Daisy
Oil on canvas, 30x30
The Paradise City show was great for me in terms of seeing people I know and like, and meeting new people who appreciate my paintings. I've enjoyed meeting new artists, too, and, of course, seeing all the amazing art and craft items on display.
A few people picked up commission pieces, some large, so I made money (yay!) - but I did not sell very many paintings just off the wall to strangers.
At the end of the day on Saturday, I was picking up my friend, jeweler Cynthia Battista (check out her stuff by clicking here), and I said hello to the lamp-maker across the aisle. He asked how my sales had been, and I said just OK.
I asked him back, as you do, and he said, "Well, I won't know for a year."
And in that moment, everything changed for me.
He was so right! When I looked back at my day, my week, my year, my career in this amazing world, nothing is of the instant. Nothing is really of the day, or of the show.
People fall in love with an image in the moment, sometimes, but often, that's just the start of things. They fall in love with the colors, the texture, the light, the movement, the journey I'm on, or with something neither of us can identify. I fall in love with their vision, their imagination, the stories they share with me about their lives and about the thoughts and memories and hopes that my paintings evoke. It's a relationship built on color and texture and excitement and possibility, and it unfolds and deepens, and the right paintings come, and the sales come with them.
So, yes. Ask me in a year, and I'll tell you how this show went.
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Along those lines.... I met Susan a few years ago at Paradise City, and she (and her family) fell in love with my paintings. We saw each other at the shows over the years, and in the spring, she commissioned me to make this Big Cow painting for their new house. They picked it up on Saturday - and they are happy buyers, indeed!
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Dog of the Day
I found this tiny sculpture (and a bunch of other hilarious and charming little pieces) at the booth of someone (or someones) whose work is called Arthead Studio. I was never able to get to the booth when the show was on to meet the artist - but isn't this fun? Check out more pieces by clicking here.
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A Final Thought
"Inspiration does exist but it must find you working."
- Pablo Picasso
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