Montgomery Museum

Montomery Museum

Oil on canvas, 16x20

sold

Two of my paintings sold at the Mystic Outdoor Art Festival this past weekend! Both were large, both were moody. One was a very wintry plein-air piece of the Wallkill River in January. The other was of a wave, breaking, at the edge of a storm, in Westerly, R.I.

I spent the weekend trying to greet visitors without hovering. I listened hard, tried to understand what they wanted, what they needed - whether it was time alone to look at my paintings, whether it was to talk about their dogs or their lives or their own art, whether it was a specific painting - specific in size, color or mood - to fill a spot in their homes. And then, once I understood that, seeing whether I had a piece for them, or could supply a piece for them, or could help them get that piece, whether it was by me, or by someone else.

This notion of sales person as service provider was broached to me on a disk my friend Bonnie Brankey (check out her beautiful paintings by clicking here). It makes sense to me, and it is something I can feel comfortable doing. I have miles to go before I am good at it, but I can learn!