Eagle Art Show a Bust

This weekend I tried to sell my art at the Eagle Art Faire. It was a bomb! It was a HUGE amount of work with very little results. I had four sales. Hardly anyone came out so there was very little customer foot traffic. It was advertised as being "at the river" but it was not. If I had known it was going to be this bad, I would not have done this show. However, I did make some really good contacts, which MIGHT make it all worth it. I made a connection with Arts West about possibly becoming an art teacher there. There are opportunities to teach even if you don't have your BA degree. I also did some trades with other vendors so no monies were exchanged. This also helped to make it all worthwhile. If I get a portrait commission from this show, then I will feel I got my money's worth.

On Friday it was horribly humid while I was setting up for this show. It made me feel sick for awhile. I had to go home and change clothing. Thank God my husband was there to help me set with the set-up. Then on the way over to the show, I was in a fender-bender! Fortunately, no one was hurt and my car wasn't damaged at all. There was very minor damage to the other car. The encounter was less than pleasant, however. The other person involved in the accident was a real jerk.

As if battling a mean-spirited driver was not enough, I also had to battle weather problems at this show. A very scarey wind gust (50-60 MPH winds) blew through the art show on Friday and did damage to many of the booths. Fortunately, it did not damage my booth.

I enjoyed talking to fellow artists, especially Venture Coy and Joyce Green. I met some great people to, and in spite of the obstacles, I did have some measure of fun. However, I don't think I will be doing this show next year though. It was just too much pain and not enough gain!

Teapot Safari

Today I finished my Drawing 212 homework assignment that is due this coming Monday. I posted a smaller version of this homework assignment above. The actual drawing I'm turning in is too big for my scanner, but this version looks a lot like the final version. I think I will call it "Teapot Safari."

I wanted to go with the driftwood monster that looked like it was eating the teapot elephant (see previous post), but my teacher said that I couldn't have two characters in my drawing--only one.

Sketchbook Drawings

My Teapot Elephant being swallowed up by the driftwood monster!

The Stone Garden by the Historical Museum

A portrait of Vincent from Beauty & The Beast


A Peasant I did from a book on pen & ink drawings by Alan E. Cober

I thought I would post some of the drawings from the class I've been taking at BSU (Drawing 212). These are from my sketchbook. The teacher is having us do only black and white drawings using different media such as charcoal, pen, and ink wash with brush. This class is stretching me a bit because one of the rules for our sketchbook is we can't erase. And I rarely use pen or ink because I prefer graphite pencil. But I am learning some techniques using pen and ink that I didn't know before. I am learning how to create nicely done drawings very quickly without erasing and that feels very good because I tend to be a slow artist. I can spend months on just one piece.

We are currently working on a project that involves using a photo of any environment (inside or outside) and then placing an object like an ink bottle, keys, or a teapot in that environment using mostly black and white with only a smidge of color. My drawing will be from a photo I took at Morrison Park. The object I chose that will be placed in this environment is going to be a teapot, but not just any teapot! It is a character I created that is part teapot and part elephant. I will post the final drawing next week. It's due this coming Monday.

Wet Art & Roses

It was a WET Art & Roses! Mother Nature was extremely uncooperative on Sunday! I hung my show, including the framed art, on the Saturday before the show. Then I came in Sunday morning, my tablecloths were wet, which baffles me because all four canopy walls were down. I also found that my huge 24 X 30 of the lioness and her cub was on the ground and the back of it was wet! (Fortuntely, the actual art was unharmed.) The wire had broken and it was a strong wire too, so what was up with that, I don't know. So my 'show piece', the one that people "oooo and ahh" about, had to be taken home for repair. Fortunately, I brought several new pictures that I could hang up in place of that one.

In terms of sales, I did about the same as last year. I was grateful that anyone at all came out in the rain! Sales weren't terrific, but it could have been a lot worse. In spite of the weather, I enjoyed myself and met a lot of great people. I got some good leads on marketing my art too.

Art & Roses This Sunday

My class, Foundations of Education is officially over! I just completed my final test--all essay questions. I had a lot of fun in this class and learned a lot about teaching and school systems, both public and private. I made some great new friends too. I start another summer school class (Drawing 212) this coming Monday.

This Sunday is the Art and Roses show at Julia Davis Park. I will be in this show with my original paintings and some note cards. I can't sell prints or rock animals at this show. Setting up this show is a lot of work, but I make enough money on it that it is worth it. It has been raining so much lately, I am praying it doesn't rain much this Sunday. Having an outdoor art show in the rain really sucks! I will post another blog after the show and let everyone know how it went.