Trade Show Success!

What a weekend! Although I was standing on cement for most of the last two days and my legs are killing me, I am very happy with the response I received at the Trade Show. Twenty-eight people signed up to take a Watercolour Painting Party and more took business cards with plans to make up their own groups for private parties. If everyone who expressed interest follows through I will be doing parties into December. Wow, will I ever be busy!

#1025 Ocean Fog - 10 x 14 watercolour

I thought that more people would be interested in trying one of the fog paintings but I guess most were tired of dull grey weather and wanted to paint colour.

#1030 Rocky Shores - 5 x 7 watercolour

#1031 - Regrowth - 5 x 7 watercolour

This year the most popular choice was the "Little Guys" party. I decided two days before the Trade Show that I needed to have some samples of the paintings suggested for the "Little Guys" and painted the pieces above. Once matted and framed they were a great display for what participants 'could' do at the party. I think another reason for the popularity is that all of the paintings for these parties are quite colourful.

You can see posters with all the paintings on this blog post - too-much-happening

So, now all I have to do is figure out and coordinate when 28 people can be scheduled to attend four different parties - the hard part LOL.

Wish me luck!

LYA Side Swaps 2017

When I decided to join the Liberate Your Art Postcard Swap I had no plans to do any side swaps. However, I had a couple of people request a side swap and then, out of the blue, I got a card from a blogging friend Sheila Delgado.

I have been following Sheila's blog for a while and this has always been one of my favourite images. Sheila's Blog

At any rate, I decided that I would do 5 more cards and in the last few days I have received two cards from side swaps.

 This card came all the way to Wynndel BC Canada (via Porthill, Idaho) from Louise Mammet in France. This photo does not do the card justice unfortunately because the colours and the texture are really super.

This burst of colour is from Patsy Lawrence in Murfreesboro, TN. A fascinating mixed media piece done in an altered photography book - so very cool!

It has been so much fun getting 'happy' mail and I can't wait to see what the next trip to the post office brings.

Too Much Happening!

There is just too much happening in my life right now! This time of year is often busy between art activities, yard work and my bedding plants but this year there seems to be more going on than usual.

First, I have been getting things organized for the Trade Show at the end of the week. I wanted to add some more scenes (the Foggy Building pictures) to my Watercolour Painting Parties and that meant painting some - lol. I also needed to make up some posters to use to promote the parties.

I used both Pic Monkey and Canva to make the posters and I am pretty happy with my finished products. I also decided to offer Quilling Parties although I have no idea how many people will be interested.

 And, I needed a poster that helps to explain the whole concept.

  

 

The day after the Trade Show I have to get some paintings ready for a display at Creston's Rec Centre. It is only a four day show but it should be interesting. The arts community is displaying with local children as part of the annual Focus on Youth and this year the theme is Art and Agriculture as part of the Canada 150 Celebrations.

And, the day after Focus on Youth ends, I will be attending a 2 1/2 day watercolour workshop with Canadian artist Graham Flatt - His web site

The following Friday, I will be displaying some of my work at this year's Bird Festival. I am hoping visitors to the festival will be interested in taking home some reminders of their visit as I have quite a few pieces that feature birds.

 And to top it off, I hope to start my Watercolour Painting Parties the same weekend. Am I crazy?

LYA Postcard Swap 2017 Finale

The final pieces are in place! All the cards have been mailed and most received and it is time for the Blog Hop and the video of many of this year's cards.

I decided to join the LYA Postcard Swap rather late so I just used some of the many cards I have on hand. These are all photos of my original paintings which I glue onto cards; they are a super way for visitors to the area to take home an inexpensive reminder of their stay. Most of the pictures I chose for the swap depict the Creston Valley - or they could - lol. My cards are not postcards so I had to do some cutting and adapting.

These are the cards I received in the mail. It was a treat each time we picked them up and I enjoyed getting in touch with all of the artists and checking out their websites, Facebook or Google+ pages. You will find some of those links in previous blog posts - just click the LYA label at the bottom of this post.

I enjoyed the quotes and stories on each card and seeing so many other cards on the Facebook group page. One thing that disappointed me about the swap; only one of my cards was shared on Facebook. I received notices from the recipients of 4 of my cards and was able to check out many of their blogs and websites. Part of the fun for me was to see all the different cards that I didn't get and I guess others feel the same way - oh well!

I am going to add my link the the Blog Hop on Kat's page - LYA FINALE
and I hope you will go over and check out some of the other blogs, see the statistics and have a look at the video.

Special thanks to Kat Sloma for organizing the LYA Postcard swap for another year and to all of the people who helped out with the sorting and labelling. It has been a super experience and I imagine I will do it again next year!

And the "Other"

Here are some of the 'other' things that I have been doing!

I decided to make a sign or 'banner' for the Trade Show at the end of April; something I can hang behind the table or on the front.

A few years ago I got a roll of some linen type fabric at a garage sale and haven't known what to use it for but it worked well for this sign. I think this should stand out! I also made some place-mats and hot pads using the same fabric and the same colours. Who knows what I will come up with for the rest of the material.

I am sharing a space at the Trade Show with another artist, Lesley McLeish. Lesley has been turning her lovely paintings into fabric and you can see her work here: Wildflower Fabrics.  Her husband will also be there with his interesting boxes and storage ideas.  I hope the show will be successful for all of  us.

The other day I got 2 more postcards from the Liberate Your Art Postcard Swap. I found both of these very hard to photograph effectively - one was so shiny and the other so intricate that the detail got a bit lost.

This card is from Mikki Raub a potter, painter and crafter from Colorado. Mikki sells her work through an Etsy shop - Freelance by Design so pop over and take a look!

This card was from Christine Barker whose story and works can be found at Freehand Impressions.

Christine added a super quote from Auguste Rodin on the back of her card.

"Art is contemplation. It is the pleasure of the mind which searches into nature and which there divines the spirit of which Nature herself is animated."

The LYA swap is almost over. All of the participants will get a card from the organizer, Kat Sloma, and then we are to participate in a blog hop of some kind. I just hope the blog hop is easier to do that the instructions indicated - I am not adept at computer terminology and need visuals - lol! There will also be a video featuring a number of the cards that have been circulated around the world. I am looking forward to everything!

That's it for the 'other', now it is on to the 'next'. Have a great day and thanks for stopping by!.

This, That and the Other

Instead of sketching in the evenings lately, for a change of pace I have been doing some more quilling and adding the finished pieces to cards.

Quilled Rooster Card

I find most quilling to be relaxing and often do it while watching TV. Sometimes though, I pick a subject that is a bit tougher to do and it needs more control and concentration.

Filigree Hummingbird Card

This little hummingbird and flower seemed to take forever to do as I could only do a bit at a time while I waited for the glue to dry.

I have also been spending time figuring out my display for the up-coming Trade Show at our local rec centre. I mostly want to promote my Watercolour Painting Parties and my 20th "Anniversary as an Artist" Clearance Sale but I hope to make my display inclusive of all my work - thus the figuring.

This year I will be offering some new scenes for the Painting Parties. I am going to add 'A Building in Fog' as well as the 'Vignettes' and the 'Little Guys' parties.

Little Guys selection - paint two 5 x 7 pieces

Vignettes selection - paint one 10 x 14 scene

I don't have most of the scenes for the 'Building in the Fog' series ready yet but here is a sample;

#550 - Abandoned 

These scenes will be 10 x 14 and participants also get a 16 x 20 mat and a clearbag to protect their paintings.

I do have 'other' things happening but I think this blog is long enough, so I will leave the rest for an 'other' day - lol.

I invite readers to 'follow' my blog and leave a comment - let me know how I'm doing!