living on video

Big news: I have a YouTube video! Yes, I know- any random yahoo with a video camera and a pulse can have a YouTube video. I just never figured I would be one of those yahoos, especially since I don't have a video camera.

It all started when Blake Hendrickson, board member of Five Rivers Arts Alliance and videographer, approached me at Brunswick's Second Friday Art Walk in May. He saw my work and asked if I'd be interested in being the subject for an artist profile. I was nervous, but I said, "Yeah, sure- why not?" I was out of town for Second Friday in June, but we were able to get together in July. Blake worked his ass off, frankly: he came to both First Friday in Portland and Second Friday in Brunswick, he came to my house to interview me in my studio, he got footage of me setting up and breaking down for Second Friday, he took a ton of pictures of my artwork, he answered every crazy email I sent, he edited everything together, and he made it a fun process with a finished product I feel really good about.

Anyway, here is the link; check it out and let me know what you think: http://youtu.be/QTyejD0kfNw

By the way, the incredibly beautiful music featured during the slide show portion of the video is courtesy of my very talented cousin, Frank Siegel, and his friends, Thomas O'Mahoney and Greg DelGenio. They really came through for me...and fast. Thanks, guys! You rock.

hot off the easel

Brunswick's Second Friday Art Walk was yesterday, and I am very happy to say I sold a piece! Terry's uncle George was in the area- he lives in Virginia and he's currently doing the "New England family tour" vacation- and he made a point to stop by and see me last night. I figured we'd chat for a while (which we did), but he surprised me by picking out a 3" x 3" painting to purchase as a birthday gift for his granddaughter. The painting is called "Blue Kitty", and it's a fun little piece. I put the finishing touches on it late Thursday night, and it has now officially become the piece with the fastest turnaround time I've ever created- roughly 18 hours! I hadn't even had a chance to take a picture of it when he said he'd like to buy it. I snapped a couple of quick shots and so did he, so between the two of us, hopefully there's at least one good photo of it in the bunch.

Speaking of 3" x 3" paintings, the "tiny" show at Spindleworks had its opening reception last night. My "pop-up" location this month was 98 Maine St. and Spindleworks is on Lincoln St., which is right around the corner. Anyway, a little boy walked into my room at Art Walk last night with his mom and some other family members. I'm bad at guessing ages, but I think he was roughly 10 or 11. He looked around for a little while and said, "Do you have work in the 'tiny' show?" I was pleasantly surprised that this young kid was able to recognize my style and make that connection. "Yes," I said, "and, by the way, that's a very big compliment for an artist- being able to recognize their work- so thank you for that." His mom was pleased but not surprised: "He doesn't miss much" was her take.

I am happy to say that I will be at 98 Maine St. again for next month's Second Friday Art Walk (thank you, Connie Lundquist, for letting me keep my metal display racks in the storage closet this month). I'm hoping I'll be able to get the same room I did this time and last time. It gets hot in there, it's true, and the smell from the exhaust pipes of neighboring restaurants gives off the aroma of fried Chinese food, but I've found that well-placed fans and constantly burning incense can help to remedy those issues. In fact, I got a lot of compliments on the incense last night, so not only did it have a practical purpose, but people appreciated the atmosphere it created. Plus, the room is absolutely gorgeous, and it's very well lit. Fingers crossed...

tasty inspiration

The Brunswick 10x10 Art Sale and Benefit is coming up again. This year, it will be on Friday, September 28th. One of the paintings I will be submitting is called "Mandala Fiasco", and it was inspired by the yummy gelato and sorbetto created by The Gelato Fiasco, located right here in Brunswick. I had the idea to create a mandala-type of painting featuring the red spoons that The Gelato Fiasco is known for, so during one of my visits, I asked if I could have some used spoons. I promised to recycle them when I was finished, and when Sarah (one of the very friendly and helpful staff members) handed them over, she suggested I send in a photo of my completed painting to The Gelato Fiasco's Facebook page. Three weeks ago, I did just that; on Saturday night, they posted it to their wall! Here is the link, in case you'd like to see it:

http://tinyurl.com/9davc5y

crossing paths

What a FUN First Friday it was tonight!!! Things got off to a slow start, as usual- the first half hour is typically pretty subdued- but after that, things were rocking! At 6pm, my friend Erica and members of her band, Cumberland Crossing, showed up with instruments in hand and treated us to some fantastic live bluegrass. At first, there were three of them; a little while later, a fourth musician arrived; a little while later, a fifth musician arrived. They were set up near the front windows so people outside could see them, which brought a lot of foot traffic in...and since the band was so good, people stayed to listen, and they lingered in front of the art as well. People were dancing, clapping, and generally enjoying themselves all night. Lots of friends stopped by, which is always wonderful (thank you Echo, Jesse, Heather, Rebecca, Scott, Trish, Holly, Jenn, and Lori), I got a bunch of email addresses for my mailing list, and I even sold two small paintings! All in all, it was a fantastic night. We ended up staying later than usual because things were so busy...the time just flew by. I really hope Cumberland Crossing decides to come back again! Fingers crossed that things work out schedule-wise in the future...

