Out West Art Fest - Day One

It was a very exhausting setup last night....neither my tent partner, Julia, nor I had a clue how to put up our tent. Julia got it used (no directions) and had set it up once...four years ago. Her memory is no better than mine. Let's just say we did, undid, redid a few times and ran around asking people questions. We did get the tent up and the propanels in place before it got too dark.....barely. Quite an orientation to art festival life! I dragged myself to my car and drove home thinking this may not be my cup of tea!

We got there early today and hung our paintings and made the final setup arrangements. Sunshine and lots of people.....this is more like it.....maybe this is my cup of tea. Then in the first hour I sold a painting, "Golden Barrel Cactus". Yeah....I think I do like it! Then I sold a second painting, "Sunflowers", and some cards. Yep!!! This is pretty great!! Funny how a couple of sales makes you forget all about the pain of the setup!

Now for the next challenge.....we are supposed to get some fairly significant storms with winds, rain and possible hail tomorrow night. Needless to say all exhibitors are on edge. We are going to take all our art out of the tent tomorrow at the end of the day (hopefully not in rain) and pray the tent is still there when we arrive Sunday morning. Cross your fingers for us.

I will let you know!

Out West Art Fest

This weekend I will be showing in the Out West Art Fest at the Stagecoach Village in Cave Creek, AZ. This will be my first outdoor art festival. For this first venture I will be sharing a tent with my good friend and fellow pastelist, Julia Patterson. Above is the flyer with the location, dates and times. If you are in the area please stop by and see us!

Show Results

As reported in previous blogs, I recently had pieces juried into both the Glendale Arts Council 2010 Show and the Arizona Pastel Artists Association Winter Juried Show. I received awards in each of the shows. The piece "Greens and Purples" won second place in the Glendale Arts Council Show and the piece "Boot Scootin' Wannabes" won honorable mention in the APAA Winter Juried Show. I was very pleased to receive recognition in both shows!

Cold in Arizona???

This week the Arizona Pastel Artists Association is hosting a plein air painting workshop with Maggie Price. Maggie is an highly accomplished artist with a strong reputation as a teacher. She teaches workshops across the US as well as in Europe. As a resident of NM just outside of Albuquerque, Maggie was looking forward to some warmth and sun in Arizona in the middle of winter as much as we were looking forward to learning from her. Well, our "el nino" winter is not cooperating. We are definitely not showing our best side to the folks that have come from out of state to participate! We are having below normal temperatures.....low to mid 60s, cloudy weather at least part of each day so far....and rain predicted tomorrow. But, we are taking it in stride.....the warm friendship and laughter among the participants as we brave the elements has overcome our disappointment in the weather. And most importantly....we are learning a lot!!!

IAPS Fifteenth Juried Exhibition Reception

As mentioned in a previous blog I was thrilled to be juried into the Fifteenth Juried Exhibition of the International Association of Pastel Societies. The show was being held in the City of Brea Art Gallery in Brea, CA. As this was my first national level show I decided to attend the reception on Saturday evening, January 23rd. It is a beautiful gallery and the reception was very well attended. The trip was further enhanced for me because Maggie Price, IAPS President, presented a great pastel landscape painting demonstration from 2 to 5 pm in the gallery prior to the reception. Needless to say, I was very impressed by the quality and breadth of the work juried into the exhibition....some truly beautiful art. Recognizing the level of work made being part of the exhibit a truly memorable step forward in my art career! Above is a photo of my framed piece hung on the gallery wall. Below is a link to a brief video of the reception. I hope you enjoy the video even a fraction as much as I enjoyed being there!

Please click here to enjoy the video clip posted on YouTube:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tBOKVpUdkKI

Juried in!

I mentioned in my last post that there are a number of shows to be considered for entry this time of year in AZ. One of the shows I entered is the Glendale Arts Council show. I entered the allowed two pieces to be juried and found out today that both pieces were juried into the show. The two pieces I entered were "Greens and Purples" and "Sunflowers". This is a nice show representing all media and often results in a number of sales. However, the deciding issue for me was that the judge is William Scott Jennings who is a nationally known artist. One loves to get feedback from such an accomplished artist!

Show Season Continues!

The winter is the high season for art shows in Arizona....and the it keeps one hopping! I entered three pieces into the Winter Juried Show of the Arizona Pastel Artist Association which is being judged this year by Maggie Price who is the President of the International Association of Pastel Societies (IAPS). All three were juried into the show! The three I entered were "Market Color", "Young Bulls", and "Boot Scootin' Wannabes" (see above). I won't know if I won any awards until Feb. 6th.

I also just mailed off an entry to the Arizona Plein Air Artists Small Gems Show.....it will be awhile before I hear if any were juried in to that show. This afternoon I am taking two entries down to the Glendale Arts Council show in Glendale. They jury the art pieces on location. I will know in a few days if either of my pieces got into that show.

I am still floating on cloud 9 from having "Late Night Snack" juried into the IAPS show in Brea, CA. I decided to fly over for the reception on January 23rd. A friend, Christine, and I are going to fly over and spend the night. It will be fun to see all the art as IAPS draw entries from the top pastelists nationally and internationally. Before we fly home later in the day on Sunday we plan to hit some galleries....maybe in Laguna Beach. I will take pictures and share with you in a blog entry upon my return.