ACEO winner

I'm a day late with this, but have put two names in a hat and pulled out one. Adele, you've won the ACEO original painting!  As there were only two participants with last Sunday's card, I've scanned in a second card and Adele may choose between the two posted here. Scott will receive the remaining card.  I'll be in touch with both of you for mailing addresses. :-)

As things are getting much busier in the studio, and rather suddenly too, I may not be doing another ACEO card giveaway for a couple of weeks. 

January is history, and the days are getting noticeably longer.  The cherry trees and flowering currants in my yard are beginning to stir, putting forth leaf buds in anticipation of Spring.  Both Puxutawney Phil the Groundhog and Jabari the Hedgehog are calling for an early Spring.  With Spring come the annual parade of art festivals and exhibitions.  Are you ready??  I'm not! But I'm working on it!

I'm working harder than ever in the studio in an effort to make up for lost time.  Last year saw me pulling back drastically from shows, but this year I shall be entering a couple of new ones.

Next Monday I'll be doing feather-painting demonstrations and speaking at an art club. At the end of the month I'll be speaking with another local arts organization about Facebook, social media for artists, and inbound marketing.  March holds an adult feather painting workshop, and April begins the first show of the season. It will progressively get busier and more active right through til Autumn, so now is the time to prepare!

And prepare, I must - for next year I'll take my next journey to Scotland.  This time I won't be alone though, I'll be bringing my teenaged son with me.  What an experience he will have!  I'm glad he is a camper, for a lot of our adventure will be spent doing exactly that.  I'm also preparing to pursue some art goals while over in that magnificent country.  It's very encouraging to constantly keep new goals in sight.  To continually have something to aim for is a real driving force that keeps you active and in motion, always moving forward. Ther is so much to look forward to, both this year and next - onward to the next adventure! 

Westport Art Festival - Aug. 18-19

The poster has finally arrived! This year's featured artists are Karen Lucas, Cameron Blagg, Mark Hoppmann, and myself.

"Cormorants", my feather featured on this poster, *will* be on display at the show - we have been careful not to let that one find a home before the festival. So if you would like to purchase a one-of-a-kind original painting that has been featured on an art festival poster, here's an opportunity!

We are, however, still waiting on postcards. They will be similar to the poster. We're all a little concerned, because they were due at Lucas Art Gallery last week but seem to have fallen into the Postal Service Black Hole. Knocking on wood, and hoping they arrive within the next couple of days... I have 200 postcard stamps just waiting for them.

In the meantime, I will be hanging this poster at the Coupeville Arts and Crafts Festival. That event takes place the weekend before Westport. August is going to be a very busy month!

Wood Duck

Wood Duck

This is the last one I was able to complete before the Fair - a drake paddling contentedly on a quiet pond. I left the water effects dark and subtle, because the feather created so many water effects all on its own.

Spring Fair, Puyallup WA
If you happen to be going to the Puyallup Spring Fair here in western WA, please look me up! I will NOT be in Artists In Action like I was last Spring. This year I will be amongst several artists exhibiting in the Fred Oldfield Western Heritage Center. For those unfamiliar, that is the mustard-colored building just inside the Red gate. We have a full house in there! Nestled amongst the museum's antiques and artifacts are artists booths and walls of all shapes and sizes. Other artists exhibiting are Paul Langston, Judy Sleight, Karen Lucas, Dick Oldfield, Mark Hoppmann, Peggu Rowe, Hulan Fleming, Katherine Caughey, and Aletha Deuel - and of course, fred Oldfield himself.

Hours:
Thursday, April 19; 3pm - 10pm
Fri & Sat, April 20 - 21; 10am - 10pm
Sunday, April 22; 10am - 3pm
The Fair itself will continue going on Sunday til 7pm.

Quick Draws
Come watch us pull our hair out as we frantically work to create a piece of art in one hour's time! We begin this at 5pm on Friday and Saturday. The results of this toil will go through live auction at 6pm on Friday and Saturday. This is a great opprotunity to own an original work of art that you could watch being created.

Live entertainment
Musician Don Allard will be performing throughout Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. We will also be treated to Western music and poetry by the Rockin' HW on these days.

It's going to be a busy four days!

Dall's Ewe & Lamb

Dall's Ewe and Lamb
on mottled hybrid turkey feather

I attempted scanning this in with Bainbridge's Dusk suede matboard behind it. Although the feather itself is still flattened more than it would ever be framed, I wanted to preserve the downy strands of feather at the base. Turkey feathers are a lot fluffier than peacock feathers, Ive learned. I may or may not use Dusk behind it in the actual framing, I haven't decided yet.

One drawback to scanning on matboard is the scanner's light is so brilliant and the items scanned are so flat, I lose all sense of depth - there is no cast shadow. But it will have to do for now. The originals always look so much better.

I'm painting like a mad woman in preparation for this show, once again risking burning myself out. I have a mere two weeks to have all inventory completed and framed. My hanging space will be smaller than the usual 10X10 booth I have at most shows. Instead I will be utilizing one of the wooden walls inside the Western Heritage Center. These works I'm finishing up should fill that out nicely.

Keep an eye on this blog, as more paintings that will be available at the Fred Oldfield Western Heritage Center will find their way here regularly between now and the Puyallup Spring Fair on April 19th.

Puyallup Spring Fair

Puyallup Spring Fair at the Oldfield Western Heritage Center!

I'm going to jump in and try doing a postcard to advertise. This is new to me, I haven't tried it before. Got Print makes it easy to give it a test drive though... you can order as few as 250, but I've ordered 500. I'll go through them, I have a pretty good mailing list. I created these in Photoshop by way of GotPrint's template. I wanted to go with humorous/fun, and I think this will fit the bill.

There was a lot of info to put on the back, it took some creative editing to get the most important times and dates in there. One concern with mailings, postcards, etc. is the accidental placement in the circular-file when it arrives in mailboxes. I'm told that one way to avoid that is the day that one mails the cards. I was told by a savvy artist to mail on Tuesdays or Wednesdays so the mailings will likely arrive to their recipients on Friday or Saturday. The reason for this being that Mondays and Tuesdays tend to see a glut in mailers , ads and circulars, while the week's end tends to be very light in comparison. I've been watching my incoming mail and have found that he is right - at least in my area. Your area's mileage may vary.

This shipment of cards is going to be delivered most likely on Friday. You know how I'll be spending much of my Easter weekend!