tiny correction

I got an email this morning: turns out I did get into the "tiny" show at Spindleworks! The deadline for accepted artists to get the news was July 15th, so when I didn't hear anything on Sunday, I just figured I didn't make it. What a pleasant surprise! Both pieces I submitted were accepted. This will be my first time in a Spindleworks show, and I'm really looking forward to being a part of it. Now I need to paint some wood blocks, affix some hooks, mount the paintings, and drop them off!

july catch-up

So far, July has been a crazy month! First Friday Art Walk in Portland was great, as was Second Friday Art Walk in Brunswick. During both events, I was visited by videographer Blake Hendrickson, who is on the board of Five Rivers Arts Alliance. He is working on an "artist profile" of me...as you can imagine, I am really excited about it! The morning of Second Friday Art Walk, Blake came to my house and interviewed me in my studio, talking about why I paint and why I show my work. He took video and stills of Terry and myself loading up my car with my metal display grids and artwork, then of me unloading my car by myself at 98 Maine (my "pop-up" location this month) and setting up my show. Blake then came back while Art Walk was going on, got some shots of the finished show, and then came back at the end of the night to get me breaking down my grids after the show was over. I watched some of the raw footage yesterday, and so far, things look good. I know he's planning on adding more to the video (additional interviews, more images of my work), so I'm looking forward to seeing the finished product. I think it's cool that he documented how much work goes into getting ready for an Art Walk, because I think people really have no idea unless they've done it themselves.

In other news, yesterday was the first part of the Cyon Solutions' juried show (that was originally supposed to take place at Pineland); it was a private fundraising event at the Brunswick Golf Club. The second part of the show will be a barbecue on August 4th in Auburn that's open to the public.

Also, my solo show is still running at the Dempsey Center for Cancer Hope and Healing in Lewiston! I was very happy to hear from the staff at the Dempsey Center that people are still reacting very positively to my work. I still have paintings at EcoHome Studio in Portland as well, and the "Summertime Whimsy" show is still up at the Chocolate Church Art Gallery (that show runs until August 4th).

I applied for the "tiny" show at Spindleworks, but I must not have gotten in (accepted artists were to be notified on July 15th). That's okay, though, because ever since I started working on paintings that are 3" x 3" (which was the maximum size for entries into that show), I have been hooked! I have found that I really love working small like that. I'm able to be really playful with my work, and I'm also able to finish each painting in just a few hours! I've come up with seven new pieces since I started trying this size in mid-June. I've been using double-sided tape and mounting the finished paintings (which are canvas panel pieces) onto painted blocks of wood. I think they look good, I think they're fun, and they're also not very expensive, which ought to be appealing to people who might be shopping for art.

That's it for now! When the video is finished, I'll post a link for it in case anyone is curious.

shows, shows, and more shows

June has been a busy month! I have been working like crazy to get paintings finished for all sorts of deadlines: July 15th is the deadline to submit images for the 10x10 contest (I've finished my two paintings and now they're being photographed), July 1st is the deadline to be considered for a juried show called "Tiny" at Spindleworks in Brunswick (all pieces have to be 3" x 3" or smaller; I sent in my two images today), and of course, First Friday Art Walk is next week, so I want to have some new work ready for that. I'm nearly finished with the Ganesh painting I've been working on, and I'm hoping to get other new stuff done as well...perhaps some oil pastels? Perhaps a collage? We'll see...I've been spending lots of time in my studio and it feels great.

The "Summertime Whimsy" opening reception at the Chocolate Church in Bath went well. The turnout was good, and I was very happy to see some friendly faces hanging out and enjoying the fun, colorful work on display (special thanks to Emily and Peggy from Brunswick Art Collaborative for stopping by). The following week, I went to the "Wine and Design" night at EcoHome Studio in Portland, and that was also a well-attended event. Jan Robinson (EcoHome Studio's owner) has really assembled a diverse group of artists and craftspeople to be represented in her shop...it's nice to be a part of it.

I'm happy to report that my show at the Dempsey Center is still going on. I'm not sure when it will be coming down (the paintings were hung on April 26th), but I'm not in a hurry! As long as they're happy looking at my work, I'm happy to keep it there for a bit longer.

Okay- time for bed! All of a sudden, I feel exhausted...