Reflections - and Reflections on Shows, Value and Prices

Reflections, Frederick MD

Oil on canvas, 24x24

sold

I'm pretty excited about the Boardwalk Art Show in Virginia Beach - and a little fearful, too. It's a huge show, the weather can be dramatic, and it's a four-day event, something I've never done. So I have my qualms, but I guess I wouldn't be me without them.

Most of all, I'm excited to have gotten in, and to be a part of such an enormous and well-known event.

If you're in the area, please say hello! I will be in Booth 2423, which is near 24th Street. The show runs from Thursday through Sunday. Thursday hours are noon to 8 p.m.; Friday and Saturday are 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., and Sunday is 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.

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MY NEXT SHOW is the delightfully named Pooch-A-Palooza, a dog-related event at Prowse Farm in Canton, MA, June 22-23.

If you think you're going, you can get a $3 discount on tickets, by using the code FANDF at www.poochtickets.com.

To find out more about the show (it seems like it's going to be great fun!), click here to check out the website.

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AND NOW A WORD from our sponsors, i.e., me.

I'm raising my prices, especially on the larger paintings, but generally across the board. I've been told for years now that my prices are too low, and I am finally starting to believe that they are.

This is good news for all of you who already have my paintings! It is a big step on the path to those paintings being worth more than you paid, so yay.

And for those of you who have bought my paintings, those of you who are collectors, those of you who have been with me from the early days, you will still get price breaks when you want to buy paintings from me. You have been the foundation of this house I'm building, and I will be eternally grateful.

As always, if you want a painting, but you don't have the funds, please get in touch with me and we will work out a payment plan.

If anyone out there wants a painting at the current prices, please let me know today! Pet portraits and the 10x10s are staying at their current prices for now...

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Dog of the Day

The Dog of the Day is Gemma, who belongs to Ron DesJarlais's other daughter, Kelly. (Click here to check out Cora, who belongs to Ron's daughter Cait). How great that Ron has two daughters who both have dogs!

Want your pet to be Dog of the Day? Email me a jpg!

Ellie, Referrals, and ... Would YOU Eat THAT?

Ellie

Oil on canvas, 12x12

Commission

Ooooh, I really love this painting!

I pretty much love all my paintings - but there are the special ones, the ones that grab at my heart - and this is one of them. And, happily for me, the people who bought it love it, too!

With any luck, those nice people will have friends who will want paintings of their dogs. And their friends will have friends... and on and on.

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IF YOU HAVE FRIENDS (and I KNOW you do...), please invite them to sign up to get my blog by email or check out my website!

Ask them to like me on Facebook, and follow me on Pinterest! 

Suggest that they go to a show and see my paintings in person. Or suggest that they consider buying one of my pieces for that wall in the living room, or the empty little spot beside the front-hall closet.

Referrals are gold to me! I will thank you with all my heart - and will make sure you get a nice referrer discount the next time you buy a painting from me!

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I LIKE TV, I admit it.  I went through an anti-TV phase, and for 10 years, didn't own a set. Now, I enjoy it.

But I wonder about what people who make commercials think we are. I swear, if I ever ate anything that sounded like what Kit-Kat bars or Doritos sound like in commercials, I'd have a mouth full of broken teeth. Where is the joy of chomping into something that sounds like kindling breaking in your mouth?

What commercials drive you crazy? I'd love to know!

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 Here's a restaurant sign that made me smile...

Here's a photo my brother sent me, of four of my paintings in Millwright's Restaurant in Simsbury, CT! 

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And here's the Dog of the Day - Sienna - with some gorgeous peonies. Sienna lives 

with Melanie, sister of my friend Heather! 

Want your dog to be the Dog of the Day? Send me a jpg! 

Mt. Airy Farm - and a Funny Dog

Mt. Airy Farm

Oil on canvas, 10x10

sold

My first plein-air cowscape! 

Yes, it's little. 

Yes, the cow is sketchy. 

Yes, the buildings are a little tippy. 

