 10″ x 7″, watercolor, 2001, $50Inside the Labyrinth, 7″ x 10″, watercolor, 2002, $50Mandala, 7″ x 10″, watercolor, 2000, $50Modern Muse, 7″ x 10″, watercolor, 2000, $50Depth of Character, 7″ x 10″, watercolor, 1999, $50Canyon, 7″ x 10″, watercolor, 2000, $50Sound Stage, 7″ x 10″, watercolor, 2000, $50Bleu, 7″ x 10″, watercolor, 1999, $50Rosey, 7″ x 10″, watercolor, 2002, $50Exit Strategy, 7″ x 10″, watercolor, 2000, $50Chaos, 7″ x 10″, watercolor, 2000, $50Blown Away, 7″ x 10″, watercolor, 1999, $50The Void, 7″ x 10″, watercolor, 2000, $50Mark, 7″ x 10″, watercolor, 1999, $50Isolation, 7″ x 10″, watercolor, 2000, $50Oasis, 7″ x 10″, watercolor, 2000, $50Launch Pad, 7″ x 10″, watercolor, 2001, $50Secrets, 7″ x 10″, watercolor, 2001, $50Forest Fire, 7″ x 10″, watercolor, 1999, $50Connection, 7″ x 10″, watercolor, 2000, $50
