Treefrog

Tree Frog with PNW accompaniment

I'm having a lot of fun with frogs lately. This one is available at Lucas Art Gallery in Graham WA.

Feather for a Woodbadger

For those of you less familiar with the Boy Scout Leadership training, Woodbadge is some of the best adult leadership training the BSA offers. The training is comparable to business leadership and team-building training that one would find in the corporate world. A Woodbadge class is broken down into Patrols, like a Boy Scout Troop: Beavers, Bobwhites, Foxes, Eagles, Owls, Bears, Buffalo, and Antelope. At the completion of the training, the individuals must then complete a series of goals geared towards his or her position in Scouting. Once this is accomplished, the individual heceives a formal Beading ceremony.

This feather was ordered for a Bobwhite's Beading, which takes place this Saturday.

The feather's natural striping made for some very interesting cloud effects. I'm happy with the interest, color, and sense of depth the Beach Peas in the forground provided. I may be using Beach Peas in a seascape format again soon.

Bison

"Duel"

A new feather available at Lucas Art Gallery in Graham, WA.


There will be a Grand reopening of the gallery on March 3rd, to celebrate the completion of the big gallery remodel project. This promises to be a lot of fun, with many artists and patrons onhand.

Commission, completed and approved

I *LOVE* doing these for Scouts! This eagle will soon cross the continent for an Eagle Court of Honor.

Boothspace

My boothspace is forever undergoing subtle evolutions. I always use the ivy garlands now, I like the way they soften those hard lines of the gridwall. I haven't decided yet if I prefer the sheets in front of the grids or behind. The table on the right is where I work -- doing demos throughout a show is great advertising and does wonders to help encourage people into my booth and ask questions. Since doing those high-pressure Quickdraws at Western and Wildlife shows, I don't mind at all when people watch me work or ask questions - as a matter of fact, I enjoy it! Especially kids. Kids are so inquisitive, and love to look through the desktop magnifier to see a current featherwork really close. I'm sure this space will undergo many more changes as I learn, but for now this setup works pretty well.

Gallery rotations: keep it fresh!

Something struck me at Bonnie Kahn's Wild West Gallery. When we talked over the matters of my exhibiting there and she selected the works she wanted to start with, she said something I had not heard a gallery owner say before: that she keeps all artwork on a 3-month rotation. Now this is Gallery #7 that I have signed on with, and it's the first time I've heard of one doing that. What a novel idea! I'm sure many others do it, I just haven't encountered it before.

And when you think about it, it only makes sense. If something isn't moving at a particular venue over a period of time, the chances of it moving at all begin to deteriorate. Patrons will get bored looking at it. They may even deem that the artist is not very collectible if the same art is hanging there in the same place, month after month. And if the gallery has many such artists who have works that aren't moving, there will be less draw for the patrons to come in and visit at all.

I have made it a practice to rotate works in and out of galleries. I'll be honest, sometimes these rotations of mine coincide with big shows or back-to-back shows, with a panicked me trying to fill my booth, and then afterwards bringing works back to the galleries from which I borrowed, and having them hand-pick what they wish to display. But whether it's a matter of borrowing for shows or a simple matter of rotation, the end results are the same: the works are swapped regularly, and what I have on display at each venue stays fresh.

If something doesn't move at one venue, it very well may move quickly at another. It really all depends on the audience. I've learned that while generalities work to an extent, when it comes right down to individual subject matter there just isn't any way to guess what will attract whom. there is no science, only educated guesses.

So keeping to a regular rotation of one's work benefits all - the artist, the gallery, and the patron. Keep it fresh!