All those things can be dealt with. The fact is, I saw the outdoor cows, I made a decision to paint at least one, and I did it! 

This has been a long-held fright for me, painting a cow (or horse) in plein air. Why? Because they move. (Or mooove, as my little mental word-gamer says). And it always scared me that I might start the painting, and the cow would move away, and then,,, what? 

And to that, I would say: What? So what? Why be scared? 

Well, if we knew why we were scared of dippy, dopey things, we probably wouldn't be scared. 

 Here's my painting in the landscape. Yes, I changed the color of the barn. As my friend and inspiration, Gene Bove, might say - What good is a barn if it's not red?

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Dog of the Day

This time, it's a video! Click here to see the fabulous jumping farm dog of Monrovia, MD! 

Yellow Field - and Karma and Journaling

 The Yellow Field

Oil on canvas, 10x10, $100

During the blazing hot show in Frederick this weekend, I was thinking about how incredible it is that people buy art from me, and from other living artists.

Every time you do that, you're doing something that 99 percent of the people in the world would never think of doing.

It is such a miracle! You're trusting yourself, your own eyes, your own soul, your own heart, to know that you like a piece of art - and then you take the huge leap of giving me - or another living artist - your hard-earned money and making it possible for us to continue to make art.

Most people never, ever do this. So if you have, congratulate yourself! You are a person among persons, a rarity, a treasure.

My painting in the landscape

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On Sunday in Frederick, sales were still slow. Then a woman from the Frederick Arts Council came around, asking for a donation of art for an auction. She was very nice, said I didn't have to donate, was under no obligation, etc. But I decided to donate a piece, even though, at that point, I was losing money on the show. 

Within five minutes of my making the donation, a woman came into the tent and bought the tall sunflowers piece. Moments later, another sale. And later in the day, still another. Karma? 

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PART OF THE PROSPERITY COACHING that Joe Skelly is doing with me involves keeping a journal. Joe told me about a journaling retreat that might interest some of you! 

The retreat involves learning the basics of starting and using art materials in your journal, and exploring your creativity to express your soul, your hopes and your dreams.

The retreat is being put on by a couple of men who call themselves the Journal Junkies. They have a blog and have written several books about their journaling ideas.

The retreat takes place June 20-23, at the Embassy Suites Dulles-North in Ashburn, VA, near Dulles Airport. For more info, click here to check out their blog about the retreat. 

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I looked up during the show in Frederick and lo and behold, worlds collided. Standing in front of me was my friend Linda Fite. Linda is an amazing artist, a collector of my paintings, and a sponsor of the Tubac trip. And we worked together at the Times Herald-Record in Middletown, NY. That was the last place I saw her.  And then, suddenly, there she was in Maryland! She was visiting a friend in West Virginia, and Frederick is not too far from there - and so they came to the show.

And they brought the Dog of the Day!

And here I thought Jojo was at home, guarding Peter, when all the time, she was 

starting her own business in Frederick. 

 Reflections on the creek where the show took place in Frederick. 

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The Following Sea - and a Not-So-Yay Day in Frederick

The Following Sea

Oil on canvas, 30x40

A couple years ago, Peter and I were driving across the Newport bridge, in Rhode Island, and I saw this sunset with the huge ocean and tiny boat.

I came home and painted it, and it was never quite right. But I knew there was something in it, so instead of covering it with another painting, I saved it.

Last week, I pulled it out and worked on it, and managed to find whatever it was that I was missing. Yay!

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NOT SO YAY was Saturday in Frederick, at least in terms of sales. But there were tons of nice and friendly people, and lots of folks said they would come back, were thinking of buying this or that... so we shall see.

It was brutally hot again yesterday, and today holds the same promise, with thunderstorms mixed in. So we shall see.

I had fun in spite of the slow sales and broiling heat. It's a pretty place for a show, the ducks were amusing, and I have nice artists on either side.

I do wish people would recognize how hot it is for their dogs, and leave them at home. I saw several dogs on the brink of heat stroke yesterday. Believe me, I love bringing the dogs, but not when it's this hot. Even without everything else, they are barefoot on the burning-hot bricks.

