poster child

Woo-hoo! The Brunswick Second Friday Art Walk posters for July are here, and my painting, "Sole Mate", is the featured artwork for the month! I am very happy with how the posters came out, and I am getting quite a kick out of seeing them all over town. I happened to be around on Friday when the posters were ready for distribution, so I was able to hit most of the spots on my route that same day (I was able to get to the one remaining spot, Frosty's Donuts, on Saturday morning). We had out-of-town company arriving on Friday evening, and it was fun to walk around town with them during the weekend, spotting the posters hanging in different shops. I am impressed with how on top of things Five Rivers Arts Alliance has been this year about promoting Second Friday Art Walk: just a few days after one art walk ends, the posters for the next one are ready to go. Even the shop owners on my poster route have taken notice. 

Speaking of shop owners on my poster route, I was talking with Jill from The Mix (on Maine Street), and she mentioned how many people have been stopping into her store while the art walk is going on! She said it's been an interesting cross-section of people (old, young, families, individuals) and all of them have been happy and excited about the art walk. The live music has been really well-received, shops are enjoying the increase in business, and, of course, artists are getting their work out there and making connections with each other as well as the community in general. Hooray for Brunswick, and hooray for ART!!! 

stick to it

Well, this month's Second Friday Art Walk has come and gone, and many people I spoke to felt that it may have been the best one so far! Personally, I had a lot of fun on Friday night. The evening flew by, (which isn't always the case), the turnout was great, and I got some really nice feedback from people who visited my little room, including one guy who actually used the word "SHAZAM!" to describe my colors. I even sold five magnets (three of which were to complete strangers), and two of the women who bought from me recognized my work from Jai Yoga! My friend Erica's band, Cumberland Crossing, played music on the sidewalk in front of the Five Rivers building, and she said they had a blast as well: they played a great set, the tips were good, and the weather was gorgeous. Let's hope next month brings more of the same!

More magnet news: I delivered a batch of "That Heavenly Coffee" magnets (twenty, to be exact) to Cafe Creme this afternoon- just in time for Bath's Third Friday Art Walk! After I left, I strolled over to Markings Gallery to pay a visit to the lovely and talented Susan Mills...and she ended up buying four magnets from me! I placed a reorder this morning for more "Back Yard Buddha" and "Mexicali Ganesh" magnets, plus a new magnet as well: "Imagine Memorial, NYC". I am very excited!

Oh, I almost forgot: last week, I had my first (and my second!) mail order magnet sale! My dear friend Tim was first, followed very closely by my cousin Betty. Tim sent a great photo of the magnets on his new stainless steel refrigerator, which I thought was fantastic because someone recently told me that magnets wouldn't stick to stainless steel. Now I have proof that they do!

magnetism

Woo-hoo! Magnets of my painting, "Estilo", are now available for sale at Estilo, the women's consignment shop in Brunswick! I am so excited about this! In case you're just tuning in now, Estilo is one of my favorite shops. They have beautiful, fashionable, fun, funky, gently used clothing at VERY reasonable prices, and they're right here in Brunswick. I did a painting of the outside of the store a while back and Lauren (the owner of Estilo) liked it so much, she bought it and hung it in the shop! Well, when I finally got around to getting magnets made of some of my paintings, I stopped by to see if Lauren might be interested in carrying ones with Estilo on it. She said yes, so I placed an order. They arrived on Friday afternoon, and as soon as I put labels with my information on the back of each one, I brought them over to the store. Thankfully, Lauren loved the way they came out, and even posted a picture on Facebook!  Here is a link to Estilo's Facebook page...check it out: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Estilo-Womens-Consignment/104045166210?fref=ts

In other news, I hung my show at Cafe Creme in Bath today! I am really happy with how it looks. Terry came along with me, and I am so grateful he did...he was such a big help. He said he felt like he didn't do anything, but the opposite is true. Of course, he helped me to load and unload the car, but there was a lot more to it than just that. Cafe Creme has really high ceilings, so I had to get onto a six-foot ladder to hang my paintings. Terry was able to hand my work to me as I was standing on the ladder, he was able to tell me if my paintings were straight or crooked or if they needed to be spaced differently, and he also hung a couple of paintings for me that were super-high - even with the ladder, I would have been stretching. After all the work was up, he helped me to put all the tags in their proper spots (he got the top ones, I got the bottom ones). We hung a total of twenty-two pieces today: fifteen paintings and seven mixed media pieces. I hung the mixed media pieces on the lower area of the wall, since they are so small. I knew they would get lost if they were up high. Fortunately, I didn't need a ladder for those! All in all, it took us an hour and a half...not bad, considering it was a totally new space for me to be showing my work and I really wasn't sure what I would have room for or what would look good where.

Anyway, right before I left, I stopped to say goodbye to Arlie and the staff who had been working this afternoon. They gave me some very positive feedback about my work and how the show looked, which is always nice to hear. One of the paintings I decided to hang in this show is "That Heavenly Coffee,"which is, coincidentally, one of my most popular magnets. I had one magnet of that painting left as of this afternoon, so I showed it to Arlie to see if it would be okay for me to bring some to sell at the shop. She said yes, and now there are more on their way! Yippee!!! Since I'm posting links to Facebook pages, here's the one for Cafe Creme: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Cafe-Creme/90066531736?fref=ts. Stop by and treat yourself to something tasty!

stuck on you

I mentioned in my last post that something interesting was brewing...well, here's my news: I've gotten magnets made of some of my paintings! Not only that, but they're selling like crazy already, and I haven't even brought them to an art walk yet!

A few months ago, my friend Tim suggested I get magnets made up. I hadn't done anything about it for a while, but recently, the time felt right for me, so I went for it. I chose six different paintings to start with (pictured above!) and I posted about it on Facebook. The response from friends and family was overwhelmingly positive, and people started asking about how they could get their hands on some. The magnets arrived right before Terry and I went to New Hampshire for the weekend to visit friends and family, and I brought the box along just in case anyone was interested. I left our house with 62 magnets, and in three days, I sold 31 of them! Not only that, but our dear friend Janette Coombs, owner of The Elf Shelf (https://www.facebook.com/TheElfShelf?fref=ts), bought a bunch to include in her gift baskets! I have several requests for mail orders, and I've already had to place a reorder for more magnets! On Monday, I had a wonderful lunch with Terry's cousin Sarah...she bought 5 magnets to give as gifts, bringing the total to 36 magnets sold in 4 days. As Larry David would say, "Pre-tty, pre-tty, pre-tty good." I am thrilled and excited and I feel like this could be the beginning of something wonderful. Stay tuned...there's more to come very soon!