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SOME SCENES from the day:

This is the farm where I'm staying

Ducks on the canal that runs through the festival

 Here's the festival before opening on Saturday. There is an odd optical illusion here, isn't there? It looks like the stream is going downhill - but it is not. I guess the wall is going uphill!

Molly, one of the farm dogs, barking at me

Cows on the farm here in Monrovia, MD

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Dog of the Day

The dog of the day is Cora, who belongs to Ron DesJarlais's daughter Cait. I worked with Ron decades ago at The Westerly Sun. He is one of the best newsmen and designers I ever met, and a good person who always made me smile. Cora was a rescue from Tennessee - like Archie, yesterday's Dog of the Day!

Want your dog to be the Dog of the Day? Send me a jpg! 

New Delphiniums - and Hot, Hot, Hot!

 Delphiniums

Oil on canvas, 12x24

Please contact me for price and delivery options

Whatever else you can say about the life of an itinerant artist, there's one thing that's for sure: It involves a lot of hard labor. And yesterday, I felt it.

The venue in Frederick is pretty - a brick walkway, with a waist-height brick wall, a small slope of green, a secondary brick walkway, and then shops, the same pattern of each side of a small stream. (I'll post a photo tomorrow).

But it was 90 degrees or more as I carted my stuff in, and the sun baked down on the bricks, bounced and cooked and broiled and seared - and as much water as I drank, I couldn't keep up, and eventually stopped sweating, which I know is a sign of dehydration.

So I stopped, sat in the shade, drank even more water, remembered that I am 57, and there are no prizes for setting up quickly. Or even for getting it all done on the first day.

If you're in the area, please come by! The show is 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday, and 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday. I'm in Booth 78, near Ben & Jerry's. Click here for more info.

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SPENT THE NIGHT in a B&B/family's house, pretty close to Frederick. While I have my issues with B&Bs (like, often, I really just don't want to talk to anyone after a show, no matter how nice they are), this one is OK. It's a farm, with horses and cows, and is beautiful and calming and lovely. Here's the view from my window:

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Dog of the Day

It's Archie! He belongs to my brother, sister-in-law and niece, 

and is just as great a dog as he appears to be. 

Frederick Farm Revisited - Just in Time for the Frederick Arts Festival!

Frederick Farm

Oil on canvas, 30x36

The Paradise City show gave us New England at its gnarliest: raining, frigid, with gusting wind - but people came out to the show anyway, had springtime fun in wintertime weather, looked, oohed and aahed - and bought art. I wore pretty much all the clothes I'd brought, and then I bought a hat, and happily wore a scarf that a friend and collector lent me.

Friends and family visited, too, surprising and delighting me, and making the show feel like a homecoming. What a treat!

In terms of sales, the show was a little slow for me until the end, when the Oklahoma Cowscape sold. In past years, I have been juried into the spring and fall shows there in Northampton. This year, I am thinking of doing a different show Columbus Day weekend, one that is less expensive and closer to home.

I am studying, learning, asking questions, trying new things, and this is one idea that has struck me - that maybe, a spring show and fall show in the same place, year after year, is too much. Bud, the mobile maker, told me he is heading to the Midwest for shows this summer. People have told him they have as many mobiles as they are going to buy. So I will find out from him if this idea of changing venues works.

Meantime, I am in a brand-new-to-me show this weekend, in Frederick, MD. Artists I've spoken to who have been in this show say it's a lovely event, and fun! I am going to be in Booth 78, and from what I can tell from the map, I am right in front of Ben and Jerry's.

Click here for more info on the show - and if you are in the area, please stop by and say hello!

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Here's me in my new hat:

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And here is the Dog of the Day! 

It's Xena, who lives with my friends Tiffany and Bruce Williams, and their son Devin. 

Xena is a dear girl, patient and kind - and she puts up with a lot, especially with the homeless pets the Williams family fosters. 

Want your dog to be Dog of the Day? Send me a photo!